In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing. This week, we asked, “What song makes you laugh?”
Recently, I was reminded that, shockingly, Adam Sandler’s They’re All Gonna Laugh At You! is now 20 years old. That bit of information sent me down a Wikipedia wormhole, where I learned that the record has sold more than 2 million copies, and then into a YouTube frenzy as I watched clips of tracks I kind of remembered, like “The Beating Of A High School Janitor” and “At A Medium Pace.” One cut I remember vividly, though, is “Lunchlady Land,” which, for some reason, I think about almost daily. Whether I’m at the grocery store (“navy beans, navy beans”), getting lunch with Josh Modell (“hoagies and grinders”), or trying to make some philosophical point about the cyclical nature of life (“yesterday’s meatloaf is today’s sloppy joes”), I’m always struck by just how poignant and applicable “Lunchlady Land” actually is to any situation. Plus, it’s funny. Add the video of Chris Farley mincing around on stage clad in knee-high stockings to the mix and I’m a goner.