Far SidecreatorGary Larson was a musician masquerading as a cartoonist, something made clear by the frequent allusions to music, musicians, and musical instruments throughout the strip’s run.This list brings together some of his most laugh-out-loud shout-outs to songs, from familiar folk songs, to deep-cut jazz standards, to immediately recognizable rock tunes.
Larson routinely poked fun at the perils of being a musician, but he was also inspired by specific songs, riffing on the unexpected potential for humor buried in their lyrics.
From repeat references to “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” to obscure callbacks to iconic tunes, song-based jokes are an underappreciated element ofThe Far Side’sskewering of pop culture.
10The Far Side Knows Who Was In The Kitchen With Dinah And Proves It In Court
First Published: July 31, 2025
ThisclassicFar Sidecourtroom sceneis also a perfect illustration of Gary Larson’s ability to fit familiar song lyrics into a comedic context. Here, the lines “someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah/strummin' on the old banjo,” become the crux of a cross-examination of a nervous man on the witness stand.
“You admit this is your banjo…butyou expect this jury to believe you were never in the kitchen with Dinah?” the lawyer says, in a seeming “gotcha” moment.The joke is made that much funnier when fans realizeGary Larson himself was a banjo player, adding a slight meta element to the gag.
9Jiminy Cricket’s Dark Fate Is Made Much Worse By His Killer Singing His Song
First Published: June 17, 2025
In thislow-key disturbingFar Sidecartoon, a scientist absentmindedlysings the refrain to the Disney classic “When You Wish Upon A Star"while puttering around his laboratory…a dark tune to have stuck in his head, considering he just drowned Jiminy Cricket in a jar of formaldehyde, which sits on his desk in the foreground of the frame.
Macabre as this reference to a beloved cartoon might be,Far Sidereaders will be hard-pressed not to laugh at the sight of poor Jiminy’s top hat floating on the surface of the formaldehyde, his tap shoes still on his insect feet, as he tries and fails to escape this grim fate.
First Published: June 07, 2025
In this panel, Gary Larson once again returns to “I’ve Been Workin' On the Railroad,” an essential American folk song, written in the late 19th century. With thisFar Sidepanel,Larson makes the song literal;the characters really are working on the railroad, with one member of the crew enthusiastically singing the chorus to the song over and over.
For the looks on the rest of the workers' faces, this is evidently becoming unbearable. Further, Larson does more than contrast the characters' behaviors. The erstwhile singer is a skinny guy, seemingly out of place in this job, surrounded by burly men who might be inclined to beat him up if he doesn’t shut up.
7With This Far Side Comic, Gary Larson Adds To The Legacy Of “Louie Louie”
First Published: August 18, 2025
“Louie Louie” is widely regarded as one of the most often-covered songs of the modern rock ‘n’ roll era, having been recorded by everyone from the Beach Boys to Black Flag, from Toots and the Maytals to Motorhead. According toGary Larson in this hilariousFar Sidewhale cartoon, the song has a following under the sea as well.
Here, a scientific vessel recording whale songscatches a humpback crooning the tune.The instantly recognizable quality of the song makes this a good joke, but what makes this a greatFar Sidecartoon is the human-like smile on the whale’s face as it belts one out, contrasted with the confusion of the researcher on the boat above.
6The Far Side’s “Ghost Riders” Comic Takes Epic Imagery And Makes It Silly
First Published: Jun 25, 2025
“Hurry or you’re gonna miss it,” a woman calls to her husband, who is in the living room reading a newspaper, as she catches a glimpse of “ghost riders in the kitchen,” a reference to the country song “Ghost Riders in the Sky,“most commonly associated with Johnny Cash’s 1979 version, though the song was actually written thirty years earlier.
Larson once again takes the lyrics of a song too literally on purpose here, but thisFar Sidecartoon takes an even more absurd turn by taking the action out of the sky, where the ghost riders are both majestic and ominous, and putting them in an ordinary kitchen, where they are both out-of-place and a bit ridiculous.
5The Far Side’s “Chicken Of Depression” Cartoon Is Even Better When You Get The Song Reference
First Published: July 01, 2025
ThisFar Sidecartoon is the kind that seems really “out there” if you don’t catch the reference Gary Larson is making, but which actually makes total sense once the reference becomes clear. In this case, this cartoon evokes the relatively obscure 1930s song “Bluebird of Happiness,” itself an allusion to many cultures viewing the bluebird as a symbol of prosperity.
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Larson hilariously, and darkly, replaces that with"the Chicken of Depression,” who visits “Ned,” as he wakes up in his unkempt room. It is a surprisingly relatablecartoon, one thatFar Sidereaders struggling with their mental health will appreciate, and having a frame of reference for the punchline helps to elevate it even further in the comic’s pantheon of great panels.
4The Far Side Reveals That Not Everybody Is Impervious To Wild Horses Dragging Them Away
First Published: July 17, 2025
ThisFar Sidecowboy cartoonis a brilliant riff on “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones, which many people don’t realize was a cover of a track originally produced by the Flying Burrito Brothers. The song, of course, famously proclaims that “wild horses couldn’t drag” the singer away from their love. In thisFar Sidecartoon, the opposite is true.
That is,a gang of wild horses burst through the doors of a saloon, “with nostrils flaring and manes flying,” and drag away a cowboy, proving it is possible. Like most of theFar Sidecartoons collected here, the joke naturally hinges on the reader getting the reference and appreciating Larson’s comedic subversion of it.
3This Far Side Lyricist Is SO Close A Major Breakthrough, He Just Needs To See The Song From A Different Angle
First Published: July 10, 2025
The jazz standard “Jeepers Creepers” was first written in the 1930s, and in the near-century since has remained a fixture of popular culture, thanks to its incredibly catchy tune and simple lyrics. Except,in thisFar Sidecartoon, Gary Larson hysterically proposes that the process of penning the track was anything but simple, with the word “peepers” eluding the songwriter.
In the cartoon, the struggling musician steps away from his piano to stare out the window, hoping for inspiration to strike, as readersget a look at the song’s lyrics-in-progress, with the words “eyeballs,” “retinas,” “tear ducts,” and more all crossed out,showing that the song is on the verge of a breakthrough, but isn’t quite there yet.
2"Bye Bye Blackbird” Gets A Contentious Remix In This Hilarious Far Side Cartoon
First Published: June 29, 2025
This is another deep-cut reference tojazz, Gary Larson’s favorite genre. This time, the song is “Bye Bye Blackbird,” and thisFar Sidepanel hilariously converts the song’s lyrics about"pack[ing] up cares and woes” into a scene of an avian character telling its roommate to “pack up this depressing garbage” before he moves out.
The “garbage” is a pile of boxes labeled “cares” and “woes,” turning the triumph of the song into a quietly tragic moment. Slyly, Larson’s reframing of the song’s lyrics makes it so that, rather than saying goodbye to the black bird, the bird is saying goodbye to its human counterpart, and not in a pleasant way.
1The Far Side Scientifically Confirms The Truth Behind “Deep In The Heart Of Texas”
First Published: July 19, 2025
The Far Sideended at the start of 1995, butGary Larson did briefly come out of retirementon two occasions after that, including publishing a handful of cartoons in The New York Times poking fun at scientists. Of them all, this is perhaps the funniest, in which the song “Deep in the Heart of Texas” is scientifically “proven” accurate.
Specifically, the assertion that “the stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas” isbroken down with an elaborate diagram, accompanied by scientific jargon about “the dynamic friction of the tensor light cone” and “a local convergence of photons,“in a highbrow but absolutely hilariousFar Sidecartoon.
