Please Don't Bomb Us, North Korea

August 15, 2017 8:36 PM

"Weird" Al Yankovic comes to Last Week Tonight With John Oliver to play the accordion to help communicate how the people of the USA actually feel about North Korea. For context on why the accordion, watch the full episode.
posted by hippybear (22 comments total)

why the accordion

Because he's a professional accordion player?
posted by thelonius at 8:47 PM on August 15, 2017 [14 favorites]

Probably the best known and most successful accordion player in the US.
posted by demiurge at 8:50 PM on August 15, 2017 [7 favorites]

And there are stories that Kim Jong-Ul LOVES accordion music. Although that may just be anti-Kim propaganda.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:57 PM on August 15, 2017 [6 favorites]

Weird Al Yankovic is a national treasure.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:23 PM on August 15, 2017 [44 favorites]

I have to agree: I quite like Tom Hanks.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:23 PM on August 15, 2017 [3 favorites]

Previously
posted by Garm at 9:27 PM on August 15, 2017 [2 favorites]

It's "Weird Al", not "Weird" Al....
posted by Metro Gnome at 9:29 PM on August 15, 2017 [7 favorites]

and never Weird "Al"
posted by thelonius at 9:40 PM on August 15, 2017 [12 favorites]

My son adores Weird Al and we end up playing his music quite often. Rather than rolling my eyes and tuning out, I've grown to appreciate even more Yankovic's ability to turn pop culture documents into legitimately clever and humorous parodies in a way that respects and mirrors the original tune. And my son really enjoys listening to both the original and the parody and comparing and contrasting the two. At his age, similarities and differences fascinate him. But I digress.

This song is not Weird Al playing a song about North Korea in polka style. It's Weird Al playing a polka about North Korea.

Oh, also, Marc Maron interviewed him on WTF, and it's a great listen. Marc seems genuinely perplexed and pleased by how genuinely nice Al is.
posted by vverse23 at 9:43 PM on August 15, 2017 [12 favorites]

It's possible he'd only ever seen Weird Al interviewed on Space Ghost (yt), which might explain the confusion.
posted by crysflame at 10:09 PM on August 15, 2017 [2 favorites]

It's "Weird Al", not "Weird" Al....
posted by Metro Gnome at 12:29 AM on August 16

and never Weird "Al"
posted by thelonius at 12:40 AM on August 16

I knew a Weird "Al" back in the day... he wasn't that weird - I mean, other than the staring into the corner periodically and patting the kitten he kept in his arm... and I mean, that doesn't even sound very weird, unless you knew that he called it a kitten and you called it a kitten - because it was a duck.
posted by Nanukthedog at 10:56 PM on August 15, 2017 [4 favorites]

Well, it's certainly never Weird "Al Yankovic", anyway. I mean, his name is pretty well established as fact.

I'm recalling Leo Kottke's story about a friend going to a bar & being worried about leaving his accordion in the backseat of his car. Sure enough, when he came out the window had been smashed in and there were three more accordions the car.
posted by sysinfo at 11:03 PM on August 15, 2017 [26 favorites]

Why are big accordions better than small ones?

Because they burn longer.
posted by Paul Slade at 11:56 PM on August 15, 2017 [6 favorites]

OMG I love "Wired" Ally Anchorvitch! She's a GREAT robot parody of that other lady, the radical Scottish-Croatian accordion player, "Wee, Rad" Ellie-Anne Kovic. Who had that bizarre hit single, "Wheedle Yank of Itch" ... which was pretty "weird", now I think of it.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 12:43 AM on August 16, 2017 [5 favorites]

Despite having listened to the song, looking at the title still makes me want it to be to the tune of "We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert."
posted by darksasami at 5:02 AM on August 16, 2017 [3 favorites]

Did you hear the joke about polka music? I can't remember it either, but the punchline is "the accordion player got hit by a car."

Seriously, though, this was great. Weird Al is my hero.
posted by brand-gnu at 6:00 AM on August 16, 2017

Funny thing is that as soon as John Oliver said "accordion" I thought "I wonder if he'll have Weird Al on?" Ten minutes later, I'd entirely forgotten about it until all of a sudden there's Weird Al!
posted by wierdo at 6:50 AM on August 16, 2017 [3 favorites]

Weird Al is my hero and best-friend-in-my-head since I was young. The accordion bit in the beginning was such a perfect setup for the Weird Al callback. SO kept telling me to shut up when I kept chanting, "please let Weird Al be there! Please let Weird Al be there!".

Also, for the last 10 years or so, I read Weird Al as Weird AI. And Weird AI is the best AI.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 8:46 AM on August 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

Joe Zawinul was an accordian player before he switched to piano and on to synths.
posted by thelonius at 9:51 AM on August 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

That took me back to the old days of having to figure out a song's lyrics myself by listening over and over!
posted by tomboko at 10:04 AM on August 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Probably the best known and most successful accordion player in the US.

You can tell because, when he plays the accordion, people seem to enjoy it.
posted by Naberius at 11:29 AM on August 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Well if anything can turn the tide here, it's those knee-high tube socks with red stripes. I haven't felt so fired up since 1973.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 3:13 PM on August 16, 2017