# Does 'Weird Al' Have Mental Issues? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500 "2015-09-10T04:24:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/21 "2015-09-10T13:03:41Z")
“Issues” is one of those wonderfully vague words that can mean whatever you want it to mean. He certainly has mental traits, because all of us do. And some of Al’s mental traits are significantly outside of the mainstream. If you want, I suppose you can define those as “issues”. But the more important question is whether he has any mental _problems_, and the answer there appears to be “no more than anyone else, and probably less than most”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/22 "2015-09-10T13:30:44Z")
About eleven years ago, his parents died at their home due to carbon monoxide poisoning. A few hours after he found out, he went on with a scheduled concert. He said, “Since my music had helped many of my fans through tough times, maybe it would work for me as well.” I always thought that was a remarkable reaction to a horrible event and, not by the way, the reaction of someone with mental issues. I think he’s entirely sane and possessing a good sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/23 "2015-09-10T13:31:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Weird Al has spent pretty much his entire life having a great time. Even today, his videos just exude a sort of… what, joyfulness? > > If he has “mental problems,” it’s because there are some people out there for whom that sort of thing seems fashionable and trendy. I think he’s just a cool dude who’s managed to make a career out of having fun and being clever. > > We should all be so disturbed. That’s pretty much how I feel about it - he’s managed to make himself a very lucrative career doing what he loves, and entertaining a lot of people as part of that, and through it all, has avoided any serious personal controversy or issues. He seems like the very opposite of having “mental problems”, especially for someone under the celebrity microscope. I think a lot of artist/creative types can have this question asked about them if their art goes in directions that are out of the norm. I’m sure people ask if Stephen King is mentally messed up all the time, and again, he seems relatively sane to me. He just writes some really twisted stories. Being able to imagine some twisted or off the wall stuff doesn’t at all translate into “having mental problems”. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/24 "2015-09-10T13:33:55Z")
I have had the great good fortune of meeting Al and all the guys in the band on several occasions. Al is about as balanced a person as you will meet. He is sweet, warm, funny and not at all like his stage persona. The guys in the band are all very nice. Steve, the bass player is really a funny guy, and just really down to earth. Bermuda, the drummer, has an almost encyclopedic brain. He always remembers me. Jim, the guitar player is on the shy side. Reuben, the “new guy” who has been Al’s keyboardist for 20 something years, is always the butt of the onstage jokes, but he takes it without a grudge. Maybe he gets hazard pay? All of them are accomplished musicians. Great guys all around. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/25 "2015-09-10T13:41:06Z")
He had has some issues although I don’t think they were mental as [this biopic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcNuiri2dV0) shows. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/26 "2015-09-10T14:10:17Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > All of them are accomplished musicians. That’s an understatement, considering the sheer number of musical styles they have to play or emulate. They’re without equal in that respect. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/27 "2015-09-10T14:10:19Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > . . . On second thought … the guy who made UHF may have a few mental issues 😉 SUPPLIES!!! **Mister Rik** , your 30 year old employee has a sense of humor problem. Weird Al is fine. (I swear that sentence is supposed to start with Mister Rik, in bold. Did it disappear because of the bolding or because I had cut and pasted it? Let’s see **Mister Rick** Mister Rik \<------ It’s the bolding.) ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/28 "2015-09-10T14:29:02Z")
Weird Al seems like a perfectly sane, fairly intelligent guy. I don’t know about genius. He found a way to make a boatload of money doing something fun. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/29 "2015-09-10T14:29:24Z")
I met Al at the after-party for the Porn Awards in Vegas many years ago. True story. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/30 "2015-09-10T16:05:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > About eleven years ago, his parents died at their home due to carbon monoxide poisoning. A few hours after he found out, he went on with a scheduled concert. He said, “Since my music had helped many of my fans through tough times, maybe it would work for me as well.” I always thought that was a remarkable reaction to a horrible event and, not by the way, the reaction of someone with mental issues. I think he’s entirely sane and possessing a good sense of humor. As a former ventriloquist and son of a magician and puppeteer, what struck me about that it was one of the purest examples of the credo “The Show Must Go On”. If you’ve never been a performer and part of a family of entertainers, you have no idea how deeply that belief runs, and how it speaks to a level of selflessness. Those people paid their money, they are out there waiting to be entertained and _they deserve a show_. This has given me a lump in my throat. \*\*Jason Nesmith: \*\*You WILL go out there. **Sir Alexander Dane:** I won’t and nothing you say will make me. \*\*Jason Nesmith: \*\*The show must go on. **Sir Alexander Dane:** …Damn you. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/31 "2015-09-10T16:16:18Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > What’s this about both of their nuts? pardon me, I meant that their heads were screwed on right and they were firmly bolted to reality…excuse me, I have to go check on the washer, I need to add bleach… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/32 "2015-09-10T16:23:13Z")
Weird Al is probably among the most normal people in showbiz. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/33 "2015-09-10T16:54:28Z")
Last year, my kid said to me “You’ve gotta see this video called Tacky - it’s a take-off of Happy. Have you heard of this guy Weird Al?” I said “uh…I’ve been a fan since the '80s.” I actually earned some cool points for that one. Apparently, all the middle-schoolers were really into Weird Al. In 1981, would you have ever guessed that Weird Al would be super-cool amongst the tween set 33 years in the future? I like the comparison with Stephen King. There are a lot of brilliant, talented, and imaginative people out there. Very few of them are able to parlay those assets into stable and successful long-term careers - especially careers with a minimum of public controversy, personal drama, and scandal. That suggests that both of them have far far fewer mental problems than most, especially as compared to those involved in the entertainment industry. Or maybe they’re just better at hiding it. 😛 Weird Al doesn’t get nearly enough credit for how brilliant his parody lyrics are. Unlike most parody songs I’ve heard, he gets the rhythm of the words exactly right. Or maybe it’s the meter? Whatever the word is, the way he matches the parody lyrics to the original puts his stuff head and shoulders above the rest. I first noticed this way way back when he released Another One Rides the Bus. Looking back at his career, it’s interesting to see how much better and more sophisticated his parodies have become over the years - especially in terms of his videos. Most artists stagnate after a decade or two, but his most is most recent work is his best. One of my old favorites of his is I Lost on Jeopardy, but looking back at it, it’s a little amateurish. Compare that music and video to, say, Word Crimes or Foil, where the production values seem as good as the ones for any current pop song and video. Just the lyrics for Word Crimes are a work of art, and the video just makes it so much better. Another example of how he’s changed is that he doesn’t make a joke out of himself the way he used to. A big part of his schtick was “hey, look at me! I’m an ugly nerd!” That was funny in the '80s, but it wouldn’t be funny today - and he doesn’t need it as a source of visual humor any more because his videos are so good. And it turns out that he’s actually a pretty good-looking guy! Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/34 "2015-09-10T17:16:50Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Weird Al doesn’t get nearly enough credit for how brilliant his parody lyrics are. Unlike most parody songs I’ve heard, he gets the rhythm of the words exactly right. Or maybe it’s the meter? Whatever the word is, the way he matches the parody lyrics to the original puts his stuff head and shoulders above the rest. I first noticed this way way back when he released Another One Rides the Bus. Actually, in a lot of cases, his lyrics are just plain _better_. _Perform This Way_ is a far better song lyrically than _Born This Way_: It doesn’t matter if you love him or capital H-I-M Just put your paws up 'Cause you were born this way, baby My mama told me when I was young We are all born superstars She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on In the glass of her boudoir …versus Al’s “Perform This Way”. My mama told me when I was hatched Act like a superstar Save your allowance, buy a bubble dress And someday you will go far Now on red carpets, well, I’m hard to miss The press follows everywhere I go I’ll poke your eye out with a dress like this Back off and enjoy the show …and Gaga just repeats: Don’t be a drag, just be a queen Don’t be a drag, just be a queen Don’t be a drag, just be a queen Don’t be… …where Al has: I’ll be a troll or evil queen I’ll be a human jelly bean 'Cause every day is Halloween For me… ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/35 "2015-09-10T19:05:00Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Actually, in a lot of cases, his lyrics are just plain _better_. Oh, I absolutely agree. I’m just particularly impressed with the way he matches the original song. Besides, the lyrics to pop songs are frequently not clever at all. That’s not a criticism of the originals. It just means they’re fertile ground for making improvements. I happen to love the song Blurred Lines, but virtually anything would be more interesting than: _I hate these blurred lines I know you want it I know you want it I know you want it_ Weird Al gives us: _I read your e-mail It’s quite apparent Your grammar’s errant You’re incoherent_ (FWIW, Word Crimes doesn’t actually match Blurred Lines as well as most of his songs, but some of the deviations are definitely played for laughs.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/36 "2015-09-10T19:39:10Z")
Weird Al was sort of a child prodigy. He started kindergarten a year earlier than other kids and was promoted directly from first grade to third. This left him two years younger than his classmates. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/37 "2015-09-10T21:09:49Z")
Honestly, I do not see anything whatsoever about Weird Al Yankovic that’s insane. He is a comedian and musician, trades known for being off kilter, but as a person he is, by all accounts, as ordinary a guy as one could possibly imagine. His durability speaks well to his sanity, if anything, and as has been pointed out, he’s getting BETTER at what he does, which admittedly has been the same thing for a long time. “Word Crimes” is a snappier, better song than “Blurred Lines.” You can’t say that of “Eat It” and “Beat It.” There was a great Onion article a few months ago titled something like “Washed Up Musician Now In Fourth Decade Of Doing What He Always Wanted,” the jist of it being that they were making fun of people making fun of “washed up” old musicians - the example they used was Peter Wolf, talking about how the “washed up” old bastard is happily singing and playing to crowds of thousands of adoring fans who pay him top dollar to do the thing he loves, boy what a loser. Weird Al is kind of like that except he’s producing better parodies than ever - his recent work really is way, way better than his early stuff - and he is visibly AWARE of how lucky he is. The guy’s having the time of his life. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/38 "2015-09-10T21:14:05Z")
Also “Party in the CIA.” Better than the original and just wonderful lyrical work. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/39 "2015-09-10T21:52:41Z")
Where does even the notion that’s mentally unfit come from? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/40 "2015-09-11T00:06:52Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > If being consistently witty, funny and creative is a “mental issue” then I don’t want to live on this planet anymore. However, he DOES play the accordion. :dubious: > [@Green\_Bean](#): > > In 1981, would you have ever guessed that Weird Al would be super-cool amongst the tween set 33 years in the future? I thought mental tweens of all ages (me, f’rinstance) were his target market. > [@](#): > > Weird Al doesn’t get nearly enough credit for how brilliant his parody lyrics are. Unlike most parody songs I’ve heard, he gets the rhythm of the words exactly right. Or maybe it’s the meter? Whatever the word is, the way he matches the parody lyrics to the original puts his stuff head and shoulders above the rest. I first noticed this way way back when he released Another One Rides the Bus. > … > One of my old favorites of his is I Lost on Jeopardy, but looking back at it, it’s a little amateurish. Even so, “I lost on _Jeopardy!_” scans better than “Our love’s in jeopardy.” Even singing along with Greg Kihn in the car, the Weird Al chorus keeps sneaking out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500.md?page=3)