the medleys are composed of various popular songs, each one reinterpreted as a polka (generally an instrumentation of accordion, banjo, tuba, clarinet, and muted brass interspersed with sound effects) with the choruses or memorable lines of various songs juxtaposed for humorous effect. yankovic has been known to say that converting these songs to polka was "...the way god intended." yankovic said that the medleys were something he did "even before i had a record deal" in live performances, and that many of the songs are included due to not receiving a full parody version - "if there’s a song that i think is really ripe for parody but i just can’t think of a clever enough idea, sometimes it’ll end up in the polka medley." regarding their popularity, yankovic has said, "at this point, it's sort of mandatory for me to do a polka medley. fans would be rioting in the streets, i think, if i didn't do a polka medley." yankovic has always asked permission from every artist whose songs compose a medley due to royalties issues. he acknowledged some influence of spike jones in the medleys, such as the sound effects.