Does 'LOL' = 'R.I.P.'?

In 1986, Frank Zappa released a live album entitled Does Humor Belong in Music? Two decades later, it increasingly seems the answer is no—at least in the rock world. Country music has a long history of humor, from Johnny Cash’s “Boy Named Sue” to just about anything by Brad Paisley, as does hip-hop (Kanye West’s “Gold Digger”). But when rock bands start to tell jokes, they usually find their careers languishing once the laughter dies down. Paste talks with several artists who’ve managed to survive their novelty hit.

“Being humorous confused people about our motivations. It also has the stigma of being lesser, but it didn’t hurt The Beatles much. Come on, ‘Yellow Submarine’ is ridiculous. And they were very funny guys. They presented a hammy image, but they still made some of the greatest music ever.” —Ed Robertson, Barenaked Ladies

“We spent a good number of years [after releasing “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver”] living in the shadow of the beaver. Everything else we’d done was erased in a lot of people’s minds. All of a sudden we were a joke band. But it’s not a tragedy. We had a great tour and sold a lot of records and I’ve continued to have a fun and lucrative career. Hit songs are wonderful things.” —Les Claypool, Primus

“The Kinks, The Beatles and The Who all had funny songs but were taken seriously. I guess it only works out if you write a bunch of other songs that are really, really good. Maybe we hadn’t figured that out at the time, since [‘Popular’] was the only one that stuck." —Matthew Caws, Nada Surf

“We just did whatever came to our mind. In the end, do what you like. If you’re worried about it, you’ll never enjoy what music is supposed to give you.” —Wayne Coyne, The Flaming Lips