The 10 Best Science Parody Music Videos – Forbes

‘Lab Rules’ is AsapSCIENCE’s science parody of Dua Lipa’s music video ‘New Rules’.
To cheer you up after a depressing year, I’ve compiled a list of the ten greatest scientific music videos from the past 10 years (Yes the decade ended in 2019, but 2020 didn’t really count…)
While the 2000s gave us brilliant songs like the ‘Large Hadron Rap‘ and ‘GTCA‘, the 2010s produced even better parody videos. I’ve picked the following parodies based mainly on two criteria — lyrical genius and stupid dancing — so prepare yourself for some geeky yet goofy videos that are both clever and cringeworthy.
Created by the Hui Zheng Lab at Baylor College of Medicine, this parody of ‘Bad Romance‘ by Lady Gaga set the standard for videos with low production values yet high entertainment value. It inspired dozens of clones and begins with a corner caption that pays homage to when MTV stood for ‘Music Television’. Its lyrics perfectly capture the pain of being a PhD student in a molecular biology lab.
En route to becoming the first YouTube video to reach one billion views, PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style‘ became a source of countless parodies. Of all the science-based ones, the best came from NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, which has itself rocketed to over 7 million views. Besides the cool computer graphics and launch footage, what makes this video great is its hilariously bad acting and terrible in-jokes.
Tim Blais, a master of physics and music, does an incredible job of explaining scientific theories by singing a capella. Although visuals from his songs are usually designed to illustrate those ideas, this version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ does follow the format of Queen’s original music video, and the tune’s tempo works really well for covering the complex concepts found in string theory.
Among dozens of YouTube videos about medical students, this parody of ‘Let It Go‘ from Frozen comes top of the class. Although it’s more about doctors than science, it gets a pass because its chorus is the starting point for scientific research. Made by the University of Chicago’s School of Medicine, it was written and sung by Beanie Meadow, whose impressive vocals sometimes rival Idina Menzel.
Tom McFadden — formerly known as ‘the Rhymebosome’ — is a biology teacher and YouTuber with a real way with words. He runs ‘Science Rap Academy’ for kids (see the next entry on this list) that produces videos which deserve to get millions of views. His polished parodies closely mirror the style of the source material — as reflected in this short-but-sweet version of Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling‘.
Thanks to the Covid-19 coronavirus vaccines, this parody of ‘My Shot‘ from the musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda has become topical, as it mentions herd immunity and explains why vaccination is vital for those with immunodeficiency. It’s one of many amazing videos written, performed and edited by the talented pupils on the ‘Science Rap Academy’ course at the Nueva School in California.
While Neuro Transmissions has produced several videos set in molecular biology labs, this parody of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now‘ by Queen (a song without a proper music video) is the spiritual successor to the first video on this list. The star of ‘Bad Project’ was someone at the start of her PhD and ‘Postdoc Me Now’ focuses on researchers who are about to submit their thesis and are ready to move on.
Everyday Science is another channel whose videos should get more views, starting with this math version of ‘Bye Bye Bye‘ by *NSYNC. YouTube has numerous songs to help you memorize digits of pi but this boy-band parody is pure entertainment — it adds geometry and history to dance choreography, plus a story sequence before the song actually begins, which gives you that feeling of a genuine music video.
AsapSCIENCE has made over 300 educational videos but this “low cost” version of Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules‘ suggests they should be making more parodies. Copying the moves from the original music video is impressive and their parody adds splashes of color to the stereotype of scientists in white coats, along with a message about laboratory safety protocols and handling potentially dangerous chemicals.
I’m cheating with this last video because it’s based on a classic science song from 1959: ‘The Elements‘ by Tom Lehrer, which is itself a parody of ‘I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General’ by Gilbert and Sullivan from 1879 musical The Pirates of Penzance. The lyrics were updated by Helen Arney and the video, produced by Chemistry World magazine, features chemists from around the world.
So there you go, the greatest scientific parodies of music videos from the past decade. If you disagree with my choices, direct your nerd rage at me on Twitter (@jvchamary) with links to what I should have included on this list.

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