“Skipper Dan” video here.
Man, the guy’s still got it. This might be one of my favorite songs he’s ever done, and the video is great.
So what JoCo song is this a parody of?
(Just kidding … sort of. I do like the song.)
It’s not gut-bustingly funny. More sort of sad funny. The video is very well done, though.
Sort of dark and nihilistic for Al. Even at his worst he’s usually goofy and funny (see: Happy Birthday off the first record). This is just a downer.
He’s done better.
Is it a spoof of a song or style?
I liked it, by the way, but it is actually rather forgettable for Weird Al. Even at his worst, he’s quite a bit better than any other comedy singer/song writer, but it’s kind of just…meh.
This is wonderful. I was wondering what road the song was going when it started, but then the chorus came in. Depressingly amusing. (And surprising it’s taken him this long to write a full song poking fun at an aspect of the Big Cheese.)
Weird Al has been introducing a few new songs online from his upcoming album. This is the third. The first two were Whatever You Like, a parody of the T.I. song of the same name commenting on the current economy, and Craigslist, a style parody of the Doors about…well, Craigslist.
I liked the song, a lot, very catchy. But it was kinda weird for me, because I had a friend who was a skipper on an “attraction boat”. I won’t go into the story to protect the parties involved, but let’s just say, he had a very tragic story… much worse than Skipper Dan’s story. I think I could come up with a much better, darker, and weirder set of lyrics for this song based on that bit of history.
… Let’s just put it this way. Last time I saw him, he was making matchstick models of the boat he skippered. Tragic, man. Tragic.
But every single liberal arts major out there can relate to this one. I doubt that your friend’s story is so universal.
Oh, I agree… absolutely. His story sort of picks up where Al’s leaves off… sort of the Captain Ahab to Skipper Dan. A song of obsession and a slow descent into madness.
Wow. You’re not kidding. I’ve been listening to Coulton a lot lately, and the similarity is amazing, both in the music and subject matter. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a nod to JoCo; most of Al’s original songs are still done in a particular style.
JoCo?
Jonathan Coulton. A very talented (IMO) musician who’s popular among net geeks. Since Weird Al appears to be pretty net savvy I wouldn’t be surprised if he knows of Coulton.
Thanks. Never heard of him.
The new song is okay, I guess. Not nearly as good as Craigslist, though…TRM
I love everything Al does, but some I love more than others because I am familiar with what’s being parodied. I liked this one, but didn’t know the original, so it was OK.
I saw Al perform less than a week after his parents died. He said, through his agent, that until the funeral he’d go on with the show because keeping busy meant he wasn’t crying. Right before he came on a screen lit up with the words “Tonight’s performance is dedicated to the memory of Nick and Mary Yankovic.” The crowd went wild.
He doesn’t only do parodies. He does plenty of originals, which are usually “in the style of” some band or other. Dare To Be Stupid is an original done in the style of Devo, for instance.
Mark Motherbaugh has been quoted as saying that he was jealous of Al for that song, that it was exactly the sound that Devo had trying to capture for years.
If I’m not mistaken, Al actually spent a summer during college working on Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise - that this song is a sort of alternative universe autobiography.
I’ve never heard of this JoCo person either, but the song sounds similar enough to a few past Weird Al songs (Good Old Days, for one) that I have to think any resemblance to this fellow’s style might be coincidental.
Won’t load for me. There’s something about MySpace video clips that never seem to do what they’re supposed to.
You probably do know at least one of Jonathan Coulton’s songs: Still Alive, the ending theme to Portal.
Won’t load for me, either.