# Eminem, Humorless Turd Extrordinaire **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 10, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294 "2003-05-10T06:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/41 "2003-05-11T02:50:34Z")
If I recall, the Kinks did not approve of Weird Al’s parody of “Lola.” Weird Al’s version called “Yoda.” I remember a solo version on Dr. Demento many years ago, but I don’t believe it ever got publicly released. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/42 "2003-05-11T03:43:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Road Rash \* > \*\*If I recall, the Kinks did not approve of Weird Al’s parody of “Lola.” Weird Al’s version called “Yoda.” I remember a solo version on Dr. Demento many years ago, but I don’t believe it ever got publicly released. \*\* It was on his ‘Dare to Be Stupid’ (1985) album. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/43 "2003-05-11T03:47:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NDP \* > \*\*The fact that Eminem shot down Weird Al’s request is no surprise given that he’s already [roughed up a rubber dog puppet.](http://216.239.33.104/search?q=cache%3Ahttp://www.nwaonline.net/277059973898191.bsp) \*\* Yeah, yeah… Eminem… that’s greaaaaat music… FOR ME TO POOP ON! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/44 "2003-05-11T08:17:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Odieman \* > Don’t worry, Zenster, I don’t think the people that you appeal to are exactly Eminem’s target audience. Whoa! Now that’s a BIG relief! > [@](#): > > I am no Eminem fan but it seems that everybody that dislikes him attacks him for not being a “real musician”, ie. he doesn’t play an instrument or sing…well he does do something that strikes a chord with numerous people, who rightly or wrongly see him as an important artist…well then attacking him for not playing a real instrument or being a thug is as easy as attacking you for being pretentious… Where have I attacked him for “not playing a real instrument?” Where did I say he isn’t “a real musician?” I think he’s a sniveling hypocrite who uses other artist’s material and then refuses to permit another artist to do the same with his so-called “own work.” ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/45 "2003-05-11T14:09:23Z")
I think Wierd Al got into some legal trouble over Amish Paradise so hes pretty picky about getting legal consent for everything nowadays. To be fair to Eminem, he DID allow the audio version of the song, just not the music video. ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/46 "2003-05-11T14:27:23Z")
> [@](#): > > I think he’s a sniveling hypocrite who uses other artist’s material and then refuses to permit another artist to do the same with his so-called “own work.” I don’t understand. You’re saying that anyone who has ever sampled automatically loses creative control of their music, regardless of whether that particular song was sampled or not? That’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/47 "2003-05-11T14:45:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shalmanese \* > **I think Wierd Al got into some legal trouble over Amish Paradise so hes pretty picky about getting legal consent for everything nowadays.** From the [Official Weird Al website](http://www.weirdal.com/faq.htm): > [@](#): > > 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 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. So unless Coolio threatened to sue, Al was not in any legal trouble. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/48 "2003-05-11T14:55:09Z")
Eminem doesn’t sample that much. _Stan_ and _Sing For The Moment_ both sample choruses, but most of his other stuff doesn’t use samples - most of it’s those horror movie keyboard lines that he’s fond of (think _Square Dance_ off The Eminem Show as the perfect example). It’s not like he’s Puffy (on the negative side of things) or De La Soul or DJ Shadow (on the positive). ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/49 "2003-05-11T16:10:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*Whoa! Now that’s a BIG relief!Where have I attacked him for “not playing a real instrument?” Where did I say he isn’t “a real musician?” I think he’s a sniveling hypocrite who uses other artist’s material and then refuses to permit another artist to do the same with his so-called “own work.” \*\* First off, the part of the post that directly pertained to your post was in the first paragraph, the second paragraph was just an observation about Eminem hatred in general. Lord knows, I don’t feel entirely comfortable defending him, because I have a lot of trouble with a lot of his lyrics. But it seems if you replace the name Eminem with Elvis then you could have said a lot of the same things in the fifties. Secondly, there has been a long and noble tradition in other music forms of “borrowing” musical themes etc from folk and other traditions and building new works out of them. This includes “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, which was based on a folk melody, the symphonies of Dvorak and Aaron Copeland, and even such modern songs as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, which was ripped off without attribution from a preexisting South African folk melody. The one thing they all have in common is that they were changed either in melody, and definitely by context from their origins. Thirdly, Weird Al has made an entire career out of using other peoples works (with attribution) and simply writing new lyrics for them. He basically has to do this because well, his own songs aren’t that good…so I guess if it was someone else I would have more sympathy for him. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/50 "2003-05-11T20:21:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Odieman \* > \*\*He basically has to do this because well, his own songs aren’t that good…so I guess if it was someone else I would have more sympathy for him. \*\* I politely disagree. Some of the time his originals are better than his parodies. _Franks’ 2000 Inch TV_, _I Remember Larry_, _The Night Santa Went Crazy_, and _Christmas At Ground Zero_ are just a few of his many great originals. I admit he couldn’t sell an album that well without parodies but that’s because that’s what he’s known for. If you look at his huge body of work, his parodies are a small percentage. ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/51 "2003-05-11T21:06:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Odieman \* > \*\*But it seems if you replace the name Eminem with Elvis then you could have said a lot of the same things in the fifties. > \*\* Sure, you could say that, but you’d be dead wrong. Elvis was unfailingly polite, and didn’t have this, _"I’m pissed off at the world for some reason so I’m going to give everyone the finger, because no one understands how unhappy I am even though I have a net worth of $24,000,000 and I can viciously attack other people but no one can say a **thing** about me_ attitude that Eminem has. And people didn’t have a problem with the lyrics of Elvis’s songs, in fact they weren’t all that much different then what was already on the charts. It was the **way** that Elvis sang and moved on stage that bothered people. It was his charisma. Elvis never went around calling people _faggot_ or _nigger._ ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/52 "2003-05-12T02:43:21Z")
Eminem denied the video rights because the song poked fun at television addicts? WTF? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/53 "2003-05-12T02:58:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gex gex \* > **Eminem doesn’t sample that much. _Stan_ and _Sing For The Moment_ both sample choruses, but most of his other stuff doesn’t use samples - most of it’s those horror movie keyboard lines that he’s fond of (think _Square Dance_ off The Eminem Show as the perfect example).** Nitpick- _My Name Is…_ heavily sampled Labi Siffre’s _I got the Blues_. _Sing For the Moment_ sounds like a P.Diddy job if I ever heard one. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/54 "2003-05-12T02:59:51Z")
This cracks me up ( **Zenster** ): > [@](#): > > Enima-em is a sulking little cretin whose work appeals to a sector of fandom that I would consider an insult to have admire me. I’m presuming that you disinclude Weird Al from that insulting group? I just think it’s fortunate that Weird Al doesn’t have the same narrow-minded attitude towards Marshall’s work as many of you here. When Eminem writes something he’s “untalented”, but when Weird Al **covers** it, he’s “such a genius”. Look at yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/55 "2003-05-12T04:35:45Z")
My good man. Weird Al does not merely “cover” songs. He invents entirely new, funny lyrics to go along with the music. I believe an apology is in order. 😃 > [@](#): > > I just think it’s fortunate that Weird Al doesn’t have the same narrow-minded attitude towards Marshall’s work as many of you here. I do find it immeasurably funny that Weird Al _is_ a pretty darn good role model, and he’s primarily known for filking songs. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/56 "2003-05-12T06:37:09Z")
Look, I’m a big Weird Al fan, but yes, his gig is covering songs. If you look at any song writing combo, the music guy is almost always the heavyweight: Andrew Lloyd Webber music, Tim Rice lyrics Elton John music, Bernie Taupin lyrics etc. I’m not diminishing Weird Al’s capabilities; as I say, I’m a big fan. And I’m a better lyricist then musician personally, so I have an affinity for the art. But. The fact is that the music is the thing, and Weird Al is a cover artist. He is big because he covers great artists. Like Eminem. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/57 "2003-05-12T06:52:27Z")
And yes, I know that Eminem is probably closer to a lyricist then a musician myself. But my point was about Weird Al, and especially as response to **BayleDomon**. And yes, I do think that some of Eminem’s personal expressions are despicable, and yes I do find some of his lyrics extremely offensive. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s very talented and very popular. And most importantly, it’s the fact that he’s talented and popular that has driven Weird Al to want to cover him. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/58 "2003-05-12T07:12:47Z")
I always considered covering songs to be doing the exact same song by someone else, right down to the lyrics. I’m not a huge music person, so my definition might be too narrow. But anyway. I do agree in general, hence the smiley. As for Eminem, I’ve got to agree with **Bill H.** there again. I sure as hell wouldn’t listen to most of his music–I dislike hip-hop, and I especially avoid the rougher music–but there’s at least one or two of his songs I have heard in full, particularly the one featured in 8 Mile, and it _is_ pretty damn good, lyrics aside. It’s just easy to call him a talentless hack because he turned down Weird Al on the video. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/59 "2003-05-12T14:10:52Z")
I tried…I really tried to watch 8 Mile last night. I just. Couldn’t. Do it. It was a “sullen overdose” of massive proportions. His art grates on my nerves. I wouldn’t parody this guy if he was the last act on the planet. Feh. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294/60 "2003-05-12T14:13:56Z")
Now, while I agree that Eminem’s failure to give Al permission to do the video is disheartening, and Al’s respect of Em’s wishes despite legal rights sorrowful (since we all want to see the video), and while I would speculate that Al comes out looking like the better man in all of this, an achievement for any parodyer (ask the poor people who wrote The Wind Done Been Gone)… And, while, incidentally, I found 8-Mile to be a watered-down after-school-special insult to hip-hop much in the way 8MM is an insult to sadomasochism… I must fault this thread for getting “Square Dance” stuck in my head. [echo] _Peeeeeeeeople!!!_ _It feels so good to be back…_ At work no less. Thanks a fucking lot. _Peeeeeeeeople!!!_ ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eminem-humorless-turd-extrordinaire/174294.md?page=4)