Whether they all would self-identify as nerds is hard to say
October 26, 2022 2:24 PM Subscribe
“I don’t rail against PC culture and all that because I think when somebody is accused of being politically correct, that usually just means they’re being sensitive to other people’s feelings.” -- ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic: The Great American Novelty
I loved Yankovic and then got too old or too cool for his parodies.
I know all the individual words, but the sentence just doesn't make sense to me.
(maybe because I was never cool to begin with)
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:49 PM on October 26, 2022 [23 favorites]
I know all the individual words, but the sentence just doesn't make sense to me.
(maybe because I was never cool to begin with)
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:49 PM on October 26, 2022 [23 favorites]
May this one sweet thing never milkshake duck.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:52 PM on October 26, 2022 [63 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:52 PM on October 26, 2022 [63 favorites]
I think Zappa would get great glee out of it.
And if met Weird Al, I think I'd be in that legion of fans saying... thank you for making it ok and fine to be a nerd for 2-5 minutes at a time.
posted by drewbage1847 at 3:11 PM on October 26, 2022 [9 favorites]
And if met Weird Al, I think I'd be in that legion of fans saying... thank you for making it ok and fine to be a nerd for 2-5 minutes at a time.
posted by drewbage1847 at 3:11 PM on October 26, 2022 [9 favorites]
As for changing social mores, I invite everyone to listen again to “Melanie” from Even Worse.
Yeah, you wouldn’t want to write something like that today. But listen to that bridge… the simple yearning in those harmonies… I doubt if Al has a mean bone in his body, and to me his decency and kindness shine through unmistakably.
posted by ducky l'orange at 3:28 PM on October 26, 2022 [7 favorites]
Yeah, you wouldn’t want to write something like that today. But listen to that bridge… the simple yearning in those harmonies… I doubt if Al has a mean bone in his body, and to me his decency and kindness shine through unmistakably.
posted by ducky l'orange at 3:28 PM on October 26, 2022 [7 favorites]
“Some people who do song parodies, their whole thesis in the song is, ‘This band sucks. This artist sucks. This song sucks,’” Yankovic says. “That gets old after a while.”
YES! Al approaches every song with, if not love, than at least respect. He finds whatever nugget makes it great and can hang a parody on that alone.
his body of work made me curious about pop music and how it worked, how words worked; I might not have been a writer without it otherwise
Also this. I don't think I'd be a musician without Al. He taught me how pop music is constructed, how lyrics work, the importance of a great hook and precision in songwriting. 80% of the tricks I know I learned from listening to his music. I don't think that's hyperbole.
posted by uncleozzy at 3:45 PM on October 26, 2022 [29 favorites]
YES! Al approaches every song with, if not love, than at least respect. He finds whatever nugget makes it great and can hang a parody on that alone.
his body of work made me curious about pop music and how it worked, how words worked; I might not have been a writer without it otherwise
Also this. I don't think I'd be a musician without Al. He taught me how pop music is constructed, how lyrics work, the importance of a great hook and precision in songwriting. 80% of the tricks I know I learned from listening to his music. I don't think that's hyperbole.
posted by uncleozzy at 3:45 PM on October 26, 2022 [29 favorites]
Weird Al was just featured on the Strong Songs podcast.
posted by team lowkey at 3:59 PM on October 26, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by team lowkey at 3:59 PM on October 26, 2022 [7 favorites]
One of the best concerts I ever saw was Wierd Al. He pulls out all the stops. So there are no stops on his accordion.
Seriously, go see him perform if you can. You will not regret it, even the most cynical and hardened of you.
posted by not_on_display at 4:04 PM on October 26, 2022 [28 favorites]
Seriously, go see him perform if you can. You will not regret it, even the most cynical and hardened of you.
posted by not_on_display at 4:04 PM on October 26, 2022 [28 favorites]
I always love an Al thread. First time, though, that the linked article mentions both Al and Primus. Thought I was one of the few that love both…
posted by Jubal Kessler at 4:56 PM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Jubal Kessler at 4:56 PM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Nope! I was very happy to see them mentioned as well.
posted by bondcliff at 4:57 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by bondcliff at 4:57 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
I loved Yankovic and then got too old or too cool for his parodies.
I know all the individual words, but the sentence just doesn't make sense to me.
Cool old people only listen to the polka medleys.
posted by Gary at 5:27 PM on October 26, 2022 [15 favorites]
I know all the individual words, but the sentence just doesn't make sense to me.
Cool old people only listen to the polka medleys.
posted by Gary at 5:27 PM on October 26, 2022 [15 favorites]
I've always felt that Al's Kurt Cobain parody really got to the essence of what Kurt was actually saying, and clarified it somewhat.
posted by ovvl at 5:38 PM on October 26, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 5:38 PM on October 26, 2022 [4 favorites]
Will Menaker, co-host of the leftist comedy/politics podcast “Chapo Trap House,” says, “The seed of what would become ‘Chapo’” was planted when he first saw “UHF,” Yankovic’s 1989 movie about a man of dubious prospects who is given control of a marginal TV station...What an odd thing for Menaker to say. It's as though he's identified the plot of UHF (about a TV station run by outsiders) and associated it with what he does (podcast, in the voice of an outsider) without in any way understanding what makes Weird Al's comedy-career work, that it's an act based on really quite tender parody, layered and self-aware earnestness, and absurdism. Which is to say the least, not what the vicious and ironic kind of comedy Chapo is.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:05 PM on October 26, 2022 [11 favorites]
Like Heidecker, I loved Yankovic and then got too old or too cool for his parodies. But his body of work made me curious about pop music and how it worked, how words worked; I might not have been a writer without it otherwise.
Likewise to the above, and in the article, I've aged back in to the matured phase of Weird Al appreciation, which is of both him as a human being (I *fingers crossed* think he's beyond the milkshake duck horizon) and performer and craftsman of exquisite and precise parodies. If anything, the sheer thoughtfulness he puts into each song has probably stopped him from milshakeducking himself into oblivion for at least a decade, and why the prospect of doing more parodies today seems daunting.
HoWeVer. If you like words, and Weird Al, and his song/video word Crimes, I exhort you to listen to the Good One podcast wherein he breaks down the lyric crafting process he does and make you fall in mature love with him all over again. It left me convinced that he cares about his people, words, and everyone's feelings.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 6:50 PM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Likewise to the above, and in the article, I've aged back in to the matured phase of Weird Al appreciation, which is of both him as a human being (I *fingers crossed* think he's beyond the milkshake duck horizon) and performer and craftsman of exquisite and precise parodies. If anything, the sheer thoughtfulness he puts into each song has probably stopped him from milshakeducking himself into oblivion for at least a decade, and why the prospect of doing more parodies today seems daunting.
HoWeVer. If you like words, and Weird Al, and his song/video word Crimes, I exhort you to listen to the Good One podcast wherein he breaks down the lyric crafting process he does and make you fall in mature love with him all over again. It left me convinced that he cares about his people, words, and everyone's feelings.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 6:50 PM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
May this one sweet thing never milkshake duck.
I think the fact that he and Lin-Manuel Miranda are now buddies is a) indicative of their mutual niceness and b) cute as all hell.
(I mean, they were having lunch together when they both found out they were each getting stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:22 PM on October 26, 2022 [17 favorites]
I think the fact that he and Lin-Manuel Miranda are now buddies is a) indicative of their mutual niceness and b) cute as all hell.
(I mean, they were having lunch together when they both found out they were each getting stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:22 PM on October 26, 2022 [17 favorites]
As for changing social mores, I invite everyone to listen again to “Melanie” from Even Worse
It was on his set list last week at the Kennedy Center (where he quipped he would be honored posthumously.) Yeah...well constructed, felt a little off these days. But no worse than many "serious" songs.
posted by stevis23 at 7:31 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
It was on his set list last week at the Kennedy Center (where he quipped he would be honored posthumously.) Yeah...well constructed, felt a little off these days. But no worse than many "serious" songs.
posted by stevis23 at 7:31 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Good Guy Weird Al. He deserves all of his fame and success.
posted by hijinx at 8:29 PM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hijinx at 8:29 PM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
It was on his set list last week at the Kennedy Center (where he quipped he would be honored posthumously.)
I was in the second row! The musical highlights of the show for me were "Dog Eat Dog" and "Velvet Elvis," two style parodies (Talking Heads and The Police, respectively) that really get to the musical hearts of their inspirations. And being so up close and intimate for the Yoda Chant truly felt like some sort of cult induction ceremony. But "Melanie" and "Good Old Days" both hit differently these days, and should probably be retired.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:40 PM on October 26, 2022 [5 favorites]
I was in the second row! The musical highlights of the show for me were "Dog Eat Dog" and "Velvet Elvis," two style parodies (Talking Heads and The Police, respectively) that really get to the musical hearts of their inspirations. And being so up close and intimate for the Yoda Chant truly felt like some sort of cult induction ceremony. But "Melanie" and "Good Old Days" both hit differently these days, and should probably be retired.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:40 PM on October 26, 2022 [5 favorites]
"Amish Paradise" and "White and Nerdy" are genuinely legendary parodies and I find them to be the most impressive of his songs. Both of those songs were already super good and then being able to be parodied like that is just incredible. We should be so lucky to be good and fortunate in our lifetimes, in our own craft, and in such a distinct niche, like Weird Al has mastered.
posted by yueliang at 10:53 PM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by yueliang at 10:53 PM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
Proof that you can be brilliant, creative, AND a total mensch.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:29 PM on October 26, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:29 PM on October 26, 2022 [8 favorites]
For me, one of the most brilliant (and also most obscure) sound-alike tracks he ever did was Lame Claim to Fame which sounded almost identical to the only Southern Culture on the Skids track I've (still) ever heard Camel Walk.
Like I only ever heard the original from a weird friend who collected weird LPs in the late-90s and early-00s. I kinda forgot about it until Weird Al's sound-alike. And I still wonder to this day "how did Weird Al come across this band? Does anyone even know that this is a sound-alike?". I genuinely have no idea if that's somehow not an obscure band or song (I stopped listening to the radio the day I had a way to play CDs in my first car).
So, for one, I'm leaving this comment as that open question.
For two, it's because his actual most brilliant sound-alike is, of course, Craigslist. Ray Manzarek must have been ecstatic to play along. Hell, everyone involved had to be ecstatic, you can hear it in every enthusiastic note.
(also, while I look forward to watching the upcoming semi-parody biopic, I'm deeply annoyed that Roku thinks they should have a streaming service and/or that I will actually have to let my Roku-branded TV have access to my internet connection so I can watch it)
posted by revmitcz at 11:59 PM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
Like I only ever heard the original from a weird friend who collected weird LPs in the late-90s and early-00s. I kinda forgot about it until Weird Al's sound-alike. And I still wonder to this day "how did Weird Al come across this band? Does anyone even know that this is a sound-alike?". I genuinely have no idea if that's somehow not an obscure band or song (I stopped listening to the radio the day I had a way to play CDs in my first car).
So, for one, I'm leaving this comment as that open question.
For two, it's because his actual most brilliant sound-alike is, of course, Craigslist. Ray Manzarek must have been ecstatic to play along. Hell, everyone involved had to be ecstatic, you can hear it in every enthusiastic note.
(also, while I look forward to watching the upcoming semi-parody biopic, I'm deeply annoyed that Roku thinks they should have a streaming service and/or that I will actually have to let my Roku-branded TV have access to my internet connection so I can watch it)
posted by revmitcz at 11:59 PM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
think when somebody is accused of being politically correct, that usually just means they’re being sensitive to other people’s feelings.”
This is a nicer way of phrasing one of Stewart Lee’s core beliefs about PC - I’ve never thought of those two having anything in common, but now I’d love to hear them have a conversation about it. Not a song, though - genius that Lee is, his few satirical songs are so terrible I can’t bring myself to believe they’re operating on a level I don’t quite get.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:28 AM on October 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
This is a nicer way of phrasing one of Stewart Lee’s core beliefs about PC - I’ve never thought of those two having anything in common, but now I’d love to hear them have a conversation about it. Not a song, though - genius that Lee is, his few satirical songs are so terrible I can’t bring myself to believe they’re operating on a level I don’t quite get.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:28 AM on October 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
(I mean, they were having lunch together when they both found out they were each getting stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.)
This is urban fantasy fairy tale material. Completely, utterly implausible.
posted by mhoye at 5:46 AM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is urban fantasy fairy tale material. Completely, utterly implausible.
posted by mhoye at 5:46 AM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
"Amish Paradise" and "White and Nerdy" are genuinely legendary parodies and I find them to be the most impressive of his songs.
The opening moments of the White And Nerdy video, with Key & Peele doing the startled "oh shit he's coming this way, lock the doors, go go go" bit never, ever fails to make me laugh.
posted by mhoye at 5:53 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
The opening moments of the White And Nerdy video, with Key & Peele doing the startled "oh shit he's coming this way, lock the doors, go go go" bit never, ever fails to make me laugh.
posted by mhoye at 5:53 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
As MC Paul Barman once said:
If someone uses a non-offensive vocabulary then that person is considerate, not PC
If someone has a heavy-handed agenda, that person is narrow-minded, not PC
Unless you mean Providence College,
PC is as meaningless as the president's apology for slavery
Maybe P[ublic] E[nemy] should be on the radio
And not just in the African-American Norton Anthology
posted by penduluum at 6:02 AM on October 27, 2022 [13 favorites]
If someone uses a non-offensive vocabulary then that person is considerate, not PC
If someone has a heavy-handed agenda, that person is narrow-minded, not PC
Unless you mean Providence College,
PC is as meaningless as the president's apology for slavery
Maybe P[ublic] E[nemy] should be on the radio
And not just in the African-American Norton Anthology
posted by penduluum at 6:02 AM on October 27, 2022 [13 favorites]
At least one a week, someone in my house screams "WHEEL OF FISH!", and for that I am thankful.
posted by Faintdreams at 6:10 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Faintdreams at 6:10 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
At least one a week, someone in my house screams "WHEEL OF FISH!", and for that I am thankful.
posted by Faintdreams at 8:10 AM on October 27 [+] [!]
"NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!"
posted by gc at 6:13 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Faintdreams at 8:10 AM on October 27 [+] [!]
"NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!"
posted by gc at 6:13 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
While I find it incredibly difficult to pick just one Weird Al original/style parody song to say is his best, I really encourage you to listen to Pancreas and tell me if it’s not a contender. It’s pitch perfect AND educational!
posted by DiscourseMarker at 6:34 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by DiscourseMarker at 6:34 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
It's easy to overlook Weird Al's talent while you're laughing at his videos but you shouldn't. He is way more than a clever lyricist for other people's melodies. He really gets songs in ways that many interpreters don't. And he's an incredible instrumentalist to boot. He could have done anything and been successful but I'm glad he chose to do what he does.
There's no one like him. And I can't think of anyone who's even tried.
posted by tommasz at 6:53 AM on October 27, 2022 [10 favorites]
There's no one like him. And I can't think of anyone who's even tried.
posted by tommasz at 6:53 AM on October 27, 2022 [10 favorites]
This is urban fantasy fairy tale material. Completely, utterly implausible.
But true!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
But true!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yankovic’s originals skew toward observational comedy and the vividly grotesque; some of his sad-sack protagonists — like “Skipper Dan,” a depressed thespian who’s “read my Uta Hagen and studied the Bard” but has to drive a Jungle Cruise boat at Disneyland to make rent — could almost be Randy Newman characters, although Newman’s never sung about stapling bagels to his face.
I used to work as a factchecker, and reading this sentence made me want to buy a big cup of coffee for whoever had to factcheck it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:32 AM on October 27, 2022 [17 favorites]
I used to work as a factchecker, and reading this sentence made me want to buy a big cup of coffee for whoever had to factcheck it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:32 AM on October 27, 2022 [17 favorites]
Saw him and his marvelous band in SF a few weeks ago, absolutely great concert. Go hear them live on this tour if you can!
Dare To Be Stupid is better Devo than Devo (and Mark Mothersbaugh says so).
posted by LooseFilter at 7:52 AM on October 27, 2022 [11 favorites]
Dare To Be Stupid is better Devo than Devo (and Mark Mothersbaugh says so).
posted by LooseFilter at 7:52 AM on October 27, 2022 [11 favorites]
I'm a sucker for the polka medleys.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:14 AM on October 27, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:14 AM on October 27, 2022 [7 favorites]
When my high school senior class took a trip to Valley Fair in Shakopee Minnesota on our last day of school in 1984, we were pretty psyched to see that Weird Al had a couple of concerts there that day. I saw a good number of shows after that but it's still the one I remember most fondly.
posted by LindsayIrene at 8:51 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by LindsayIrene at 8:51 AM on October 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
Being diabetic, my favorite should be Pancreas, but being an R.E.M. fan, it's actually Frank's 2000" TV.
posted by stevis23 at 9:10 AM on October 27, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by stevis23 at 9:10 AM on October 27, 2022 [5 favorites]
Thanks for posting, bondcliff!
I never got much into early Weird Al; earworms make me nuts and "Eat It" is supreme, and it played on the radio All The Time. Also, I was a little too old, and a strange mix of serious and dreamy about music, not as playful. Now, I make people listen to Pachebel's Chicken.
And I didn't have access to the music videos, which do a fabulous job of parodying the visual style as well. I'm very much enjoying everyone's links to favorites, and agree Al is a wonderful gift, may he stay good. The Doors parody, Craiglist, is really great.
revmitcz Not only do I know of/own other Southern Culture On The Skids songs, I saw them perform live, in the 90?s. They do a nice version of "Merry Christmas Baby".
posted by winesong at 9:49 AM on October 27, 2022
I never got much into early Weird Al; earworms make me nuts and "Eat It" is supreme, and it played on the radio All The Time. Also, I was a little too old, and a strange mix of serious and dreamy about music, not as playful. Now, I make people listen to Pachebel's Chicken.
And I didn't have access to the music videos, which do a fabulous job of parodying the visual style as well. I'm very much enjoying everyone's links to favorites, and agree Al is a wonderful gift, may he stay good. The Doors parody, Craiglist, is really great.
revmitcz Not only do I know of/own other Southern Culture On The Skids songs, I saw them perform live, in the 90?s. They do a nice version of "Merry Christmas Baby".
posted by winesong at 9:49 AM on October 27, 2022
I am literally sitting under my signed framed poster of Weird Al that hangs directly above my computer out in the living room. The only flaw on it is that my spouse had not yet realized/come out as trans, so it has the wrong name on it where he wrote congratulations for our ten-year anniversary.
posted by Scattercat at 10:19 AM on October 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 10:19 AM on October 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
The only flaw on it is that my spouse had not yet realized/come out as trans, so it has the wrong name on it where he wrote congratulations for our ten-year anniversary.
I guarantee you Al would send you a new one (if not bring it to you personally) if he found out.
posted by Etrigan at 1:35 PM on October 27, 2022 [11 favorites]
I guarantee you Al would send you a new one (if not bring it to you personally) if he found out.
posted by Etrigan at 1:35 PM on October 27, 2022 [11 favorites]
For me, one of the most brilliant (and also most obscure) sound-alike tracks he ever did was Lame Claim to Fame yt which sounded almost identical to the only Southern Culture on the Skids track I've (still) ever heard Camel Walk yt .
Southern Culture on the Skids has lots of tracks that are funny to silly to weird without being parodies of other more popular music. The B52s influence is pretty strong.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:48 PM on October 27, 2022
Southern Culture on the Skids has lots of tracks that are funny to silly to weird without being parodies of other more popular music. The B52s influence is pretty strong.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:48 PM on October 27, 2022
* political correctness = respect for all people
* Excellent profile of Weird Al in NYTM in 2020: The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic
* I always enjoy a Weird Al song when one pops up on the radio but I've never sought it out or owned any. One day about 15 years ago I was cleaning house on a Sunday afternoon and our local nonprofit radio station played a 2 hour block of his music. It was heaven. I was laughing so hard.
posted by neuron at 5:28 PM on October 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
* Excellent profile of Weird Al in NYTM in 2020: The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic
* I always enjoy a Weird Al song when one pops up on the radio but I've never sought it out or owned any. One day about 15 years ago I was cleaning house on a Sunday afternoon and our local nonprofit radio station played a 2 hour block of his music. It was heaven. I was laughing so hard.
posted by neuron at 5:28 PM on October 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
It’s hard for me to imagine him being milkshake ducked, especially when I think about songs like Party in the CIA. Holy crap, that thing is a vicious thesis of the evils of that organization, and the fact that it’s set to this anthem of banal but catchy and empty pop makes it even more brilliant.
And then you add in the fact that so much of the media at the time it came out was calling it an “ode to the CIA” makes you realize how brilliantly subversive it was, because so many people were unable to actually get it even after watching it.
Plus the animation is really amazing—I feel like if that thing had been released to theaters, it could’ve been nominated for best animated short. I just think he’s a genius mind that people take for granted because he’s doing mostly parodies and they can’t see past the surface, and so they miss the good soul underneath all of it.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 5:35 PM on October 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
And then you add in the fact that so much of the media at the time it came out was calling it an “ode to the CIA” makes you realize how brilliantly subversive it was, because so many people were unable to actually get it even after watching it.
Plus the animation is really amazing—I feel like if that thing had been released to theaters, it could’ve been nominated for best animated short. I just think he’s a genius mind that people take for granted because he’s doing mostly parodies and they can’t see past the surface, and so they miss the good soul underneath all of it.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 5:35 PM on October 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Just posted on /r/ObscureMedia: Weird Al on the Dr. Demento Show, from Nov 11, 1979.
posted by riruro at 10:17 AM on November 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by riruro at 10:17 AM on November 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
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