Dare To Be Stupid

Last night, I watched "Weird Al Live!" on Comedy Central. It was a special consisting of clips of a live "Weird Al" Yankovic concert in Toronto from his "Alpocalypse" Tour. It cracked me up. Weird Al never ceases to amaze me with his amazing ability to take a popular (and possibly annoying) song like Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA" and make something hilarious out of it, turning it into "Party in the C.I.A.". Awesome!

I'll confess: I've been a Weird Al fan for a long time. My Mom introduced me to him at a young age; with his clever but not vulgar lyrics, it was not an issue for her. My 6th grade boyfriend was (and continues to be) obsessed with him. I think he's brilliant, and I consider "White and Nerdy", his spoof of Chamillionaire's "Ridin' Dirty", my personal anthem. I've seen Weird Al in concert, and I must say, that man works hard to put on one hell of a spectacular show every time. He's undeniably entertaining, and it takes a lot of stamina (and costume changes) to make it all happen!

Some of you reading this may be groaning and rolling your eyes right now. I've heard people say that they don't consider him a "real artist" and that he's just stupid. "He's not a musician, he just steals other bands' music and makes fun of it" is what one of my friends once informed me.

On some level, she may be right; the music is, for the most part, the same. The lyrics, however, are a completely different story. Even the subject matter is different. Take "Amish Paradise", a parody of Coolio's hit "Gangsta's Paradise". One is about the hardships of living the thug life. The other is about the hardships of churning butter and and being "technologically impaired". Big difference! Plus, he is a musician. Have you seen him rock that accordion?! He is truly a certified "squeeze box engineer"!

Here's what blows my mind (and here's where my "music-geek" personality comes in): He takes an existing song that is popular at the time, dreams up and arranges the lyrics so that the accents and beats fall in the same spots as the original, and makes it funny. In his videos, he personifies and parodies the artists, in some cases taking it to an extreme (see the video for "Fat", the parody of Michael Jackson's "Bad"). And he's been doing this for almost three decades. He's still around and a part of pop culture while a lot of artists (some of whom he spoofed) have seemingly fallen off of the face of the Earth. It takes a special kind of guy to accomplish all of that. Can you do all of that?

His original songs are highly amusing and, well, original. This is demonstrated by one of my personal favorites off of the UHF Soundtrack, titled "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters From a Planet Near Mars". Need I say more about that?

Speaking of UHF, yes, he wrote and starred in it. Though not a box-office smash hit, this 1989 release is a cult classic. It's about Weird Al's character being given a bankrupt UHF TV station and subsequently (if not involuntarily) turning it around. It's an amusing and twisted movie, and familiar faces such as Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld), Victoria Jackson, Fran Drescher (The Nanny), and comedian Emo Phillips make appearances. The soundtrack from this movie not only includes songs and commercials from the movie ("Spatula City"!) but has a few song parodies as well, most notably "Spam", a parody of R.E.M.'s hit "Stand", and "She Drives Like Crazy", an alternative take to the Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy". I love this movie and it's soundtrack; it might be my favorite Weird Al album.

Some artists are insulted when he asks to spoof their songs and some flat-out refuse to let it happen, like Prince was rumored to have done. My opinion is that you know you've made it when Weird Al wants to parody your song. Why would anyone refuse? It only brings you more attention, and if you take yourself so seriously that you can't laugh at yourself, that's a problem! Lighten up!

No matter how you feel about "Weird Al" Yankovic, you have to admit: no one does what he does like he does it. Several others have tried to duplicate him, but there's only one Weird Al. He's been at it for quite a while, and I personally hope he'll be making albums and touring for a long time. Years from now, when Justin Bieber is only a blip on the pop culture radar, I'm sure Weird Al will be doing a parody of the latest teen pop sensation's number one hit song and making millions of people laugh. You can't deny that he is a comic genius; his talent, success, and longevity proves it. Give the man the respect he deserves!

And remember: "Mashed potatoes can be your friends...."

"Dare To Be Stupid", 1985