A
novelty song is a comical or nonsensical
song, performed principally for its
comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in
Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of
popular music. The other two divisions were
ballads and
dance music. Novelty songs achieved great popularity during the 1920s and 1930s. They had a resurgence of interest in the 1950s and 1960s.