When working with the orange noise, I thought of the associated ‘orange’ knock-knock joke, and then the line about door knockers from Young Frankenstein.

Next, I had to remember a bunch of other knock-knock jokes, specifically ones that had relatively short punchlines.

I structured the song as a sequence of pre-chorus and chorus pairs (without actual verses) to keep the melody relatively consistent, and used gospel and ‘work song’ call-and-response styles (among others) to help elicit more than one voice… a lead and a backing chorus.

I snorted when the singer used British/Posh/Minion pronunciation for ‘banana’ in “Orange you glad I didn’t say bah-nah-nah’?” I didn’t fiddle with the spelling of the lyrics or anything to get that effect… it just happened. I loved it so much that I was driven to go with that version.

Getting the song to preserve the integrity of each of the jokes was a delicate endeavor. They are spare, so messing up a word (or leaving out ‘who’) has a substantial impact. Much like the monster, then: a) this song is composed of parts gathered from many, many corpora, and b) like the so-called monster… it is beautiful, innocent, curious, and human.

Lyrics

Knock knock.

(Who’s there?)

Roach.

(Roach who?)

Roach you this song.

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Tank.

(Tank who?)

You’re welcome!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Cash.

(Cashew?)

You’re nuts!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there?)

Amish.

(Amish who?)

You are not!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Europe.

(You’re a poo?)

I am not!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Ketchup.

(Catch a poo?)

I will not!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Dude.

(Dude who?)

Don’t step in it!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there?)

Etch.

(Etch who?)

Gesundheit!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Tish.

(Tissue?)

Here ya go!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Cow says.

(Cow says who?)

Cow says mooooo!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Impatient cow.

(Impatie…)

Moo moo moo moo mooooo!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Abby.

(Abby who?)

Abby normal! (Buh-room-chee!)

Knock knock.

(Who’s there? Who’s there?)

Some bunny.

(Some bunny who?)

Some bunny who loves you!

Knock knock.

(Who’s there?)

Banana.

Knock knock.

(Who’s there?)

Banana.

Knock knock.

(Who’s there?)

Banana.

Knock knock.

(Who’s there?)

Orange.

(Orange who?)

Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?

Knock knock.

(Who’s there?)

Knockers.

(Knockers who?)

What knock-knockers!

(What knock-knockers!)

Knock knock

(Who’s there?)

Eternal knockers!

(Knock-knockers for all time!)

What a joke.

What a joke.

What a joke.

Oh, what a joke.

Orange you… orange you glad I didn’t say banana?