Ransom Riggs
The 6 Least Necessary “Weird” Al Parodies
by Ransom Riggs - January 19, 2009 - 11:37 AM

tn2_weird_al_yankovic_2.jpgFull disclosure: I loved “Weird” Al Yankovic as a kid. Loved, unconditionally and non-judgmentally, the way I loved ice cream and Nintendo, until at least the sixth grade or so. Which is to say, Al, if you’re reading this, you’ll always be my homie — lord knows you’ve written some iconic, even legendary parodies. Songs that even people who would never claim to be a fan can name — “Fat,” “Amish Paradise,” maybe even “White and Nerdy.” You could make an argument that the music world needed these songs; in an industry of big egos, they took self-proclaimed kings of pop and hip-hop down a peg, and made us laugh at something that was, in retrospect, ridiculous anyway: Michael Jackson telling us he was “bad,” Coolio ripping off Stevie Wonder to attain his biggest hit, etc. But Al doesn’t always hit the mark, and sometimes even the songs he was parodying, popular at the time, are virtually forgotten in the intervening decades. Here are six such parodies which haven’t stood the test of time.

“Addicted to Spuds”

Robert Palmer’s megahit “Addicted to Love” has become one of those anthems of the 80s; “Weird” Al’s parody, on the other hand, has gone gently into that good night. That’s probably because it doesn’t really make fun of Palmer, or the song itself, or anything real; “it’s funny ’cause it’s true,” they say, and I’ve never met anyone who was addicted to potatoes. File this in the “huh?” section of Al’s many food-related songs:

“I Want a New Duck”

A parody of Huey Lewis & the News’ “I Want a New Drug,” Al’s parody sounds more like children’s music than rock and roll. (Maybe that’s why I liked it so much as a kid.)

“Living with a Hernia”

I actually find the complete absurdity of this song (and video) kind of charming. Plus, it’s got a flossy vibe: Al’s parody of James Brown’s “Living in America” (from Rocky IV, Al’s second Rocky-themed parody) includes lots of real information about hernias, including the names of the most common types of hernia: incomplete, epigastric, bladder, strangulated, lumbar hernia, Richter’s hernia, obstructed, inguinal, and direct. (Actually, on second thought, I love this song!) I can’t embed the video, but you can watch it here.

“Beverly Hillbillies (Money for Nothing)”

In a rare move, Al’s actually parodying two cultural phenomena at once here: Dire Straits’ hit “Money for Nothing” and the television “classic” Beverly Hillbillies. But there’s an old rule in comedy that you don’t want to make a joke try to do too many things at once, or it falls flat. And anyway, Beverly Hillbillies was already so ridiculous, it didn’t really need to be made fun of.

“Gump”

If anything, I think this song should’ve made more fun of Forrest Gump, but I get the sense that Al actually rather liked the movie, and the song definitely pulls its punches.

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Comments (30)

  1. I am happy that you changed your mind about “Hernia”, but how could you not list “Starwars Cantina” among his greatest achievements. He even got Manilow to sing it.

    posted by Edward on 1-19-2009 at 12:23 pm

  2. I argue that “Beverly Hillbillies” was one of Weird Al’s most fully realized parodies. His videos always stay very true to the original video, but I found this particular one wanking on every 80s-centric element of the original video. It’s the datedness that sells it for me.

    Also, I count five entries.

    posted by Bob on 1-19-2009 at 12:29 pm

  3. A song that certainly should have been on this list is ‘Grapefruit Diet’ (Zoot-Suit Riot parody). The Song was a little weird, and I didn’t understand the video at all. I too was an ENORMOUS Wierd Al fan, but thats because I too am a big off-kilter. Sometimes even I have to go ‘Where the HELL did THAT come from?’

    posted by Kate on 1-19-2009 at 12:29 pm

  4. I realize it’s not a parody, but Frank’s 2000″ TV recently played when I was shuffling through the music on my MP3 player. Weird Al might have been ahead of his time in predicting the 2000″ TV.

    I plan to get one of my own real soon. It’s like having a drive in movie in your own living room!

    As for the Beverly Hillbillies, I still find myself singing that whenever I hear Money for Nothin on the radio. UHF was a quality film.

    posted by Chris on 1-19-2009 at 12:54 pm

  5. Ditto on Bob’s observation about “Beverly Hillbillies”. Easily one of Weird Al’s best parodies.

    Ditto on Kate’s observations about “Grapefruit Diet”.

    And, lastly, ditto to Chris — that’s actually a great SOUNDING song; one of the more memorable pop licks Weird Al has ever written.

    Personally, although I know it was a big breakthrough hit for him, I never cared for “I love Rocky Road”. Another nominee for this list “The White Stuff”.

    But I criticize with love. Can’t imagine life without Weird Al, and if I have to put up with “Addicted to Spuds” every once in awhile in order to get songs like “Amish Paradise”, I will gladly do so.

    posted by Michael on 1-19-2009 at 1:04 pm

  6. What? No Like a Surgeon?!?! Or how about “Ricki”??? (brilliant video that was an I Love Lucy take off).

    posted by beth on 1-19-2009 at 1:08 pm

  7. Can’t believe you didn’t mention “Jurassic Park”…I mean, I love the parody, but “MacArthur Park” was such a ridiculous song in the first place that it’s pretty much self-parodying. (Someone left the cake out in the rain / I don’t think that I can take it / ‘Cause it took so long to bake it / And I’ll never have that recipe agaaaaaaaain…)

    posted by Tina on 1-19-2009 at 1:21 pm

  8. I am pretty sure only 5 parodies are mentioned. I wanted to know the sixth!

    posted by Jeannie on 1-19-2009 at 1:39 pm

  9. “Grapefruit Diets” were popular in the 80′s… hence the parody. We shouldn’t question Al’s genius.

    posted by Dan on 1-19-2009 at 1:50 pm

  10. Another One Rides the Bus (Another One Bites the Dust) is one of my husband’s favorite parodies.

    posted by fanniefarkle on 1-19-2009 at 1:58 pm

  11. I’ll take Bob Rivers over Wierd Al anyday.

    posted by TheBear on 1-19-2009 at 3:30 pm

  12. “Rye or the Kaiser” was kinda dumb. But it was on the same album as the awesome “Nature Trail to Hell,” so I’ll live with it.

    posted by Lucas on 1-19-2009 at 5:04 pm

  13. Smells like nirvana is one of my favorite Weird Al parodies

    posted by The Queen on 1-19-2009 at 7:17 pm

  14. another one rides the bus isnt weird al

    posted by joe on 1-19-2009 at 10:57 pm

  15. where is number 6??

    posted by Mindy on 1-19-2009 at 11:01 pm

  16. While we’re (sort of) on the topic of Frank’s 2000″ TV, perhaps the better idea for an article would be The 6 Awesomest Weird Al Non-Parodies. All his cd’s have original songs, and so-called “style-parodies”, where he parodies a genre or a band instead of a particular song. Listen to these and you soon realize the dude is a musical genius (once you get past the silly lyrics). I humbly suggest:

    1. Frank’s 2000″ TV
    2. Dare to be Stupid
    3. Don’t Download This Song
    4. Hardware Store
    5. Why Does This Always Happen to Me
    6. This is the Life

    posted by Adrian on 1-19-2009 at 11:18 pm

  17. Thanks for the article!

    It got me reinterested in Weird Al. Now all I need to do is find all his albums and play through them to find even more uneeded parodies.

    posted by Brett on 1-19-2009 at 11:37 pm

  18. Some favorite non-parody songs, in no particular order:

    One More Minute
    Since You’ve Been Gone
    Horoscope
    (the last two of which my a cappella group sings)
    http://www.lagerrhythms.com

    Some favorite parodies:
    This Song’s Just Six Words Long
    Pretty Fly for a Rabbi

    posted by Leisa on 1-19-2009 at 11:46 pm

  19. Weird Al hits the food and TV themes very frequently. Any song that is either about food or about TV cannot be called “unnecessary” in the grand scheme of overall Al-ness.

    He also has a few movies-as-songs now, so “Gump” might be seen as the beginning of a new trend for him. He has also done Spider-Man (to the tune of “Piano Man”) and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (to the tune of “American Pie”), and the joy is in the form: telling the story of a popular movie to the tune of a popular song.

    Not all of Al’s songs are parodies. Some are standalone humourous pieces, and still others are an emulation of a style (ex: “Bob” (style of Bob Dylan) and “Pancreas” (style of Brian Wilson)).

    And, while this has nothing to do with the article, I urge everyone to check out Al’s original epic about life in the Midwest “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota.”

    posted by MadMup on 1-20-2009 at 7:52 am

  20. Have to admit his new song Stuck in the drive thru sucks.

    And Joe, another one rides the bus is his. He played it on his accordion on the DR. Demento show back in the 80′s

    posted by Lorelei on 1-20-2009 at 8:47 am

  21. I’d take Gump over Lump any day of the week.

    posted by Mary on 1-20-2009 at 9:21 am

  22. Another one rides the bus is too Weird Al; it’s on his first album.

    posted by merlin on 1-20-2009 at 9:49 am

  23. How can you talk about his best non-parodies without mentioning You Don’t Love Me Anymore? Perhaps my favourite ballad of all time, by anyone.

    posted by S.K. on 1-20-2009 at 10:04 am

  24. Joe is wrong, Merlin is right; Another One Rides the Bus is Weird Al’s parody of Another One Bites the Dust.
    As far as non-parody songs go, I like Mr. Frump and His Iron Lung. It just goes to show there’s a Weird Al song out there for everybody.

    posted by Michelle on 1-20-2009 at 10:58 am

  25. “Star Wars Cantina” was not Weird Al; it was Mark Jonathan Davis (aka Richard Cheese). He does sound amazing like Barry Manilow but it’s his own voice.

    posted by Barbara on 1-20-2009 at 2:10 pm

  26. My first introduction to weird al was through an incredibly unlikely source – Disney. In one of the specials with Donald Duck, (One where Daisy refused his company unless his temper went down) there was an extended sequence set to “I want a new duck”.

    I can’t believe I remember that.

    posted by anaximander on 1-20-2009 at 3:34 pm

  27. “Gump” is actually the only describe-a-movie-within-a-parody song of Weird Al’s that I actually like. “Jurassic Park” is tolerable (because MacArthur Park is so absurd in the first place), but “Ode to a Superhero” and “The Saga Begins” are just awful.

    And since we’ve started listing favorite style parody songs now…I’ll toss in “Everything You Know Is Wrong” and “Virus Alert.”

    posted by Liz on 1-21-2009 at 6:32 pm

  28. “Stuck in the Drive through” is BRILLIANT. Granted, “Stuck in the Closet” is so inane that it nears self-parody, but Al hits every single element that makes R. Kelly so over the top.

    And as bio nerd, “Pancreas”, is absolutely stunning. Any song that gives prop to both the pancreas’ endocrine and exocrine functions, while still giving us some inverse square function of gravity gets nothing but my respect. And the man can harmonize with himself like he’s Andy Bernard.

    posted by Tim L on 1-24-2009 at 12:24 am

  29. I love all Wierd Als songs. The onley one that sucks is the Cydni Larper one about girls just wanna have lunch

    posted by Rosy on 2-8-2009 at 5:25 pm

  30. Tim L is right, Stuck in the drive through is AWESOME. Just ‘cos I think it’s funny :-)

    posted by Cameron on 8-15-2009 at 4:37 am

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