Little Ditty 'Bout Al and Lin-Manuel ...
July 5, 2020 8:53 PM Subscribe
Here comes the general ... the pride of Lynwood ... ladies and gentlemen ... "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC ... and his friendship with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
On October 5, 1985, a young boy was taken to a "Weird Al" Yankovic concert at the Beacon Theater in NYC and yelled "Play 'Yoda'!" at "Weird Al" Yankovic. When he meets his hero1 ≈26 years later, "I have ... no ... chill ... whatsoever." The moment, despite Lin-Manuel's impression, nonetheless started a great friendship. While meeting up for lunch in 2018, they learned they were getting stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the same time. Yankovic would participate in the #Ham4All drive with "What'd I Miss?" ... which rocks on the accordion.2
Two years later, as part of the Hamildrops series, "Weird Al" Yankovic would adapt that young man's musical about the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury as a polka (Lin-Manuel hearing it for the first time3, cast backstage lip-sync).
And in July 2020, he'd sync his polka to footage from the newly-released film.4
Is the next musical going to be "Yankovic"?
(Bonus videoes: Helpless and Helpless.)
1Not to gatekeep, but enough of a fan that he can name "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Near Mars" right off the top of his head ....
2Here's the other part of that compilation if you wanted to watch it.
3This one actually has the audio from Miranda, if unfortunately also that from Fallon.
4Yeah, this is the main "new" link. Buried the lede.
On October 5, 1985, a young boy was taken to a "Weird Al" Yankovic concert at the Beacon Theater in NYC and yelled "Play 'Yoda'!" at "Weird Al" Yankovic. When he meets his hero1 ≈26 years later, "I have ... no ... chill ... whatsoever." The moment, despite Lin-Manuel's impression, nonetheless started a great friendship. While meeting up for lunch in 2018, they learned they were getting stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the same time. Yankovic would participate in the #Ham4All drive with "What'd I Miss?" ... which rocks on the accordion.2
Two years later, as part of the Hamildrops series, "Weird Al" Yankovic would adapt that young man's musical about the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury as a polka (Lin-Manuel hearing it for the first time3, cast backstage lip-sync).
And in July 2020, he'd sync his polka to footage from the newly-released film.4
Is the next musical going to be "Yankovic"?
(Bonus videoes: Helpless and Helpless.)
1Not to gatekeep, but enough of a fan that he can name "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Near Mars" right off the top of his head ....
2Here's the other part of that compilation if you wanted to watch it.
3This one actually has the audio from Miranda, if unfortunately also that from Fallon.
4Yeah, this is the main "new" link. Buried the lede.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- loup
This looks like a great post. I look forward to exploring it tonight after work.
posted by mumimor at 11:20 PM on July 5, 2020
posted by mumimor at 11:20 PM on July 5, 2020
I don't understand music theory. But from Manuel's and Fallon's reactions, there are points where it seems like they're not just geeking out but genuinely impressed with the music. And I can imagine that translating a hip hop musical to polka would be a challenge... I just really want someone who Knows Things help me appreciate it even more!
I'm not a music theory person either, but one thing they're reacting to is based on their deep knowledge of Weird Al's polkas.
So Weird Al does on basically every album a polka medley, that takes 10 or so songs and whips them up into a polka; these are usually contemporary hits although he's done one that is all Rolling Stones tracks and one that's a full length cover of Bohemian Rhapsody (which is basically a medley in itself). The polka medleys play on the incongruity of playing one genre in another style, and also from the occasional comic takes on the originals; for instance Alanis Morissette's You Oughtta Know gets the lengthy, strained "You" near the end of the chorus converted into a more polka-appropriate yodel. A lot of the interstitial material that he uses to segue from song to song in the medley is from classic polkas like the Beer Barrel Polka, and some of it is unique to Al. (For copyright purposes, every medley is officially one of the component songs, as well as usually a composition called "Ear Booker Polka" by Weird Al, which covers his original components in the mix.)
He's using the full bag of tricks he's developed in the Hamilton polka, which calls back to his earlier works as well as references the musical itself. So he will often punctuate a song with a comedy sound effect -- such as censoring Nine Inch Nails' Closer. He pulls that one out during The Schuyler Sisters; Angelica and Eliza both have substantial, prominent roles in the musical, but the third sister, Peggy doesn't do much at all (the performer plays Maria Reynolds in the second act), so the already somewhat dismissive "... and Peggy" from the original is further punctuated with a fart. Yes, it's a fart noise joke but I insist it has sophistication.
The best example, though is after You'll Be Back. The music drops out into (what I mentally call a "cool jazz") bass and hi-hat line, which is used as the basis for The Room Where It Happened. Which matches the bassy, understated nature of the song, and the insidery take that the lyrics use. It's not immediately clear why this is in a polka medley, it's not a polka.
But it is a Weird Al Polka Medley piece. It's in his first polka, transitioning from Talking Heads' Burning Down The House to Foreigner's Hot Blooded. He used it to go from Nena's 99 Luftbalons into doing Kenny Loggins' Footloose in the polka medley on (ridiculously strong 1985 release) Dare To Be Stupid, but he also used a version of it in 2006 to transition from The White Stripes' Fell In Love With A Girl to The Strokes' Last Nite. It's been used for Katy Perry and 50 Cent and others.
So it's Miranda and Fallon seeing the way that the Hamilton music is not only being altered and shifted in unique and surprising ways (the transition from "I'm willing to..." from Wait For It into "Work, work" in The Schuyler Sisters is butter-smooth), but it's simultaneously being integrated with the very specific body of polka medley work that Weird Al specifically has done over his career. Fallon's performative and I'd love to see a full-length Miranda version, but it's clear where Fallon knows not only the Hamilton music but also the Weird Al transitions (the Down down down down at the end of The World Turned Upside Down). He's pointing and dancing along to bits of music he's never heard before, because they're being integrated from the dozen or so polka medleys Weird Al has done in the past.
They're also reacting to the other bits of musical brilliance; I mean, Guns And Ships is famously the fastest song in a very lyrically dense musical, and Weird Al is doing it about 20% faster. (The 19 words that take 3 seconds in the original take 2.4 in the polka.)
In conclusion, Weird Al Yankovic needs to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 12:53 AM on July 6, 2020 [162 favorites]
I'm not a music theory person either, but one thing they're reacting to is based on their deep knowledge of Weird Al's polkas.
So Weird Al does on basically every album a polka medley, that takes 10 or so songs and whips them up into a polka; these are usually contemporary hits although he's done one that is all Rolling Stones tracks and one that's a full length cover of Bohemian Rhapsody (which is basically a medley in itself). The polka medleys play on the incongruity of playing one genre in another style, and also from the occasional comic takes on the originals; for instance Alanis Morissette's You Oughtta Know gets the lengthy, strained "You" near the end of the chorus converted into a more polka-appropriate yodel. A lot of the interstitial material that he uses to segue from song to song in the medley is from classic polkas like the Beer Barrel Polka, and some of it is unique to Al. (For copyright purposes, every medley is officially one of the component songs, as well as usually a composition called "Ear Booker Polka" by Weird Al, which covers his original components in the mix.)
He's using the full bag of tricks he's developed in the Hamilton polka, which calls back to his earlier works as well as references the musical itself. So he will often punctuate a song with a comedy sound effect -- such as censoring Nine Inch Nails' Closer. He pulls that one out during The Schuyler Sisters; Angelica and Eliza both have substantial, prominent roles in the musical, but the third sister, Peggy doesn't do much at all (the performer plays Maria Reynolds in the second act), so the already somewhat dismissive "... and Peggy" from the original is further punctuated with a fart. Yes, it's a fart noise joke but I insist it has sophistication.
The best example, though is after You'll Be Back. The music drops out into (what I mentally call a "cool jazz") bass and hi-hat line, which is used as the basis for The Room Where It Happened. Which matches the bassy, understated nature of the song, and the insidery take that the lyrics use. It's not immediately clear why this is in a polka medley, it's not a polka.
But it is a Weird Al Polka Medley piece. It's in his first polka, transitioning from Talking Heads' Burning Down The House to Foreigner's Hot Blooded. He used it to go from Nena's 99 Luftbalons into doing Kenny Loggins' Footloose in the polka medley on (ridiculously strong 1985 release) Dare To Be Stupid, but he also used a version of it in 2006 to transition from The White Stripes' Fell In Love With A Girl to The Strokes' Last Nite. It's been used for Katy Perry and 50 Cent and others.
So it's Miranda and Fallon seeing the way that the Hamilton music is not only being altered and shifted in unique and surprising ways (the transition from "I'm willing to..." from Wait For It into "Work, work" in The Schuyler Sisters is butter-smooth), but it's simultaneously being integrated with the very specific body of polka medley work that Weird Al specifically has done over his career. Fallon's performative and I'd love to see a full-length Miranda version, but it's clear where Fallon knows not only the Hamilton music but also the Weird Al transitions (the Down down down down at the end of The World Turned Upside Down). He's pointing and dancing along to bits of music he's never heard before, because they're being integrated from the dozen or so polka medleys Weird Al has done in the past.
They're also reacting to the other bits of musical brilliance; I mean, Guns And Ships is famously the fastest song in a very lyrically dense musical, and Weird Al is doing it about 20% faster. (The 19 words that take 3 seconds in the original take 2.4 in the polka.)
In conclusion, Weird Al Yankovic needs to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 12:53 AM on July 6, 2020 [162 favorites]
Oh man this is great. I just got back home from watching Hamilton with my family. Everyone one loved it except my Dad who walked out ten minutes in because "I never understood rap." But that was only 33% of the baby boomers in the room. The other two who are life long Broadway lovers declared it one of the best they have ever seen.
posted by nestor_makhno at 1:00 AM on July 6, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by nestor_makhno at 1:00 AM on July 6, 2020 [3 favorites]
I will pay somebody to remove Fallon's commentary from the reaction video
Right now I'm using a post it note to cover his face on my phone so I can focus on the polka and the unadulterated joy radiating from Lin
posted by Kitchen Witch at 1:39 AM on July 6, 2020 [10 favorites]
Right now I'm using a post it note to cover his face on my phone so I can focus on the polka and the unadulterated joy radiating from Lin
posted by Kitchen Witch at 1:39 AM on July 6, 2020 [10 favorites]
Another point about "why are Lin and Jimmy Fallon so blown away by Weird Al's polka" - Al actually sang everything about 10% faster than it's written. You can tell this by watching the video that syncs the movie to the Hamilton Polka - the clips are sped up just a bit so that the lip-syncing matches, but it's enough so that you can see that it is sped up. Some of the original songs already were pretty damn fast ("Guns and Ships", anyone?), so to hear them being sung even faster is an impressive feat if nothing else.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:42 AM on July 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:42 AM on July 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
....Whoops, just saw that "and it's faster" has already been mentioned. But reiterating that you can see it in the "syncing the film to the polka" and it's kinda funny.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:43 AM on July 6, 2020
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:43 AM on July 6, 2020
This is the best post.
posted by bondcliff at 7:55 AM on July 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 7:55 AM on July 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
The version of Helpless with instruments around the house - who has a Sousaphone sitting around their house? I'm mean, I know I'm outlier because I have a pile of more obscure brass instruments in my house, but a Sousaphone?
posted by plinth at 8:06 AM on July 6, 2020
posted by plinth at 8:06 AM on July 6, 2020
The version of Helpless with instruments around the house - who has a Sousaphone sitting around their house?
Professional sousaphone players?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:07 AM on July 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
Professional sousaphone players?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:07 AM on July 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
"Ear Booker Polka"
The last song with a credited version of "Ear Booker Polka" was in 1996. Weird Al has been giving the connecting music different names since then:
"W.A.Y. Moby Polka"
"Poodle Hat Polka"
"The Nina Bobina Polka"
"Whatever's Left Over Polka"
"Mandatory Polka"
Hamilton medley didn't have a credited connector though, which is a first since Bohemian Polka.
posted by jmauro at 8:54 AM on July 6, 2020 [3 favorites]
The last song with a credited version of "Ear Booker Polka" was in 1996. Weird Al has been giving the connecting music different names since then:
"W.A.Y. Moby Polka"
"Poodle Hat Polka"
"The Nina Bobina Polka"
"Whatever's Left Over Polka"
"Mandatory Polka"
Hamilton medley didn't have a credited connector though, which is a first since Bohemian Polka.
posted by jmauro at 8:54 AM on July 6, 2020 [3 favorites]
Not to gatekeep, but enough of a fan that he can name "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Near Mars " right off the top of his head ....
There's a story Lin tells in the interview at the "enough of a fan" link that I still love - after sending Lin the song, Al then sent a copy to Questlove. Who also, as soon as he received it, listened to it and reacted quite strongly.
So Lin, immediately after listening to the track at home, got a phone call from Questlove - and when he answered, all he heard was Questlove ecstatically hollering "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:19 AM on July 6, 2020 [18 favorites]
There's a story Lin tells in the interview at the "enough of a fan" link that I still love - after sending Lin the song, Al then sent a copy to Questlove. Who also, as soon as he received it, listened to it and reacted quite strongly.
So Lin, immediately after listening to the track at home, got a phone call from Questlove - and when he answered, all he heard was Questlove ecstatically hollering "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:19 AM on July 6, 2020 [18 favorites]
Weird Al Yankovic needs to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Yes, but as Questlove points out, a Weird Al parody is a higher award than the R&RHoF. So that's a bit of a puzzler.
posted by bonehead at 9:38 AM on July 6, 2020 [10 favorites]
Yes, but as Questlove points out, a Weird Al parody is a higher award than the R&RHoF. So that's a bit of a puzzler.
posted by bonehead at 9:38 AM on July 6, 2020 [10 favorites]
Also: The Casts of Hamilton Perform The Hamilton Polka, just in case this hasn't been posted above.
posted by bonehead at 11:53 AM on July 6, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by bonehead at 11:53 AM on July 6, 2020 [6 favorites]
Two national treasures.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:31 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:31 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is a great round-up for this sub-topic? -genre? Whatever. The only thing missing (and to this day I'm mad I didn't take my own advice that I always give others and download the fucking thing from YouTube because it can always disappear) is the segment from that Fallon appearance of Lin and Al, where all three of them are lip-syncing the Polka while running about in tiny circles like children, striking weird/hilarious poses, and it ends with Lin leaping over the sofa face-first on the "shave and a haircut, two bits" phrasing, wiggling one leg in the air over the back of it just to put a button on the thing.
Christ I was so stupid not to grab that.
posted by tzikeh at 12:50 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Christ I was so stupid not to grab that.
posted by tzikeh at 12:50 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I grew up nerdy in the 70s and 80s, reading comics and SF and fantasy and loving Star Wars and the whole nine yards, and yet I have a number of areas of Geek Apostasy that inevitably separate me from more Orthodox Nerds. Among them are a complete dislike for anime; a hatred of prog rock; and a deep ambivalence for novelty music including and especially Weird Al.
I have every respect for what he does, and has done, in turning what could've easily been a one-note career into a beloved industry. I understand he's a terribly, terribly nice person. I cannot imagine how neat it must be to realize you're part of the zeitgeist enough such that he's parodied you (and I enjoy seeing musicians talk about the moment when this happens -- ISTR there's a clip of Kurt Cobain talking about it, and loving it, which is cool).
But holy cow I just can't listen. It's like nails on a chalkboard. But yay for people who like it, and yay for Lin, because I can't get enough of Lin being amazed at the life his creation has taken on.
posted by uberchet at 1:38 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I have every respect for what he does, and has done, in turning what could've easily been a one-note career into a beloved industry. I understand he's a terribly, terribly nice person. I cannot imagine how neat it must be to realize you're part of the zeitgeist enough such that he's parodied you (and I enjoy seeing musicians talk about the moment when this happens -- ISTR there's a clip of Kurt Cobain talking about it, and loving it, which is cool).
But holy cow I just can't listen. It's like nails on a chalkboard. But yay for people who like it, and yay for Lin, because I can't get enough of Lin being amazed at the life his creation has taken on.
posted by uberchet at 1:38 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Lin-Manuel and Weird Al together?
Breaking news: The musical talent singularity has now been reached. From this point onward, for as long as humanity survives, everyone who calls themselves a musician will slowly go insane while wishing they could achieve even a small sliver of the talent and impact that those two possess.
Now here's Dave with the weather...
posted by Quasimike at 5:13 PM on July 6, 2020 [5 favorites]
Breaking news: The musical talent singularity has now been reached. From this point onward, for as long as humanity survives, everyone who calls themselves a musician will slowly go insane while wishing they could achieve even a small sliver of the talent and impact that those two possess.
Now here's Dave with the weather...
posted by Quasimike at 5:13 PM on July 6, 2020 [5 favorites]
GUYS! A friend of mine discovered that the OTHER clip from the Tonight Show, where you get to see Al and Lin lip-syncing to part of the Hamilton Polka, is at the NBC.com site, here.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:02 AM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:02 AM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
I love the reminder than Lin-Manuel Miranda is a gigantic dork.
posted by hydropsyche at 7:51 AM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by hydropsyche at 7:51 AM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
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I don't understand music theory. But from Manuel's and Fallon's reactions, there are points where it seems like they're not just geeking out but genuinely impressed with the music. And I can imagine that translating a hip hop musical to polka would be a challenge... I just really want someone who Knows Things help me appreciate it even more!
posted by meese at 11:15 PM on July 5, 2020 [2 favorites]