A sideshow is just as the name implies. It's a side attraction to a circus, carnival, or other event. Sideshows usually consist of acts that do odd, or dangerous things, like sword swallowing, or fire breathing. But they also include real human oddities like bearded women, thin men, pickled punks (preserved embryos) and deformed people, as well as fake oddities created by putting together two different types of animals. One example of this was the Fiji Mermaid, which was created by one of P.T. Barnum's associates by sewing a monkey head and torso onto the body of a fish.
Today, sideshows and freak shows have gained more respect as modern performers appear of their own free will, which was not always the case. Everyone has their own favorite sideshow act, and most of us have one that really freaks us out.
This playlist includes a dozen songs named after different sideshow attractions.
What would you add?
Songs Named After Sideshow Acts
1. Two-Headed Boy - Neutral Milk Hotel
2. Siamese Twins - The Cure
3. Ballad Of A Thin Man - Bob Dylan
4. Bearded Lady - The Tiger Lillies
5. The Elephant Man - Volano
6. Fire Eater - Three Dog Night
7. Thin Man - Suzanne Vega
8. Fat Lady - The Young Lions
9. Lobster Boy - The Sandworms
10. Loligo's Pickled Punks - Circus Contraption
11. Tattoo'd Girl - The Crying Spell
12. Sword Swallower - Agoraphobic Nosebleed
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