Topic 'o' the Day: The Genius of Weird Al
 

Discuss. I'm listening to "Dare To Be Stupid" right now, and I can't help but feel that this guy is underappreciated. He is just so damned clever.

Your task: The Mount Rushmore of Weird Al songs. Begin.

yoda!

I been around
But ain't never seen
A guy who looks like a muppet
But he's wrinkled and green...

Don't forget the Weird Al song HoF.

It is really close in terms of who was the single greeatest genius named Al. Einstein or Yankovic. Sure, Einstein had a lot going for him, but Weird Al could literally take any popular song and make it about food.

YES. I expect to see this thread when I get home tonight.

We'd have to break it down into parody songs, polkas, and originals.

Parody: Yoda
Original: One More Minute
Polka: Hooked On Polkas

UHF was a defining move for its generation.

One More Minute:

....
I would rather rip my heart right out of my rib cage and throw it on the floor and stomp on it til I die, than spend one more minute with you. Oooohhh, ooohhh, ooohhh, oooohhhh.

I know Darth Vader's really got you annoyed, but remember if you kill him, then you'll be unemployed!

Eat It (especially good when watching the video right after seeing the Beat It video)
Yoda
Christmas at Ground Zero
The Saga Begins (another AWESOME video)

Special bonus points to "Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung" for tackling such delicate subject matter.

"Why Does This Always Happen To Me?" needs to be on the list of originals.
I'm partial to "Ode to a Superhero" as far as parodies go, but I also have an odd attachment to "Theme From Rocky XXXVIII."

Yoda
Albuquerque
The Night Santa Went Crazy
I Remember Larry

Would UHF be considered a guilty pleasure for me?

Wierd Al rules, seen him twice in concert :D

my favorite Al song too.
"I'm stranded all alone at the gas station of love, and I have to use the self-service pumps".

I. Hate. Sauerkraut!

At one point I knew the whole song word-for-word.

I coulda kept up with you at one point myself.

LALALALALALA-asagna

I'll have to chew on the Mount Rushmore. May be too difficul to narrow down to four classics.

For originals, I think Melanie and Good Old Days are underrated. Good Enough for Now is another. I tend to like his original tunes that parody a musical style or artists. Good Old Days is a great James Taylor parody.

Based on the concerts, I think the biggest fan reactions have been for Amish Paradise and Dare to Be Stupid. Aside, of course, from Yoda and The Saga Begins which he usually does together as an encore that really gets the crowd going.

I think my proudest musical possession would be a copy of his never-released "It's Still Billy Joel To Me." I think QS would enjoy that one.

I was just gonna quote that one. :D

They've got hands all covered with fungus!
They've got eyes like some kind of bug!
I sure hope they don't come in here -
I just shampooed the rug!

Amish Paradise
You Don't Love me Anymore
Trigger Happy
Taco Grande

Off the top of my head, those are my rushmore. When I have a better chance to think about it, I might have to edit the list.

It was a great time killer at work since you'd like up and 12 minutes had gone by.

http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/for...9&postcount=24

SI

I know LL Cool J is probably still pissed off at him for making Amish Paradise MUCH more popular than Gangsters Paradise ever was.

Smells like Nirvana was scary close to being nearly impossible to discern from the original

I'll bet you LL Cool J couldn't give two craps about either song :D

Jeez, a Weird Al Mount Rushmore? That's damned difficult. I'll give it a quick shot.

The Night Santa Went Crazy
You Don't Love Me Anymore
Smells Like Nirvana
It's All About the Pentiums

With the right setup, "The Night Santa Went Crazy" is awesome in concert. The first time I saw him, I was in a place (the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans) that did snow effects with bubbles. At the time, I thought Al had brought that setup, but the next time I saw him was at the House of Blues, and it didn't happen (then again, he didn't sing the song either). On top of that, I went back to the Saenger to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and they did the snow effect, so I guess it was a Saenger thing.
"Bedrock Anthem" and "Like A Surgeon" are great in concert, too.

I particularly like "When I Was Your Age," "Talk Soup," and "King of Suede" off the top of my head, but they're certainly not Mount Rushmore material. I really need to look at a complete discography to try to make my definitive Mount Rushmore, but I feel pretty comfortable with the four I chose. Damn, I might have to listen to Weird Al on the way home from work tonight.

Coolio, on the other hand, was pissed.

You mean Coolio. That entire incident between Coolio and Weird Al was bizarre.

That reminds me, I've also seen him twice in concert and it's just awesome. He brings in video boards with sketches, music videos, etc and has all kinds of props and costumes. It's really an awesome show. My only regret is that both times I went, no one was really getting into the concert, people were mostly dead in their seats, clapping after each song, but this is a far departure from the type of rock concerts I'm used to

SI

You were just in the middle of shitty crowds. Both of the times I've seen him in New Orleans, the crowd was awesome.

Eat It
Pretty Fly for a Rabbi
Living With a Hernia
And for an original song, You Don't Love Me Anymore:

I knew that we were having problems when
You put those piranhas in my bathtub again
You're still the light of my life
Oh darling, I'm begging, won't you put down that knife?

You know, I even think it's kinda cute the way
You poison my coffee just a little each day
I still remember the way that you laughed
When you pushed me down that elevator shaft

wow, you are SO white.

Come again?

I thought this was going to be another complaint about play-calling in the last 30 seconds of the first half. Carry on.

Goold Old Days would be my vote

the "torturing rats with a hacksaw, and pulling the wings off of flies" line was just brilliant.

Just damn.

at the show i was at, people formed a conga line and danced all through the aisles, jumping up and down during "biggest ball of twine in minnesota".

if i had to choose between a weird al rushmore, or the box...i think id take whats in the box :)

No foolin'.

Nooooooooooothing, absolutely nothing..........


Does anyone remember the Weird Al show?
Why do all the good shows get cancelled?

l, I, what's the difference?

how can there be this many tech geeks in one place and not yet one mention of "Its all about the Pentiums!"

plus - I truly thought I was the only person who appreciated the song Albuquerque - I have never heard another human being ever mention it, and yet it appears to be universally known, around FOFC at least.

well, it's not like you mistook Coolio for LL Cool J...but Pentiums has been mentioned already. Great song. Much better than Jay-Z's original. ;)

Errr, I don't think "Weenie in a Bottle" is Weird Al.

Every reference i could find has the song credited to weird al

nope.