# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/41 "2015-09-11T00:20:50Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I like how the one guy who by all accounts is a decent person is the one you think has mental issues, when pretty much every other popular musician out there is a horrible person who treats other people like shit. Ha! You’ve obviously never heard of Madonna! ---
**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 11, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/42 "2015-09-11T00:48:08Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > 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. To be honest, I wasn’t even aware that “I lost on _Jeopardy!_” was a parody of another song. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/43 "2015-09-11T00:50:44Z")
If you have ever seen Al in an interview he comes across as a stone normal guy who knows he has been very lucky in life and as a result does not take life too seriously. We should all have such luck and attitude. About his parents. I went to a couple of concerts at the Greek Theatre where his mother came out and introduced him. It was cute and funny as hell. Later when his parents died I thought back and realized that here was a son that loved his parents, and parents that were proud of their son. Heck of a guy and on my short list of celebrities I would like to sit down with and have a beer and chat. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/44 "2015-09-11T01:43:15Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Fast forward 32+ years, and a 30-year-old employee of mine asked me, in all sincerity, “Do you think that ‘Weird Al’ has mental issues?” I’m wondering if he was asking because he perceives Weird Al as childlike or childish. I’ve never heard anything about Weird Al as an individual that indicated that he was immature, unprofessional, or stupid – quite the contrary – but I could kinda see how someone only passingly familiar with his music might think “This guy’s been doing goofy song parodies for decades? Is he stuck at age 11 or something?” I don’t think that’s a fair assessment of Weird Al’s music, I’m just trying to imagine what your employee might have been thinking. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/45 "2015-09-11T01:52:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > About eleven years ago, his parents died at their home due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Did they play themselves in _The Compleat Al?_ I always wondered, because those two were really wooden actors. ---
**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 11, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/46 "2015-09-11T02:02:33Z")
Yes, according to the IMDB listing, his parents played themselves. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/47 "2015-09-11T21:07:49Z")
One thing that shouts out “surprisingly regular guy” to me is the stability of his band. Hardly any changes over a long period of time. E.g., his drummer has been with him since 1980. Crazy people fire or drive off co-workers. He has avoided all drugs, including alcohol, and has been a vegan for a bit now. Crazy people tend not to have that sort of lifestyle. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/48 "2015-09-11T21:27:24Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > He has avoided all drugs, including alcohol, and has been a vegan for a bit now. > > Crazy people tend not to have that sort of lifestyle. You know who else had that sort of lifestyle?! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/49 "2015-09-11T21:29:28Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I don’t think that’s a fair assessment of Weird Al’s music, I’m just trying to imagine what your employee might have been thinking. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that he may be very mildly autistic, or have some issue of his own. He’s one of my best workers, but he also has the same social worker as my “special needs” employee. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/50 "2015-09-11T22:30:28Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > 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.) He’s even better when he’s not parodying a specific song. That, as indicated by others, is just too easy. He parodies entire genres. Case in point: “Dare to Be Stupid.” Weird Al out-Devo’d Devo. Mark Motherbaugh\* professed to hating him for sculpting a thing of Devo-esque beauty. \*Jokingly, I hope, but Motherbaugh is kind of hard to read sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/51 "2015-09-11T22:59:23Z")
I expect using his puny human brain he has trouble with quantum and causality paradoxes. Otherwise, he seems to be fine and dandy. ---
**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 11, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/52 "2015-09-11T23:37:32Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > He’s even better when he’s not parodying a specific song. That, as indicated by others, is just too easy. > > He parodies entire genres. > > Case in point: “Dare to Be Stupid.” Weird Al out-Devo’d Devo. Mark Motherbaugh\* professed to hating him for sculpting a thing of Devo-esque beauty. > > \*Jokingly, I hope, but Motherbaugh is kind of hard to read sometimes. I love those. My favorites are _Dog Eat Dog,_ which is a great Talking Heads-style song, _Craigslist,_ which is done in the style of the Doors, and _Bob,_ which sounds like Bob Dylan singing entirely in palindromes. _Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog._ ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/53 "2015-09-12T00:34:45Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I love those. My favorites are _Dog Eat Dog,_ which is a great Talking Heads-style song, _Craigslist,_ which is done in the style of the Doors, and _Bob,_ which sounds like Bob Dylan singing entirely in palindromes. > > _Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog._ I love “Craigslist”! The bit about the packing peanuts gets me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/54 "2015-09-12T01:11:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You know who else had that sort of lifestyle?! [Sittler](http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=4985)? ---
**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 12, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/55 "2015-09-12T01:12:32Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Case in point: “Dare to Be Stupid.” Weird Al out-Devo’d Devo. Mark Motherbaugh\* professed to hating him for sculpting a thing of Devo-esque beauty. > > \*Jokingly, I hope, but Motherbaugh is kind of hard to read sometimes. I first saw it last night and it was the most perfect and beautiful DEVO video ever, and I have a lot of them. I assume Mothersbaugh was similarly in awe. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/56 "2015-09-12T01:29:49Z")
The OP question hits me as similar to the idea that ‘such-and-such work of art _must_ have been created using drugs.’ Some people just don’t understand creativity, or how someone could writes songs like “Melanie” or “Albuquerque” without being as crazy as the songs’ narrators. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/57 "2015-09-12T01:42:27Z")
I believe he went vegetarian (or was it vegan) so that makes me want to say yes, definitely mental issues, but he’s not a dick about it, so that makes me want to say no, he doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/58 "2015-09-12T13:34:05Z")
running coach writes: \> . . . He does have a dark and twisted side to his humor . . . Compared to who? Look at the songs of Tom Lehrer, for instance. Lehrer is an even better satirist, I think. There is a considerably darker and more twisted side to Lehrer’s humor than to Weird Al’s. Of course, there has to be a certain amount of cynicism in any satirist in order for them to do satire at all, but Weird Al has surprisingly little darkness or twistedness in his humor. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/59 "2015-09-12T23:16:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You know who else had that sort of lifestyle?! Prince, iirc. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500/60 "2015-09-13T03:17:22Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > but Weird Al has surprisingly little darkness or twistedness in his humor. Revenge killing: [I Remember Larry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyXRApqwJps) Sociopathic selfishness: [Why Does This Always Happen to Me?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHRGqJDA1zk) Stalking, voyeurism, and suicide: [Melanie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeOR14izgkc) More stalking: [Do I Creep You Out?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_U377vst5o) Domestic violence: [You Don’t Love Me Any More](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWD5gdpt4Dw) Animal Abuse: [Weasel Stomping Day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k76IGLi6jWI) Fat-shaming: [Fat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mU6USTBRE) :p:D [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-have-mental-issues/730500.md?page=4)