10 Times “Weird Al” Parodied Pre-1980s Hits (And Was Awesome)
Most of us know “Weird Al” Yankovic as the world’s leading pop parodist. He’s always scoping out the big music hits and amusing us with his creative, satirical, farcical, and even sometimes grossly macabre reinterpretations of popular songs and artists. Yankovic has maintained his title as the King of Musical Parody through the decades by offering with his imitations of current artists of the time, from Michael Jackson in the ’80s, Nirvana and Coolio in the ’90s, and artists such as Chamillionaire, Lady Gaga, and Pharrell in recent years. However, some of his best songs are not always the hits, and moreso are inspired by the music he knew growing up and as he was just starting his career in musical comedy.
Here are 10 of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s best pre-’80s inspired parodies and pastiches (in no particular order).
1) “My Bologna” (1979)
This one just makes the cut in our list. “My Bologna” was Yankovic’s breakthrough song into the world of parody in 1979. Based on the Knack’s “My Sharona,” Yankovic earned fame with this relatively simple parody, featuring only his trademark accordion, light percussion, and some additional belching (as you do). It’s airtime on Dr. Demento’s syndicated radio show launched Yankovic into the spotlight.
2) “Pancreas” (2006)
A casual Beach Boys fan might assume that this song is a spoof on the band, but more specifically, this 2006 song is really inspired specifically by Brian Wilson and his Brian Wilson Presents Smile album. Rather than a direct parody of a song, like many of Yankovic’s top hits, this is a pastiche, a song using melodic motifs, vocal and lyrical stylings, and subtle idiosyncrasies of an artist or band to create something that sounds like the original artist, but does not directly parody a particular song. This incredibly layered song truly captures the essence and possibly even madness of Wilson’s musical genius while educating the listener about an organ that quite frankly just doesn’t get enough limelight. You go, Pancreas.
3) “Craigslist” (2011)
Another pastiche, Yankovic wittily juxtaposes the poetic spirituality of the Doors’ Jim Morrison with the technological modernity of the Internet age. This song is featured on Yankovic’s 2011 album Alpocalypse with the Doors’ own Ray Manzarek supplying his signature keyboard sound to the track. The song comically chronicles the many bizarre and sometimes anti-social uses of the infamous Craigslist website.
4) “The Saga Begins” (1999)
When the Star Wars franchise re-launched in the late ’90s with the first of three prequel films, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Yankovic also revitalized one of his former song topics in this epic summarization of the film. This is a take on Don McLean’s equally grandiose folk-rock epic, “American Pie” from 1971, an easily recognizable radio favorite and top sing-along song. Reportedly, “Weird Al” Yankovic wrote the majority of the song based on spoilers posted on the internet before the movie was released.
5) “Genius in France” (2003)
This wacky tune about a simpleton American who is inexplicably revered in France is one of Yankovic’s longer songs at nearly nine minutes, and one of his most on-the-dot style parodies. The track, from the 2003 Poodle Hat album, is an homage to one of rock’s most inventive, satirical, and experimental artists, Frank Zappa. With a guitar into by none other than Dweezil Zappa, Yankovic completely captures the wit and humor of the late rock pioneer.
6) “Yoda” (1985)
Long before “The Saga Begins,” “Weird Al” Yankovic had already churned out a popular Star Wars parody based on The Kinks’ 1970 hit “Lola.” The song occurs in the universe of the then-second (now fifth) film of the franchise from the perspective of Luke Skywalker as he is trained to use the force by non-other than everyone’s favorite little green muppet, Yoda. Interestingly, the song features lines like “The long-term contract I had to sign / Says I’ll be making these movies till the end of time,” which unknowingly seem to predict the fact that the popular films would still be produced almost indefinitely. The seventh film releases this December.
7) “Bob”(2002)
There are so many masterful elements of this song that it’s hard to know where to begin. I’ll try to break it down easily. One, it’s a style parody of none other than Bob Dylan; two, The title is “Bob,” which not only notes the original artist, but clues the listener into the secret of the song; and three, the seemingly nonsensical, unrelated lyrics are actually all palindromes, which for all the non-grammar nerds out there are words or phrases that read the same when the letters are revered (think “racecar”). This is high-level nerdiness. For added geekiness, the music video directly parodies that of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”
8) “Mission Statement” (2014)
Off of Yankovic’s 14th (and newest) album Mandatory Fun from 2014, this song hearkens back to the harmonized stylings of Crosby, Stills, & Nash (and I guess you could throw in Young, too). The song offers guitar motifs and vocal cadences reminiscent of “Carry On” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” Much like “Craigslist,” “Mission Statement” forces opposing principles together by combining the free-spirit, anti-corporate sentimentalities of the hippie movement as symbolized through CSN(Y)’s music with a boring, verbose and pointlessly redundant company mission statement full of business jargon.
9) “Jackson Park Express” (2014)
Another of his longer songs and also off Mandatory Fun, this unusual telling of a romantic encounter that never actually materializes borrows it’s acoustic guitar and piano riffs from the stylings of Cat Stevens. The song follows the imagined flirting of two city-bus patrons that only occurs in the narrator’s mind, quickly moving from adorably cute to disturbing and worthy of a restraining order.
10) “Party at the Leper Colony” (2003)
Going way back in rock history, this 2003 style parody of the “Bo Diddley beat” imagines a beach-party-esque celebration at the unlikely locale of a leper colony. Although the song’s sound makes it undeniably catchy and gives the listener a wonderful sense of rock history notalgia, the lyrics are the best element of the song. Taking from the cartoonish image of leprosy perpetuated in pop-culture, the characters in the song are defined (or maybe dissected?) by their body parts which are apparently having a little trouble staying put. The song is full of limb- and organ-related puns sure to delight any word nerds out there.
BONUS:
If you’re into polka, check out “The Hot Rocks Polka” from Yankovic’s 1989 UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff, a medley of Rolling Stones’ hits. You can also listen to “Polkas on 45” off 1984’s “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D, which features several popular songs from the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll.
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Louie Pearlman