maybe it was cultural satire
― festival culture (Jordan), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 16:36 (ten years ago) link
The Pixies style parody is so on point.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 16:48 (ten years ago) link
it's a great pixies song
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 16:50 (ten years ago) link
Haha, "First World Problems" is so fucking expertly done. I'm cracking up just at the arrangement.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:01 (ten years ago) link
There have already been three songs that I don't know what they are parodies of :/
― Immediate Follower (NA), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:02 (ten years ago) link
dyingggg
― mattresslessness, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:03 (ten years ago) link
ok I just heard First World Problems and now I'm gonna go find the rest - a+
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:03 (ten years ago) link
Oh because they aren't parodies. I feel a little better now. Though I didn't know the Foo Fighters song.
― Immediate Follower (NA), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:04 (ten years ago) link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/MandatoryFun.jpg
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:05 (ten years ago) link
I picked up that it was a Foos parody, but barely. xp
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:13 (ten years ago) link
Crosby, Stills & Nash, Southern Culture on the Skids and Cat Stevens seem like weird choices for style parodies in 2014, though.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:21 (ten years ago) link
his style parodies are always kinda anachronistic
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:24 (ten years ago) link
Southern Culture on the Skids is a weird choice for any time period.
"Word Crimes" is the best.
― Immediate Follower (NA), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:25 (ten years ago) link
it's really underappreciated that al has had the same backing band for 30 years.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:28 (ten years ago) link
al is a better singer than pharrell
― katherine, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:28 (ten years ago) link
"Word Crimes" really is the best.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:29 (ten years ago) link
― katherine, Tuesday, July 15, 2014 11:28 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― mattresslessness, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:30 (ten years ago) link
you should never write words using numbers unless you're seven or your name is Prince
― guwop (crüt), Tuesday, July 15, 2014 12:33 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
On numerous occasions, Prince has refused Yankovic permission to record parodies of his songs. Yankovic has stated in interviews that he has "approached him every few years [to] see if he's lightened up."[76] Yankovic related one story where, before the American Music Awards where he and Prince were assigned to sit in the same row, he got a telegram from Prince's lawyers, demanding he not make eye contact with the artist.[61]
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:35 (ten years ago) link
it should have been sent by carrier dove
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:36 (ten years ago) link
d0v3
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:37 (ten years ago) link
I would say Prince has no sense of humor, but he's capable of being dryly funny now and then.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:37 (ten years ago) link
dying @ the prince story
― Maggie killed Quagmire (collest baby ever) (frogbs), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:42 (ten years ago) link
Prince himself is totally funny, but he doesn't like people making fun of him
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:44 (ten years ago) link
Isn't it more that's he's just really overprotective of use of his music/image outside of his own control? Like not letting any of his music be on YouTube for example
― Immediate Follower (NA), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:46 (ten years ago) link
mildly scandalized that weird al would say "cunning linguist"
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 17:53 (ten years ago) link
That's racy by Al standards, yeah.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:02 (ten years ago) link
he did once make an 'original' song that was as "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!" close to a "Let's Go Crazy" parody as he could get away with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCs6pKXJ0t4
― some dude, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:06 (ten years ago) link
Eh, Dare to Be Stupid was the first album my parents every confiscated from me, primarily due to the quote of Frankie Goes to Hollywood during the polka "When you wanna come?" LIKE I WOULD HAVE EVEN UNDERSTOOD WHAT THAT MEANT WHEN I WAS SIX YEARS OLD MOM! SHIT! Anyway, there have been a couple other racy moments in the Weird Al canon, but I can't think of them right now.
― how's life, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:07 (ten years ago) link
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, July 15, 2014 1:44 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
given that this was the official cover art for a Prince single recently, if i was Yankovic i'd totally approach him again:
http://media.musicfeeds.com.au/files/4f30f18ddd63fccaa75482a81e7361e2.png
― some dude, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:12 (ten years ago) link
the polkas have definitely had their randyness (stones' "shattered," iirc from a tv special he'd mime jerking off briefly during "i touch myself") but dammit i have every right to be mildly scandalized by this, don't give me no "eh"
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:13 (ten years ago) link
berlin' "sex (i'm a...)" made the first polka i think
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:14 (ten years ago) link
Yes! that was the other one I was thinking about. I respectfully retract my "eh" though.
― how's life, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:18 (ten years ago) link
was trying to think of any other early '80s artists that try as hard to stay on top of the zeitgeist and could only come up with duran duran
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:18 (ten years ago) link
i definitely raised an eyebrow when i heard "cunning linguist" this morning
― some dude, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:19 (ten years ago) link
Madonna, surely. xp
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:19 (ten years ago) link
haha oh yeah her
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:19 (ten years ago) link
and i guess prince, i mean the dude just made an edm song with zooey deschanel
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:20 (ten years ago) link
― Immediate Follower (NA), Tuesday, July 15, 2014 11:25 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, July 15, 2014 11:29 AM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark
― Plasmon, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:35 (ten years ago) link
So far "Word Crimes" and "Foil" are my two favorite tracks, but "Mission Statement" is pretty fucking glorious too.
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 18:50 (ten years ago) link
God i love Weird Al.
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 19:06 (ten years ago) link
I haven't listened to a new Weird Al record since I was 11, but you guys have sold me on this.
― You know something? He *did* say "well, yeah" a lot. (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 19:34 (ten years ago) link
I dunno if he'll ever top White n Nerdy
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 19:37 (ten years ago) link
U2?
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 19:50 (ten years ago) link
this is easily his best since Poodle Hat
― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 19:55 (ten years ago) link
U2 def
― da croupier, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 19:57 (ten years ago) link
Hi, Al!!Was the video for Tacky really a single shot, or was there some seamless edits?alyankovic 997 points an hour agoWhile it looks like there MIGHT have been an edit somewhere, I absolutely guarantee you, that was all done in ONE CONTINUOUS SHOT. That was a bit of a challenge for me, because I start the video on a 5th floor fire escape, and I reappear on street level wearing completely different clothes. That means - for EVERY TAKE - as soon as the camera was off me I had to run down 5 flights of stairs WHILE CHANGING MY CLOTHES so I could be on camera again at the end. Definitely got my workout THAT day!http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2as5t1/this_is_weird_al_yankovic_amaa_ask_me_anything/
alyankovic 997 points an hour ago
While it looks like there MIGHT have been an edit somewhere, I absolutely guarantee you, that was all done in ONE CONTINUOUS SHOT. That was a bit of a challenge for me, because I start the video on a 5th floor fire escape, and I reappear on street level wearing completely different clothes. That means - for EVERY TAKE - as soon as the camera was off me I had to run down 5 flights of stairs WHILE CHANGING MY CLOTHES so I could be on camera again at the end. Definitely got my workout THAT day!
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2as5t1/this_is_weird_al_yankovic_amaa_ask_me_anything/
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 20:20 (ten years ago) link
I respect Weird Al for being such a hard working guy!
― when you call my name it's like a prickly pear (Crabbits), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 20:21 (ten years ago) link
Let's remember he also memorized/mimed the entire last verse of "Amish Paradise" backwards for that video.
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 20:21 (ten years ago) link
al is a better singer than pharrel
Why is it a surprise or noteworthy that someone who can accurately mimic the phrasing and flows of a wide range of disparate singers and rappers would be a better singer than a producer who barely has a voice and has problems staying in tune or in rhythm?
― Star Gentle Uterus (DJP), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 20:26 (ten years ago) link
Great story from the AMA (in response to the question "Do artists ever request parodies"):
That happens sometimes in social settings - an artist will make a comment at a party or awards show like, "Hey Al, when are you going to do a parody of one of MY songs?" I don't know if they're being polite or making conversation, but that's always nice to hear. Actually, last year I was in New York doing a satellite radio tour, and Graham Nash was in the very next room... and it just so happens I had just recorded my CSN pastiche "Mission Statement" (which is on the new album). So I walked over to say hi... he sees me, and the first words out of his mouth are, "So, when are you gonna do a parody of 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes'??" I whipped out my iPhone and played "Mission Statement" for him. Instant request! (He loved it, BTW.)
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 20:36 (ten years ago) link