From the ground-breaking sketch show Monty Python’s Flying Circus featuring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and the whole Monty Python gang, to the Monty Python films, and onto the Broadway stage with Monty Python’s Spamalot, the Pythons always had a penchant for extremely silly songs. Songs from the intellectual "Galaxy Song", filled with tons of facts about the galaxy, to the frightfully silly "Traffic Lights", a simple, plodding tune dedicated to liking traffic lights. Most often the collaborative work of singer-songwriter Neil Innes and cast member Eric Idle, the songs have been as impactful as the works they've been associated with. Please note that the songs below are limited to ones that have appeared on stage, film, or tv screen. Songs released on Monty Python albums would easily make their own impressively long list.
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" in Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
The hands down, no argument, undisputed, great testament to the stiff upper lip trait of the British, from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Perhaps the most upbeat sing-along ever produced for a crucifixion scene, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is the most successful song from their discography, hitting the top 10 in the U.K. and also performed by Eric Idle himself at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
"The Lumberjack Song" in Monty Python's Flying Circus (Season 1, Episode 9)
Ah, the life of a lumberjack, leaping from tree to tree as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia. "Lumberjack Song" begins as a rousing celebration of manly manliness, sleeping all night and working all day, cutting down the larch, the giant redwood, the fir... even the mighty Scots pine, with the accompanying chorus of Canadian Mounties. As the song progresses, however, the plaid-clad, butch lumberjack is emasculated more and more to the confession of wearing high heels, suspendies, and a bra — just like dear old Dad.
"P*nis Song (Not the Noel Coward Song)" from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
From Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, a quick number from Eric Idle that leads off the infamous "Mr. Creosote" sketch. The introduction to the song is a hilarious entendre that may require a rewind to catch. It's totally worth it, if you're a fan of wordplay. Then it's just a torrent of alternative names for the… um, twig and berries. It's actually amazing how many names can be fit into 41 seconds of song. Quite the achievement, really.
"Every Sperm is Sacred" from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
"Every Sperm is Sacred" is the second song on the list from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, only longer and a much bigger theatrical spectacle than the previous tune. It's a scathing satire on the Catholic teachings of reproduction, and how using contraceptives is against God's wishes, even if that means having to sell all 63 of your children for medical experimentation purposes. The beauty of the sketch, and the song by extension, is that it isn't a parody of a musical set piece, like a "Consider Yourself" from Oliver!, but it is a musical set piece, albeit with a radically different inspiration.
"Bruces’ Philosophers Song" from Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
The faculty of the philosophy department at Australia's University of Walamaloo — Bruce, Bruce, Bruce, Bruce and 'new Bruce' - abide by a strict set of rules: do not maltreat the Abbos if there's anybody watching, do not be caught without a drink, no pooftas, and the all-important rule number six. This, of course, in the grand tradition of the great philosophers in history, as recounted in this, "The Philosopher's Song", which follows the Bruces sketch in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, but not on the original sketch from Flying Circus. It's a great example of the absurd paired with the intellectual, a who's who of philosophers and their famed drinking abilities: Heideggar, a boozy beggar that could think you under the table; Whittgenstein, a berery swine who was just as sloshed as Schlegel; and Socrates himself, a lovely and permanently pissed thinker.
"The Liberty Bell" in Monty Python's Flying Circus (Season 1, Episode 1)
In 1893, the famed American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa, composed the military march "The Liberty Bell". It plays as part of an exhibit in the Liberty Bell Center, has been played by the United States Marine Band at presidential inaugurations, in select performances at the Marine Barracks, and is the official march of the Canadian Forces Public Affairs Branch...
… and ruined forever for such auspicious occasions due to its association to Monty Python’s Flying Circus as its theme song, selected to avoid copyright fees due to its availability in the public domain. Rest assured that any time it's played in public, there will be someone snickering and looking around to find fellow Python fans doing the same.
"The Spam Song" in Monty Python's Flying Circus (Season 2, Episode 12)
"Spam" is one of the all-time classic Python sketches. Two customers try to order breakfast in a diner, where Spam is included in every dish, including in a Lobster Thermidor au Crevettes with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top. Any time the waitress (Terry Jones) recites from the menu, a group of Vikings break into the "Spam Song", their ode to lovely, wonderful Spam. It's utterly ridiculous, in almost every sense of the word, but wonderful all the same. Fun fact: the phrase "Spam" for junk email is derived from this very sketch. Thank goodness the baked beans were off.
"Diva’s Lament (Whatever Happened To My Part)" in Monty Python's Spamalot (2005)
From the hit Broadway musical Monty Python's Spamalot, "The Diva's Lament (Whatever Happened to my Part)" is a powerful solo number, directed to the audience, from the disenchanted Lady of the Lake (technically, the actress playing the Lady of the Lake). She plays a key role in Act I, but doesn't appear in Act II until this point. The brilliance of it is how the song is a diva moment from a diva actress decrying the lack of stage time for her diva character in Act II. Fun fact: Grey's Anatomy star Sara Ramirez originated the role, winning a Tony Award for her performance.
"Brave Sir Robin" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
From Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the lilting song extolling the virtues of brave Sir Robin (Eric Idle) as sung by his minstrels (or dinner, as we learn later in the film). It's a simplistic comic piece - brave Sir Robin is anything but brave — but the list of things that he supposedly isn't afraid of become more grim and gruesome as the song progresses: not in the least bit scared of gouged eyes, his heart getting cut out, his liver removed, or his limbs all hacked and mangled. The minstrels are so laudatory that they sing of how he even chickens out and retreats with bravado.
"Camelot (Knights of the Round Table)" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Also from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. After King Arthur (Graham Chapman) finds his knights, they travel to the fabled castle of Camelot (well, it's only a model). The scene then cuts to "Knights of the Round Table", a fantastic song and dance number in which several knights dance on tables, kick over fruit, bang people on the head, and step on a cat while praising their lives at Camelot. Who wouldn't? They eat ham, and jam, and Spam a lot. They sing from the diaphragm a lot. The sequin vests and impersonate Clark Gable. But it's a busy life in Camelot. From time to time, they have to push the pram a lot. Then, when the song ends, Arthur rightfully declares that they should not go to Camelot, as it is a silly place. In other words, it fits in with every other song and locale on this list.