61: Stacey's Dad

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Stacey's Dad

Title text: I bet she gets you to mow the lawn, doesn't she?

Explanation

This comic refers to the song "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne (See the music video on YouTube). As the background singers repeatedly say, "Stacy's mom has got it goin' on." Although Randall has used the wrong spelling of 'Stacy'.

The song is from the perspective of a young teenage boy who has a crush on his best friend's mother — 'Stacy's Mom' — and has deluded himself into thinking that she might like him back. In one verse, he tells Stacy "I know that you think it's just a fantasy, but since your Dad walked out your Mom could use a guy like me," and this is the line the comic is referencing, with Stacy's Dad (drawn the same way as Hairy, making this his first appearance) directly echoing the line and explaining why he left Stacy's Mom, suggesting that the singer do the same.

The line "Stacy's Mom has got it going on" is repeated throughout the song, and in context simply means that Stacy's Mom is very attractive. Here, however, Stacy's Dad changes it, saying that she "has a lot going on," which means that she has issues that would make a relationship difficult.

The humor comes from the fact that, in the song, it is very clear that the singer does not actually have a chance with Stacy's Mom and is merely kidding himself, as he is still just a kid. But in the comic, Stacy's Dad appears to be taking the situation completely seriously, and is worried enough about the possibility of Stacy's Mom and the boy getting together that he feels the need to warn him away.

The title text is referencing the second verse, which begins: "Stacy remember when I mowed your lawn." Mowing the lawn is the sort of chore that a kid might get paid to do for a friend's parent, and in the song, this is meant to emphasize that Stacy's Mom sees the singer as a child, not as a potential partner. But here, Stacy's Dad seems to be implying that mowing the lawn is something that Stacy's Mom made him — and possibly all her previous partners — do for her, and so her getting the boy to do it is actually a sign that she is interested in him.

The song Stacy's Mom was again referenced in 575: Tag Combination.

Transcript

[A hairy man.]

Man: Look, I know you think that since I walked out she could use a guy like you. But trust me. That woman has got a lot going on, and you want none of it.

Man: Get out while you still can.

[Printed across the bottom of the panel.]

Stacey's dad.

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Discussion

Someone had called for this explanation to only link to the lyrics of the song. But that would not explain the comic! As I think this is already a perfect explanation I have removed the incomplete tag! Kynde (talk) 12:52, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

In the interests of community-decisions, I concur. Good explanation that refers to the lyrics (nice inclusion of them, too) to explain the joke. Not incomplete at all. --BigMal // 173.245.55.88 15:17, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

At the time the tag was added, the explanation section was simply a copy-paste of the lyrics with no explanation. The explanation has since been fleshed out, but the tag was never removed. I agree; it's complete now. 141.101.99.229 17:51, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

♪Stacy's dad has got it pretty bad♪ 173.245.52.29 00:51, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

Randall used the wrong spelling of Stacy here. Scandalous! (Perhaps a [sic] would be a good idea?) 108.162.238.17 16:14, 23 December 2016 (UTC)