"Deteriorata" is a comedy record released as a single in 1972. It is a parody of Les Crane's 1971 spoken word recording of "Desiderata", the early 20th-century poem by Max Ehrmann. ("Desiderata" is Latin for "desired things"; "deteriorata" is a portmanteau of the verb "deteriorate" and "desiderata".)
The parody was written by Tony Hendra for National Lampoon, and was recorded for the album Radio Dinner. Narrator Norman Rose read the "poem" and Melissa Manchester sang the song. Christopher Guest wrote the music.
"Deteriorata" appeared on the lower reaches of the Billboard magazine charts for a few weeks in late 1972, peaking as high as No. 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts.[1] The parody gained some significance and popularity as a frequent presentation on the Dr. Demento radio show.[2][3]
Les Crane himself later admitted that he preferred the parody version over his Grammy-winning recording of the original poem.[4]