# Babylonian New Year + Weird Al
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 5, 2002, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670 "2002-12-05T10:30:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@zia\_nova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zia_nova)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2002, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/1 "2002-12-05T10:30:37Z")
Okay, 2 questions.
Firstly, I know we have the ancient Babylonians to thank for the whole 60mins in an hour, 60secs in a min and our calandar and stuff. But my question is this:
When was the Babylonian’s New Years day?? Do we even know seeing as every 6 years they repeated one month? Help!
And secondly (this has been bugging me for ages!)
Weird Al did a song called You Don’t Love Me Anymore. Who did the original version?! I can’t find out anywhere, so I thought where better to ask 😉
Thanks for your help guys
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### Author:  [@Farren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farren)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2002, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/2 "2002-12-05T11:26:26Z")
I can help with the Weird Al question, at least:
[http://www.alsongs.com](http://www.alsongs.com)
Do a search for “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” and it shows up as one of Weird Al’s original songs. Not parodied off of anything.
The site is linked to from Weird Al’s official site ([http://www.weirdal.com](http://www.weirdal.com)), so that’s a pretty good sign that it’s accurate. 🙂
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### Author:  [@zia\_nova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zia_nova)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2002, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/3 "2002-12-05T11:28:04Z")
A Weird Al original? Cool. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/4 "2002-12-05T13:20:43Z")
Not all of Weird Al’s songs are parodies, **zia\_nova**. In fact, I think his contract states that he has at least 1/3 of his songs on each album be originals.
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### Author:  [@zia\_nova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zia_nova)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/5 "2002-12-05T13:38:03Z")
you learn something new everyday. Thanks.
Anyone else got anything on the Babylonian New Years day thingy?
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### Author:  [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/6 "2002-12-05T20:49:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by zia\_nova \*
> When was the Babylonian’s New Years day?? Do we even know seeing as every 6 years they repeated one month?
It wasn’t a fixed date, but was tied to the spring equinox, somewhat like Easter. To quote from _Halley’s Comet in History_ (British Museum, 1985, p14), edited by F.R. Stephenson and C.B.F. Walker:
> [@](#):
>
> The Babylonian year begins around the time of the spring equinox, and is made up of twelve or thirteen lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty days, each month beginning with the first sighting of the cresent of the new moon. The intercalary thirteenth month which has to be added to the year occasionally to keep the calendar in line with the natural solar month was from about 400 BC added in a regular pattern, with seven such months added in each period of nineteen years.
This 19 year period is a Metonic cycle. You’ll thus have the start of the year fluctuating around the equinox, by up to about 30 days on either side. Given that the months can vary in length, probably all days inside this interval were possible New Years Days.
I’d expect that, for purely legacy system reasons, their Metonic cycle was actually only tied to a day near the equinox. King decrees: “We’re going to start adding the months in this new-fangled fashion, starting from whatever the New Years Day is next time round.” Since they couldn’t exactly predict when the next month would start until it did, the alternatives are either waiting until a new moon happens to fall on the equinox or finding some way of backdating your new law to one that had. Also, since the date of the change isn’t known to the exact year, we probably can’t even deduce what the specific day the cycle was tied to would have been.
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### Author:  [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/7 "2002-12-05T22:26:02Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by rastahomie \*
> \*\*Not all of Weird Al’s songs are parodies, **zia\_nova**. In fact, I think his contract states that he has at least 1/3 of his songs on each album be originals. \*\*
it’s not a contract, it’s a choice, both personal and business. Although Al really got his start in parodies (and it’s certainly what he’s best known for), he is also quite talented at writing his own songs. Many of his original songs are inspired by songs of other bands (compare Dare To Be Stupid to anything by Devo, Germs to Nine Inch Nails, Everything You Know is Wrong to They Might Be Giants, or Dog Eat Dog to Talking Heads), but are just different enough that he doesn’t have to pay the original bands royalties – which is the reason that only about 1/3 of the songs on his album are parodies. An entire album of legitamite parodies (which include royalty publishing fees) can get very expensive! I recommend that anyone with an interest in comedy music check out some of Al’s non-parody work.
You Don’t Love Me Anymore comes from a variety of sources (someone more familiar with this type of music could list better examples than I), but the music video is a direct spoof on Extreme’s “More Than Words”.
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### Author:  [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/8 "2002-12-06T01:09:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by fusoya \*
> **Many of his original songs are inspired by songs of other bands (compare Dare To Be Stupid to anything by Devo, Germs to Nine Inch Nails, Everything You Know is Wrong to They Might Be Giants, or Dog Eat Dog to Talking Heads), but are just different enough that he doesn’t have to pay the original bands royalties**
In the VH1 Behind the Music about Al, he refers to these songs as “Style Parodies” and gave the indication that one reason he does them is when there’s a popular artist who he wants to parody, but said artist won’t give permision for any of their songs.
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### Author:  [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/9 "2002-12-06T01:12:47Z")
This thread isn’t at all what I was hoping for when I read the title.
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### Author:  [@racosun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racosun)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/10 "2002-12-06T08:09:20Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by c\_carol \*
> \*\*This thread isn’t at all what I was hoping for when I read the title. \*\*
Yeah, I’m disappointed too. I thought Weird Al had something to do with the Great Conjunction or something.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/11 "2002-12-06T08:52:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> As I walk through the valley where I harvest my grain,
> I take a look at my wife and realize she’s very plain
_Amish Paradise_, parody of _Gangsta’s Paradise_. One of Al’s best-known works. Possibly as well-known as its source material.
I’m going somewhere with this.
Coolio, the creator of the original, did _not_ like Al’s parody. I seem to recall legal action, in fact. Is this a case of someone trying to weasel his way into more royalties, or did Al fail to get the proper permission?
Under the Fair Use laws, which specifically protect parody, does Al even _need_ permission?
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### Author:  [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/12 "2002-12-06T09:15:37Z")
My understanding of the Coolio incident is that Al asked the people at his record label to get in touch with Coolio to get permission. Supposedly one of the execs at Scotti Bros. Records ran into Coolio at a party and there was a conversation that left the exec with the impression that permission had been given. Coolio claims no memory of ever meeting the exec.
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### Author:  [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/13 "2002-12-06T17:11:47Z")
When I was a reporter for my university newspaper in the mid 90s I got the opportunity to interview Al and I asked him whether or not he gets permission to do his parodies. He responded that the law does not require him to seek permission, so long as the writing credits on the album reflect the source material and the appropriate royalties are paid out. That said, he also said that he gets permission as a matter of personal policy and also said that only one person had ever turned him down, although he couldn’t tell me who because that guy no longer had a name.
He had no comments on the Babylonian clock.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/14 "2002-12-06T17:35:20Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dread Pirate Jimbo \*
> **although he couldn’t tell me who because that guy no longer had a name.**
Contract dispute with his record label over, the Purple One **)O-\>** is now back to being Prince.
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### Author:  [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/15 "2002-12-06T18:11:36Z")
As a side note, the last time I saw Weird Al perform was at the dorms at Cal Poly SLO when I was student. He had achieved fame already on the Dr. Demento show, and among some of his songs he performed was the already famous “My Balona [sic]”.
Weird Al also set off a chain of events which resulted in the campuses first “terrorist” event:
Al hosted his own radio show at the campus station (KCPR) and when he quit, a couple of upset fans responded a few days later with a lunch bag containing an M-80[?] and full of leaflets crying out for “Come back Weird Al” which was set off in the hallway about 5 yards from the room housing the broadcast booth. The “bombing” as the police called it, only produced a snickers from my fellow compatriots, wondering what would happen if someone in a mask, chanting slogans had shot off a toy cap pistol in the hallway instead. Would a SWAT team had responded?
My, oh my, how times have changed…
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### Author:  [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/16 "2002-12-06T19:02:34Z")
From the aforementioned website of the man himself:
> [@](#):
>
> Does Al get permission to do his parodies?
>
> Al does get permission from the original writers of the songs that he parodies. While the law supports his ability to parody without permission, he feels it’s important for him to maintain the relationships that he’s built with artists and writers over the years. Plus, Al wants to make sure that he gets his songwriter credit (as writer of new lyrics) as well as his rightful share of the royalties.
>
> What do the original artists think of the parodies?
>
> Most artists are genuinely flattered and consider it an honor to have Weird Al parody their work. Some groups (including Nirvana) claim that they didn’t realize that they had really “made it” until Weird Al did a parody of them!
>
> What about Coolio? I heard that he was upset with Al about “Amish Paradise.”
>
> That was a very unfortunate case of misunderstanding between Al’s people and Coolio’s people. Short version of the story: Al recorded “Amish Paradise” after being told by his record label that Coolio had given his permission for the parody. When Al’s album came out, Coolio publicly contended that he had never given his blessing, and that he was in fact very offended by the song. Al immediately sent Coolio a very sincere letter of apology for the misunderstanding, but has yet to hear back from him.
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### Author:  [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/17 "2002-12-06T19:41:26Z")
Why did Al ask coolio for permission to parody a rewrite of a Stevie Wonder song?, isn’t Stevie still considered the author?.
unclviny
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### Author:  [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylonian-new-year-weird-al/140670/18 "2003-01-05T18:56:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dread Pirate Jimbo \*
> \*\*When I was a reporter for my university newspaper in the mid 90s I got the opportunity to interview Al and I asked him whether or not he gets permission to do his parodies. He responded that the law does not require him to seek permission, so long as the writing credits on the album reflect the source material and the appropriate royalties are paid out. That said, he also said that he gets permission as a matter of personal policy and also said that only one person had ever turned him down, although he couldn’t tell me who because that guy no longer had a name.
> \*\*
Actually, that isn’t completely true. He has also been turned down by Paul McCartney (not because he wasn’t a fan, but because he didn’t want Al doing songs that involved eating chicken), Billy Joel, The Offspring (again, because they thought that Come Out And Play was too serious to be made fun of…but they later let him do Pretty Fly), Weezer (Buddy Holly was originally going to be on Bad Hair Day, but Weezer changed their mind and revoked their permission)…and probably some others that we never heard about. I think Prince just has a reputation because he really got angry that Al would even THINK of desecrating one of his works. He also got turned down by the Dr Seuss estate for singing U2’s Numb to the words of Green Eggs & Ham, even though U2 was all for it. Most of these turn downs eventually showed up in concert or on one of Al’s TV specials anyway.