Otis Writes:
“Method Man” – Wu-Tang Clan
Dark humor at its finest. Method Man and Raekwon basically go back and forth like kids playing a game of one-upmanship — except the “game” is all about how they’d torture each other. It’s gruesome, ridiculous, and somehow hilarious. For me it taps into that Gen-X thing: we grew up on slasher flicks, where you laugh at the absurdity even while someone’s being chased down. It’s totally inappropriate, but it relieves the tension — like a fart joke hidden inside horror. That track always brings me back to being stoned in the 90s with friends, laughing at the worst things imaginable and bonding over it.
“Give It to Me Raw” – Busta Rhymes
This one always cracks me up. It’s peak late-90s Busta, full of cartoonish energy and wild delivery. There’s a line where he says, “Chick tried to get at my hard-earned stack so many times I had to put my foot in my ass,” and it just kills me. Totally inappropriate, but so funny. That whole era of hip hop felt like an extension of what we grew up on — sneaking Richard Pryor or Redd Foxx tapes, laughing at stuff we weren’t supposed to hear. For Gen-X kids like us, hip hop became the grown-up version of that: still raw, still taboo, still hilarious.
“Space Junk” – Devo
Devo’s absurdist humor gets me every time. The way he says “Texas… Kansas…” just cracks me up. The whole Are We Not Men? album has that weird, punk-with-synths vibe — funny, awkward, totally DIY. I mean, these guys literally built their own synths because they couldn’t afford real ones. What’s more punk than that? And then they throw hazmat suits into their stage show. Devo were the ultimate nerds from Akron who leaned into their weirdness, and that’s why I love them. “Space Junk” in particular just makes me laugh out loud — it’s comical, strange, and somehow still rocks.
Read what just made Otis laugh out loud
Jenna Writes:
I love this week’s prompt! If you don’t know him yet, Morgan is a comedian and musician who blends the two seamlessly. One moment he’ll be on stage with just his guitar, but what he does is hilarious. The first time I came across his songs, I literally stopped scrolling and just spent so much time laughing at the lyrics and his crowd work. The first song that came to my head was “Friend Zone” and “Split The Check”. He’s such a funny guy and these songs still make me laugh endlessly. It’s his performance and energy and those lyrics like c’mon. Honestly all of his songs are like this so take your pick! Here’s a video of him performing these songs live, enjoy the laughter:
Read what just made Jenna laugh out loud
Andie Writes:
I added those four tracks because the lyrics and the meaning behind them make me laugh! Its the type that whenever I listen to it, I remember its true meaning and then it just makes the entire song funny to me!
“Debra” by Beck, I added this specifically for the lyrics. I always let out a laugh whenever I hear how he rhymed words with ‘Zankou Chicken’ and when he revealed in the song he wants to get with the girl…and her sister who’s actually Debra hahaha “Bad Kids” by Black Lips really sounded like it was written by kids and I love it. I love how the backup vocals just sounds like someone bored and they ended up reciting it – such a funny and genius move to get into the “bad kids” vibe of the song!
Now for “Sick Feeling” by boy pablo, I’ll aaalways find this funny ever since boy pablo himself revealed that this song was about him letting go of his play station. It’s absolutely not about a girl, but yes, his play station. “mas queso” by FLOYD WONDER I just generally find this funny because more cheese. The way the drop sounds and the voice saying “mas queso” makes me laugh and enjoy the whole party vibe of the song.
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Molly Writes:
“Chicken Fried” – Zac Brown Band
This song makes me laugh because it’s literally about eating fried chicken on a Friday night. It reminds me of Jon—when I once added it to a playlist, he couldn’t believe I was serious about liking it and teased me for it. The thing is, I actually do like the song, but now whenever I hear it, I think of that whole exchange with him, and it just makes me smile.
Cindy Writes:
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks – “How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away”
This always makes me laugh because it’s just so true. How can I miss you if you never go away? It’s like he’s singing it to his mother-in-law or something. The whole thing cracks me up – that mix of sweet, old-timey swing with lyrics that are basically saying, “please, just leave already.”
Andrew Writes:
Honey I Been Thinking About You – Jackie Greene
I don’t really care ’bout your hot-blooded sister
I’m sure there’s a man for to love her and miss her
I didn’t mean nothing, I just happened to kiss her
But honey, I was thinkin’ ’bout you
I mean – come on – that’s a lyric and a half and it’s funny as fuck. Attach that to a beautifully constructed track with precision steel and a killer harp and you have a song that I can’t help laughing with ;-p
GMF – John Grant
But I am the greatest motherfucker
That you’re ever gonna meet
From the top of my head
Down to the tips of the toes on my feet
I dare you to sing this without a smile on your face.
Boyz In The Hood – Dynamite Hack
Punk ass trippin’, but it′s all right
Homie scored a ki-, he’s gonna fly
Punk ass fly
I mean – technically the previous verse is funnier – particularly when you put the splash cymbal after “..slapped the hoe” – but it’s the harmonies – those two part genius melodies that make this section just fly – I laugh out loud every time I hear it.
Broke – Scott Laverne
Then he sat down on the sofa and told me he was thinking about murdering his mum
That was a bit awkward, so I had a sip of gin
Smiled at him
I am literally laughing as I type. This song is brilliant – I think it was Jane Asylum who hipped me to it – the storytelling – the delivery – the whole performance – Scott Laverne – yes.
Fuck It I’m Getting Wasted – Rhyhtm Sincere
Fuck It I’m Getting Wasted
We’ve had over 700 tracks submitted to the music to combat fear playlist – lord knows how we’ll manage to get it down to just 22. As part of the submission process we ask the submitting artist to tell us why they think their track would be good at combatting fear. This is definitely one of my favorites:
“My track combats fear by closing out all other thought of the outside world and just saying “Fuck It I’m Getting Wasted” and going to have fun!
Heh!
;-p
I am.
Read what just made Andrew laugh out loud
Track Listing
- I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts – Danny Kaye
- Just Give It to Me Raw – Busta Rhymes
- Bad Kids – Black Lips
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – They Might Be Giants
- friend zone – acoustic – Morgan Jay
- Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band
- How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away – Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
- Formed a Band – Art Brut
- Space Junk – DEVO
- Method Man – Wu-Tang Clan
- Ginger – David Devant and His Spirit Wife
- mas queso – FLOYD WONDER
- I Will Survive – Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
- Split the Check – Morgan Jay
- The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) – Ylvis
- Fish – Mr. Scruff
- Worms – The Pogues
- Fuck It I’m Getting Wasted – Rhythm Sincere
- I Don’t Know What We’re Talking About (And I Haven’t for a While) – Ninja Sex Party
- … – Morgan Jay
- Boyz In The Hood – Dynamite Hack
- Honey I Been Thinking About You – Jackie Greene
- Sick Feeling – boy pablo
- Debra – Beck
- Rats In My Room – Leona Anderson
- GMF – John Grant
Playlist Image by Peter Lloyd on Unsplash
This playlist is part of The Human Collective. Each week we take a prompt and create a playlist and accompanying articles. This week we were looking at where we are in life. Learn more about The Human Collective here.
