Classic or Dud: Weird Al Yankovic

I liked Reggie Watts for about five minutes the first time I ever saw him. Now I find him a boil on society's ass cheek. Same with Lonely Island for the most part. I have so little exposure to Conchords that I can't really weigh in.

Weird Al and My Dick CHAMPS 4 LYFE

this isn't anything about Weird Al but part of why Lonely Island's best stuff works is cuz they know how to riff off specific rap tropes (whether they enjoy it or not,) it's not solely "OMG white guys rapping how hilaaaarious"

It's not that all

*at all

The fact that Weird Al is not a "hip-hop-appropriating, adults-only, Saturday Night Live-sponsored" act is probably why he's had a three-decade career, I think

do kids these days like weird al or is it just millenials / gen x'rs listening to this?

This is hilarious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lIrggalp3o

That Carl Wilson article suuuucked. Is that "Semicolon" song where Lonely Planet is supposedly doing a better job with grammar humor?

i don't think weird al did that great of a job with "grammar humor" tbh
he resorted to calling people who make errors in their writing stupid mouthbreathers
i thought part of weird al's thing was that he was funny, but not mean?

eh lots of his songs take on an extreme perspective or unreliable narrator that insults people as part of the premise.

i was just hoping i could play this song as a fun intro to my classes in the fall and i can't because of the stupid mouthbreather thing
which means it's only good for the "grammar nazis", who are not my people

oh well

LL is my people, word crimes is def mean spirited

some dude is right in that Al is assuming the role of a grammar nazi for the purposes of this song, an extra layer to the onion that might not be suitable for playing in class should anyone not pick up on that.

Al recorded a full version of Eat It Unplugged at a radio station last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=260i9fJE_Z0

there's a far more serious reason not to play that song to kids

maybe
but i still find it disappointing he wouldn't skewer the nazis rather than the people who make the errors
that would take too much maneuvering i guess

i love weird al
this thing just bummed me out a little

(my students aren't kids btw)

to anyone learning appropriate use of English

btw i may as well plug the playlist i made of Weird Al deep cuts: http://narrowcast.blogspot.com/2014/07/deep-album-cuts-vol-22-weird-al-yankovic.html

i just thought it might be a fun mood-lightener
nothing sinks spirits like talking about prepositional phrases
anyway that's my 2 cents

Oh great, now I have to add Weird Al in a k.d. lang wig to the spank bank.

omg

the title of the next ILE gay thread has arrived

xps: Good list! Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota is probably my personal favorite of his.

Oh, we couldn't wait to get there
So we drove straight through for three whole days and nights
Of course, we stopped for more pickled wieners now and then
The scenery was just so pretty, boy I wish the kids could've seen it
But you can't see out of the side of the car because the windows are completely covered with the decals from all the places where we've already been

Buy Me A Condo is probably the deep cut that gets stuck in my head the most, probably because it impressed me the most when I was 8. I didn't know who Bob Marley or Jackson Brown were.

one of my favorite things about Mandatory Fun is how Weird Al chops a full minute off of songs like "Royals" and "Happy" that went on way too long in the original versions.

Al doesn't bury the lede in "Word Crimes"

The "You will find/People make fun of you online" is right in the first few lines.

Phew, thought this thread revival was because he was dead.

No, he might live forever

Buy Me a Condo is at least as good as late era Kinks.

Midnight Star from that album is also a hell of a jam.

Whole album rules except for "That Boy Could Dance," see also POLLkas on 45: "Weird Al" Yankovic, in 3-D

I have a fun lil project w/my middle school elective class where we write a song parody and I start out by showing them the "Beat It" and "Eat It" videos. My sweet Mormon mom texted me last night to say that I could do this with "Word Crimes" and "Blurred Lines" videos, that it would be more fun and modern and they would also learn about grammar. "i havent seen the robin think but the weird al is cute" <3

looool

"Handy" is up

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/17/5912379/weird-al-iggy-azalea-fancy-parody-handy-music-video

reluctant to listen to "Handy" because I still haven't heard "Fancy"

I've only heard the CSNFallon version, the Weird Al one's funny enough on its own

hahaha crabbits, you need to just respond with a link to the uncensored #THICKE vid

reluctant to listen to "Handy" because I still haven't heard "Fancy"

― guwop (crüt), Thursday, July 17, 2014 11:40 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've only heard the CSNFallon version, the Weird Al one's funny enough on its own

― Now I Am Become Dracula (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, July 17, 2014 11:45 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://greatlakesoutdoors.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/unfrozen-caveman-lawyer.jpeg

lol at "Mission Statement," pretty great idea. Parody would be a little more perfect if it sounded a little less 'digital.' The solo is dead on though.

yeah weird ppl haven't heard a song that gets less exposure in the culture than the #20 song would've gotten ten years ago. it's almost like the monoculture is dead or something.

it's kind of great how totally avoidable the worst chart shit is

I'm not saying it's weird they haven't heard the song, I'm saying it's stupid that they would rather post about it on a message board than take the 2 seconds to pull it up on YouTube before listening to a parody of it

So I don't understand, are some posters contending that Word Crimes is actually some kind of meta comment on internet grammar sticklers and that's why he built an entire song out of things that have gotten really boring/unfunny to complain about ("OMG LITERALLY USED TO MEAN FIGURATIVELY" etc.)

it's weird ppl wouldn't want to pull up some song on youtube that pretty much nobody has anything positive to say about

it's great but the weird al iggy azalea parody is less absurd and hilarious than the real thing

*Curiously looks up what was #20 ten years ago*

Hmm, I think I've been exposed to Fancy more than I have to Christina Milian's Dip It Low, but I understand your point.

I hope that Weird Al at least had the class to include a shoutout to Charli XCX

i've heard 'happy' and 'radioactive' like a dozen+ times out in the wild (and 'royals' several dozen) but never heard 'fancy' or 'blurred lines' without youtubing them, its weird how arbitrary a cross section of chart music you get without seeking it out.

i think i knew all of the songs in the polka though

it's weird ppl wouldn't want to pull up some song on youtube that pretty much nobody has anything positive to say about

― balls, Thursday, July 17, 2014 1:41 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The number one song that nobody had anything positive to say about.

I have heard parodies of Fancy (the Weird Al one and a couple of really shitty ones on Facebook) more than I have heard Fancy