It’s a rare thing for a comic to make readers ‘hear the music’, butThe Far Sideaccomplishes just that with its many comics dedicated to catchy tunes.The Far Sideis a unique comic in that it doesn’t feature a main character(likePeanutsorGarfield), as it instead features random cartoon illustrations that are perfectly suited to whatever joke is being told in any given strip - not the other way around. That meansThe Far Sidecan put a focus on whatever it wantswithout the constraints of maintaining a certain brand, and that includes music.
‘Comics about music’ may seem random, and it absolutely is - that’sthe beauty ofThe Far Side.The Far Sidehas always thrown an absurd lens on the entire world, usually by taking seemingly mundane everyday happenings and making them weird. But sometimes,The Far Sideachieves this by simply putting out weird comicsthat seemingly don’t make any sense. A comic strip where ‘music’ is basically the ‘main character’? Why? Well, because it can, and so it does. With that said, here are the8Far Sidecomics that will make readers see (and hear) music like never before.
8Elephant Musician
Elephants Can’t Play the Piano in The Far Side (but They CAN Play the Flute)
An elephant is sitting at a grand piano on the main stage of a concert hall with a crowd of people in the audience, awaiting a beautiful melody. But, this elephant can’t play the piano - obviously. What was he thinking when he agreed to do this? He’s a flutist! Obviously, the first thought readers likely had when the elephant admitted that he couldn’t play the piano was: ‘yeah, he doesn’t have fingers’. But,the reality of why he can’t play the piano is simply that he doesn’t know how to, as this elephant decided to learn how to play the flute.
While there’s no actual music to be heard in this particularFar Sidecomic, it does make one want to see an elephant who can play the piano do so on such a grand stage as this one. Heck, it even makesreaders want to see this elephant play the flute! But, even though neither is happening, this is still one of the funniestFar Sidecomics about music.
7"Roger Screws Up"
An orchestra is playing a concert, and the percussionist named Roger is waiting for his cue to hit his cymbals. In this particular piece, it seems the cymbal percussion is only used once, so Roger has to make sure to play his cymbals at the exact right time, otherwise the entire piece will be ruined, and he’ll have screwed everything up. It’s also apparent that Roger is kind of a screw-up, and that this isn’t his first time ruining a piece of music for the entire orchestra. And, as revealed in the caption,Roger screws this one upas well, even after telling himself over and over again in his head that he’d finally get this one right.
It’s as if readers can hear the beautiful orchestra playing through the comic panel itself, and the more beautiful it sounds in readers' heads, the funnier this comic becomes, as that’s how much worse Roger screwed everything up for everyone.
6Neanderthal Orchestra
The Far Side Reveals Humanity’s First Orchestra was More Violent Than Expected
ThisFar Sidecomic shows perhaps the first-ever orchestra consisting entirely of neanderthalsat the dawn of human existence. Back then, the only instruments that existed were rocks and pieces of wood. It’s unclear how, exactly, the cavemen made music with them, but they seem to know what they’re doing, as they have an established structure for their orchestra that’s reminiscent of how orchestras are today - complete with the competition that exists between musicians for certain chairs.
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The Cavemen in The Far Side are some of the funniest recurring characters.
In this case, a second-chair caveman is jealous of another for getting the coveted first chair, and he uses his rock-instrument to bash the first-chair caveman’s head in, thus making that position suddenly available. But, looking past the violence,this comic strip forces the reader to imagine what rock and wood instruments actually sound like when they’re played by neanderthals- and that maybe the one who got his head bashed in was the lucky one.
5Cowboy Pianist
It’s a Hard Life Being a Cowboy Pianist in The Far Side
A bunch of cowboys are sitting around a fire together after a hard day of riding, and one of them wants to hear some music. He asks his partner, Will, if he’ll do what he does best and play them a song. Luckily, Will was not only willing to play them all a song, but he had his instrument with him. No, his instrument of choice isn’t an accordion or banjo,it’s a grand piano - and Will had it stuffed in his pants.
The visual of this cowboy with an entire piano sticking out of his pants is utterly hilarious, as it forces readers to imagine him riding his horse and doing all sorts of cowboy things with a piano in his pocket. But, more than that, thisFar Sidecomic sets readers up for something that they’ll never get: a beautiful piano melody played by Will. Obviously, Will is a very good pianist - even if being a cowboy pianist looks like it’s more trouble than it’s worth - so the desire to hear him play is only natural. But, sadly, that isn’t possible.
4Heaven & Hell
Music Literally Defines the Difference Between Heaven and Hell in The Far Side
ThisFar Sidecomic is split between top and bottom sections. The top section depicts heaven, with a number of lucky souls entering their eternal kingdom to live a life of peace and tranquility, everlasting. The bottom section depicts hell, with the unluckiest of souls entering one by one into the eternal pit of perdition. Interestingly, other than the obvious aesthetic differences, there doesn’t seem to be too much of a difference between heaven and hell. In fact, they are so similar that everyone entering both places receives an instrument upon entry. However,the instruments are where the real differences lie, as music literally defines the difference between heaven and hell.
When someone enters heaven, they get a harp, which plays music that is soft and beautiful.When someone enters hell, however, they get an accordion, which is loud and aggressive - especially when someone is just starting to learn how to play it. Indeed, listening to billions of souls learning to play the accordion would be hell, making this aFar Sidecomic that fans should be glad they can’t hear.
3Whale Song
This Far Side Whale is a Kingsmen Fan
A science vessel is in the middle of the ocean with a microphone in the water. The scientist on board is trying to record ‘whale songs’, which is just a term used to describe the patterned vocalizations of certain kinds of whales, which is how they communicate. The point of this excursion is likely to learn more about how whales communicate. And, as luck would have it, this scientist encounters a whale, who swims right up to the microphone and starts singing. However,the song this whale sings isn’t a form of communication, it’s “Louie Louie”, and the only thing the scientist learns is that this whale is a Kingsmen fan.
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If Gary Larson’s The Far Side loves one thing, it’s nature, and that obsession with flora and fauna doesn’t stop at the shoreline.
ThisFar Sidecomic is yet another example of how Gary Larson is a master of wordplay, as he has taken ‘whale song’ as a whale singing a literal song. Plus, this is probably the best example of a comic one can hear, as “Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen is a song everyone has heard (whether they realize it or not), andthey’ll hear it as soon as they read thisFar Sidecomic.
2Conductor Nightmares
This Far Side Conductor Has Stress Dreams the Night Before the Big Concert
A conductor is having a restless night’s sleep, as it’s the night before his big concert (as indicated by the newspaper by his bed), and he’s plagued with nightmarish stress dreams. Every one of his musicians in the orchestra had apparently lost their mind in his stress-induced nightmare, as they were all acting utterly insane with their instruments.It seems like they’re using their instruments for everything except playing music, and the ones that are playing their instruments correctly aren’t playing them well at all. It’s a classic stress dream, no doubt about it, and watching him squirm over it is equal parts stress-inducing and hilarious.
In just one panel,The Far Sidegives readers a pretty interesting narrative - one that would be cool to see play out. Who is this conductor? What has he had to go through before getting this apparent ‘big break’? Are his musicians a bunch of underdogs that he brought to greatness? Is there a chance they could all screw up this badly? And - biggest question of them all - how does his concert turn out?!This is a captivating comic that leaves readers wanting more, especially when it comes to actually hearing the final orchestra.
1Live Villain Theme
A villainous cowboy is about to walk into a saloon, and the musicians in the bar are readyfor his arrival. The guy playing the banjo turns to the one playing the piano and says, “Bad guy comin' in, Arnie!… Minor key!”. As musicians (and most music fans) know, a minor key evokes feelings of darkness, especially in a Western, which makes it perfect for a bad guy cowboy - and these musicians know that.
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It’s hilarious to consider that thebad guys inThe Far Sideget live villain themes, as if the entire soundtrack of any given Western was played by in-world musicians. But, the best part of this comic - just like with the rest of theseFar Sidecomics - is that readers can practically hear the music coming through the panel, which only makes the experience of reading these comics that much more enjoyable.
