"Deteriorata" is a comedy record released as a single in 1972. It is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

Les Crane Les Crane (born Lesley Stein; December 3, 1933 – July 13, 2008) was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem ''Desiderata'', w ...

's 1971

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

recording of "

Desiderata "Desiderata" (Latin: "things desired") is an early 1920s prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann. Although he copyrighted it in 1927, he distributed copies of it without a required copyright notice during 1933 and , thereby forfeiting his ...

", the early 20th-century

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

Max Ehrmann Max Ehrmann (September 26, 1872 – September 9, 1945) was an American writer, poet, and attorney from Terre Haute, Indiana, widely known for his 1927 prose poem "Desiderata" (Latin: "things desired"). He often wrote on spiritual themes. Educa ...

. ("Desiderata" is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "desired things"; "deteriorata" is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsTony Hendra Anthony Christopher "Tony" Hendra (10 July 1941 – 4 March 2021) was an English satirist, actor and writer who worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School (where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking) and at St John's Co ...

for ''National Lampoon'', and was recorded for the album ''

Radio Dinner ''Radio Dinner'' is the debut album by the creators of the American satirical magazine '' National Lampoon''. It was released on Blue Thumb Records in 1972 after RCA Records had declined to issue the record. The humor on the album is steeped in t ...

''. Narrator

Norman Rose Norman Rose (June 23, 1917 – November 12, 2004) was an American actor, film narrator and radio announcer whose velvety baritone was often called "the Voice of God" by colleagues. He was best known as the narrator's voice in the fictitious coffee ...

read the "poem" and

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been carried by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early l ...

sang the song.

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...

wrote the music. "Deteriorata" appeared on the lower reaches of the ''Billboard'' magazine charts for a few weeks in late 1972, peaking as high as No. 91 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

Charts. The parody gained some significance and popularity as a frequent presentation on the

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

radio show. Les Crane himself later admitted that he preferred the parody version over his Grammy-winning recording of the original poem.

Cultural references

The song incorporates several catchphrases and news items of the era: *"Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but three do." A play on directional logic and the double meaning of the word "right;" as a direction, three left turns (at 90-degree angles) will result in traveling in the same direction as one right turn. *"Remember the ''Pueblo''", a bumper sticker slogan honoring the crew of the USS ''Pueblo'', held hostage by North Korea in 1968. *"Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle and mutilate", parodies a caution printed on

punched card A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a piece of stiff paper that holds digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Punched cards were once common in data processing applications or to di ...

s, particularly those used as government checks, in the mid-20th century. *"Take heart amid the deepening gloom that your dog is finally getting enough cheese", making fun of a Gaines-Burgers dog food advertising campaign, which asked, "Is your dog getting enough cheese in his diet?" *"Gracefully surrender the things of youth: birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan": bird populations were affected by pesticides, the Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970, tuna had been discovered to be high in mercury, and Taiwan was removed from the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

in favor of the heretofore unrecognized

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1972.

References

External links

{{authority control Comedy songs Novelty songs Parodies of literature 1972 songs National Lampoon songs