Greetings,
Today is the birthday of a man who I've heard called the Court Jester of Rock and Roll. VH1 said it, and if he likes it, I agree. To whom am I referring? None other than Weird Al Yankovic. Still, the only person in the music industry who is a total joke because he means to be.
Weird Al has been around for about my whole life, and I've been a fan for as long as I can remember. Of course, in the beginning, I just found him really funny, and I still do, but as I've gotten older, I've learned to respect him as a true artist and musician. Because that is exactly what he is. And he is just so lovable. How else do you explain tons and tons of music acts, who spend a boat load of time protecting their images, allowing him to have some fun with exactly that? I think it may be because whatever Al has done, he does it because he likes and respects those artists, and it's his special way of paying homage to them. Not me. I've written parodies, Al Style, but I was trying to be straight up mean. 'Cause that's how I roll. But Weird Al is clearly a better person than I am. Still, he is one of the reasons why I wouldn't mind having one of my non-parody songs become something of a hit, just to have him put his magic touch on it. To have such a thing happen to an artist has literally become a badge of honor. As well it should be.
So, in honor of his birthday, I would like to share my top ten favorite Weird Al parodies. Just the parodies today, none of his original songs. They will most likely get their own list someday. Enough stalling. Let's get to it.
Honorable Mention: I just want to give a shout out to all of Al's Polka Medleys, where he takes hit songs and puts them together in one long hilarious polka song. Not exactly parody, but smile inducing enough to get a mention.
#10. "Jurassic Park" - So Al's thing is taking popular music and songs and making them his own through parody. But it's not just popular music that is useful to him. Take this song, where he took the biggest film of the day and made it downright hilarious with this version of "MacArthur Park", a song that was once an inexplicable hit. Yeah, you'd think the lyrics to THAT song were strange enough (Cake? What?!), but Al took it one step beyond. Oh, and apparently, Steven Spielberg approved of the song and video. Of course, he also approved of the ending of AI, which was...whatever. But when it comes to this song, I approve.
#9. "Party In the CIA" - You know how, lately, a lot of people have been doing these hilarious spoofs of the "Wrecking Ball" video by Miley Cyrus, and our responses have been like, "Well, at least, some good things are coming out of that mess!" Take it back a couple years to when Al did this version of Miley's former hit, "Party in the U.S.A". And much like how Betty White is more appealing to see on a wrecking ball than Miley, so is Al more appealing to hear singing this song. He can actually sing it without being sharper than a sword in a Tarentino movie. Congrats!
#8. "TMZ" - If there are two things most of us can't stand, it's famous people who complain about being famous and who have literally no sense of humor. I think Al took those things and totally ran with them on this one. It's like, look, if you want to be a celebrity, you're going to have to deal with some stuff, like people taking your picture. Yes, they have it so rough. And they really need to learn to laugh at themselves, because we already are. And this song just made doing so a lot easier.
#7. "The White Stuff" - This is probably one of the lesser known songs on the list, but I absolutely had to put it on here. Why? Because I love New Kids on the Block, and I love Oreos. Alfred Matthew Yankovic is my hero.
#6. "Amish Paradise" - Oooh, controversy. Yeah, we all know that there was some hoopla with this song. Al thought he had Coolio's permission to do the "Gansta's Paradise" parody, but, because of some miscommunication, he didn't. Funny thing, because it is, in fact, parody protected under fair use, Al didn't really need permission. He never does. Still, he is known for always asking for it from artists before covering their songs. Because that's the kind of guy he is. Anyway, I'm just going to say how much I get a kick out of this song, not mention the video. Oh, hi, Mrs. Brady!
#5. "Headline News" - Some people say that being a 'One Hit Wonder' isn't bad at all. Better than nothing. But what can make that one hit experience even sweeter would be if it becomes immortalized by Weird Al. Such was the case with the song "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies. Yeah, youngsters, this is a thing that actually happened. How perfect that Al took a flash in the pan song by a flash in the pan artist and centered his parody around flash in the pan news stories of the day. Genius.
#4. "White and Nerdy" - This was big. This was huge! This was, believe it or not, the first song of Weird Al's to go Top Ten. Not bad at all for a comedy artist. Now whilst Al has had a fairly steady stream of success since the eighties, this song really put him back on top in a major way. I think a lot of that had to do with the video, which got tons of airplay in a time when people can barely remember what music videos are. And it had Donny Osmond. Seriously, what more could we want? Well, I guess, Marie. Maybe next time.
#3. "Trapped in the Drive Thru" - In 2005, R. Kelly began releasing chapters of what he called a "rap opera" entitled "Trapped in the Closet", and he kept releasing them for seven years. Some people thought it was genius while others thought it was the most pretentious and ridiculous thing they had ever witnessed. SEVEN YEARS!!! What did I think? Well, as soon as I saw it, I thought, "Yep, we are SO getting a Weird Al song out of this!" And we did. Interestingly enough, there are times when I think the original might be even funnier than Al's version, only because it wasn't meant to be funny. And that makes it downright hilarious.
#2. "Gump" - One of my favorite movies of all time is Forrest Gump. So I was overjoyed when I heard that Al had done a song about it. I mean, I have to love any song that makes a reference to a character played by my beloved Gary Sinise. Hey, I wonder if the Lt. Dan Band ever covers this one. If they don't, they should. No, wait! Even better! Weird Al should sit in with the band some time and do it. Seriously, somebody needs to make this happen!
#1. "The Saga Begins" - When I am asked one of the most important questions in life, that being 'Star Wars or Star Trek?', I admittedly have to go with Trek. It's just how I was raised. Not to say I don't respect the whole Star Wars thing. Actually, hearing about all the intricacies of the story and the mythology really impressed me as a writer. So, clearly, this one took a little research. Or not. Maybe Al just had to watch The Phantom Menace again, but really pay attention. That may even be worse than having to do homework style research. And a lot more boring. And agonizing. Need I remind you that it is in this film that Baby Darth Vader uttered the word "Whoopee!" Hate. HAAAATE!! But anyway, as per usual, Al made the world a better place by taking something that a lot of people thought was "Meh" at best, and turned it into one of the most entertaining and singalongable things he has ever composed. Good times, Weird Al. Good times, indeed.
And that concludes my list. So, yeah, I love Weird Al Yankovic. I think he is fun and funny and talented, but it's not just that. I have always believed that Al is just a straight up great person. I don't think I've ever really heard anyone say anything that bad about him, and everyone is at least a little but of a fan of his. He just seems like a nice guy who has been blessed with a great career, loyal friends, a loving family, and he always seems so incredibly grateful for all of it. Well, I am very grateful for him as well. May God continue to bless him with success, and many more songs to take and make even better!
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
