Guide to Weird Al Yankovic's released parodies
Submitted by AJDaGreat on Thu, 08/15/2002 - 10:13
Tags:
- Achy Breaky Song - parody of Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart" (Note: Songwriting proceeds for the parody were donated to the United Cerebral Palsy Association.)
- Addicted to Spuds - parody of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love"
- Alimony - parody of Billy Idol's "Mony Mony"
- Amish Paradise - parody of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" (Note: Al always gets permission from the artist before he puts the parody on an album. However, after "Amish Paradise" became a hit, Coolio claimed that he said no when Al asked him. Al sent him a letter of apology; no response.)
- Another One Rides the Bus - parody of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust"
- Bedrock Anthem - parody of Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge" AND Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away"
- The Brady Bunch - parody of Men Without Hats' "Safety Dance"
- Canadian Idiot - parody of Green Day's "American Idiot"
- Cavity Search - parody of U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" (Note: The parody is about a horrible visit to the dentist. In the song, it's "numb me, drill me, floss me, bill me.")
- A Complicated Song - parody of Avril Lavigne's "Complicated"
- Confessions Part III - parody of Usher's "Confessions Part II"
- Couch Potato - parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" (Note: For the first time, the artist being parodied approved of the parody itself but not a video. So for the first time in his career, Al is not doing a music video of the lead track of his album. This is the lead track off Poodle Hat, which won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.)
- Do I Creep You Out - parody of Taylor Hicks's "Do I Make You Proud"
- Eat It - parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (Note: The parody won a Grammy for "Best Comedy Recording.")
- eBay - parody of the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way"
- Fat - parody of Michael Jackson's "Bad" (Note: The "Fat" video won a Grammy for "Best Concept Video.")
- Girls Just Want to Have Lunch - parody of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"
- Grapefruit Diet - parody of Cherry Poppin' Daddies' "Zoot Suit Riot"
- Gump - parody of The Presidents of the United States' "Lump"
- Headline News - parody of Crash Test Dummies' "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" (Note: Aside from the online-only "You're Pitiful," this is the only song here that doesn't appear on any album; it was on a single. It was also on Al's "Greatest Hits: Volume 2.")
- Here's Johnny - parody of El DeBarge's "Who's Johnny"
- I Can't Watch This - parody of M.C. Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" (Note: The parody is about crappy TV shows.)
- I Lost on Jeopardy - parody of The Greg Kihn Band's "Jeopardy"
- I Love Rocky Road - parody of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock and Roll"
- I Think I'm a Clone Now - parody of Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now"
- I Want a New Duck - parody of Huey Lewis & The News' "I Want a New Drug"
- Isle Thing - parody of Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" (Note: The parody is about Gilligan's Island)
- It's All About the Pentiums - parody of Sean "Puffy" Combs's "It's All About the Benjamins"
- Jerry Springer - parody of Barenaked Ladies' "One Week"
- Jurassic Park - parody of Richard Harris's "MacArthur Park"
- Lasagna - parody of "La Bamba" (traditional Spanish folk song)
- Like a Surgeon - parody of Madonna's "Like a Virgin"
- Livin' in the Fridge - parody of Aerosmith's "Livin' on the Edge"
- Living With a Hernia - parody of James Brown's "Living in America"
- King of Suede - parody of The Police's "King of Pain"
- Money For Nothing / Beverly Hillbillies - parody of Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" (Note: The parody has this lame title because of legal purposes; the song appeared in Al's movie "UHF.")
- My Bologna - parody of The Knack's "My Sharona"
- Ode to a Superhero - parody of Billy Joel's "Piano Man"
- Phony Calls - parody of TLC's "Water Falls"
- The Plumbing Song - parody of Milli Vanilli's "Baby Don't Forget My Number" AND Milli Vanilli's "Blame It On the Rain" (Note: In the parody, it's "baby don't forget my plumber" and "blame it on the drain.")
- Pretty Fly for a Rabbi - parody of Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)"
- Ricky - parody of Tony Basil's "Mickey" (Note: The parody is about the television series "I Love Lucy.")
- The Saga Begins - parody of Don McLean's "American Pie" (Note: The parody is about "Star Wars: Episode 1." Al has said that he picked "American Pie" to parody because both the song and the original "Star Wars" trilogy are classics.)
- She Drives Like Crazy - parody of Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy"
- Smells Like Nirvana - parody of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
- Spam - parody of R.E.M.'s "Stand"
- Stop Draggin' My Car Around - parody of Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
- Syndicated Inc. - parody of Soul Asylum's "Misery"
- Taco Grande - parody of Gerardo's "Rico Suave"
- Theme From Rocky XIII - parody of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" (Note: The parody is about Rocky, too old and weak to box anymore, taking up restaurant management. In the song, patrons are encouraged to try "the rye or the kaiser.")
- (This Song's Just) Six Words Long - parody of George Harrison's "Got My Mind Set On You"
- Toothless People - parody of Mick Jagger's "Ruthless People"
- Trapped in the Drive-Thru - parody of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet"
- Trash Day - parody of Nelly's "Hot in Herre"
- White and Nerdy - parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin'"
- The White Stuff - parody of New Kids on the Block's "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" (Note: The parody is about the white stuff in the middle of an Oreo.)
- Yoda - parody of The Kinks' "Lola"
- You're Pitiful - parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" (Note: Originally slated to be on his album Straight Outta Lynwood, but left off when Atlantic Records objected, even though James Blunt had given his permission for the parody. It was never released on any disc, but Weird Al put it up on his web site as a free download, and it soon spread all over the Internet.)
Author Comments:
8/3/2007 - Updated to include parodies on his latest album, Straight Outta Lynwood.
Oh, that silly Al...
Quick note about your "La Bamba" question: It's a "traditional" Spanish folk song. I speak spanish myself, but I've never been able to figure out what the lyrics mean because no one's ever written the full lyrics down, since it's been passed down from generation to generation and the lyrics have been revised. The song was brought into the limelight by Ritchie Valens in the late '50's (perhaps 1957 or '58), who, despite being of Mexican heritage, sang the song without any fluency of Spanish or the meaning of the lyrics. Los Lobos covered the song for the 1987 Valens biopic "La Bamba", which was a top ten hit that year.
Thanks, I'll change it to "traditional."
Great list. Ah, I remember many of these fondly...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs (who REALLY used to dig Nature Trail to Hell and One More Minute, nonparodies, back in 7th grade, and who still recalls the words to Yoda, despite not having heard the song in over a decade...)
This is a very thorough list! Just a few things: In the info you give about "Eat It", you mention that the Best Comedy Recording category no longer exists. Well, it does, although it is now called Best Comedy Album. Al won a Grammy Feb. 8th for Poodle Hat. You might want to mention that in the info for at least one of the parodies from Poodle Hat, and change the info for "Eat It". Other than that, it looks good.
I think I remember you from that Weird Al message board. I don't go there very much anymore.
Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, the comedy Grammy disappeared for a long time and then reappeared just in time for Poodle Hat. When I originally wrote that comment for "Eat It", the comedy Grammy was still long gone. I'll change it now.
How about Angry White Boy Polka, which parodies several songs?
Weird Al has released polkas on almost all of his albums - bizarre medleys of pop culture hits sped up and accompanied by accordion. I tend to think of a song parody as keeping the tune and changing the words into humorous words, instead of the other way around. I don't really count the polkas as parodies.
It is pretty hilarious to hear "Chop Suey" as a polka, though.
You forgot one of my favorites, although I don't think it would quality for your list. The song "Dare To Be Stupid" is a parody of Devo - no song in particular, although it does take elements from several tracks from Oh, No! It's Devo. I think Mark Mothersbaugh (lead singer of Devo) appriciated it but was a little bitter, noting that by that time Weird Al was better at doing Devo than Devo themselves, and indeed, the track is better than almost everything off their final four albums. The video is great...I suppose it seems pretty random to most people, but if you've seen all the Devo videos you'll notice that it parodies parts of almost every one of their music videos.
Oh, did you pick up the new Weird Al disc yet? It's a good one!
You're right, it doesn't qualify, being more of a "style parody" than an outright parody of one single song. I didn't include style parodies because they're not as clear-cut in terms of identifying the source. I do love that song and video, though, but clearly I don't appreciate it as much as you, since I haven't seen any Devo videos.
Straight Outta Lynwood? Yeah I did. Hilarious. I should add those parodies soon.