Yup. I remember when he got rid of the mustache, lost the glasses and grew his hair out. The general reaction was something like “wait- he’s kind of handsome? What the fuck?!”
It’s a shame that William Safire didn’t live to see “Word Crimes.”
Handy is out:
https://screen.yahoo.com/weird-al-yankovic-handy-parody-133702425.html
[QUOTE=Weird Al Video]
I got 99 problems, but a switch ain’t one.
[/QUOTE]
That is just too brilliant.
Handy is amusing, but not particularly memorable.
And his “big staple gun” is actually a Porter Cable FN250B finishing nailer.
Handy is fun, but the weakest of the four, I think.
So far, I’d rank them Tacky and Word Crimes tied for the top, followed by Foil, and then Handy.
I’m guessing the joke is that to the handyman, a nail is a staple. (Think Tim Taylor)
I actually really like the original song, so that moves Handy up toward the top for me. My order would be:
Word Crimes
Handy
Foil
Tacky
Tacky is fun with all the stars in it, but the song and lyrics are not as good as the rest, IMO. Nothing touches Word Crimes, though. That’s one of his best all time songs (up there with The Saga Begins and White and Nerdy for song parodies).
Bought the album from Amazon. Lots of fun songs. I really like “First World Problems”. So funny!
How’s the polka?
The time between “Fancy” and “Handy” (at least the time from when the former stated getting heavy play) seems quite short. Definitely shorter that “Royals”->“Foil” or “Happy”->“Tacky”
Brian
I like “Mission Statement” (works well if you ever worked for a big company)
Handy was moderately amusing but the video didn’t make it particularly any funnier. The lyrics were just ok.
That may be my favorite one I’ve heard from the album. The combination of style and lyrics–and how well he makes it work–is priceless!
Word Crimes is indeed brilliant, and will likely turn out to be the highlight of the new album. But for my money Smells Like Nirvana is the best parody he’s ever done.
Here’s a link to Teen Spirit for comparison.
I’d like to discuss the difference between a song parody, and simply using the tune and similar lines for a totally different song. I never considered “Fat” a parody of Bad because it wasn’t satirizing or parodizing the original song in any way. The video arguably is a parody of the original music video of Bad, but the song itself has nothing to do with Bad other than using the same music.
Weird Al does do genuine parody though, where he is satirizing or making fun of the original artist or song. “This Song Is Just Six Words Long” is a great example of a true parody. “Perform this way” is a great, fun-spirited skewering/parody of Lady Gaga. “Smells Like Nirvana” is another great parody that is making fun of the original artist, without being overly mean.
Word Crimes is a brilliantly funny song, but it’s not really making fun of Blurred Lines at all, imho. Nor is Tacky or Foil or Handy. They are just fun songs that borrowed the tunes and riffed on the lyrics to make something funny.
Maybe my definition of parody is off but I feel there is a useful distinction between the songs where Weird Al is actually poking fun (satirizing/parodizing) the original artist or song, and those that just borrow the music and some similarity in lyrics to make a funny but totally unrelated song.
I agree with your distinction in terms of it being a meaningful and relevant one, but I don’t think the term “song parody” recognizes any such distinction.
How long before some contractor uses that in his ad, I wonder?
It’s actually really good. Might be my second favorite song on the album. You can hear it here.
Actually there is a legal distinction between a parody and a satirical work.
A parody gives the message to the audience that it both the original and not the original in order to comment in the original.
Satire uses the work as a basis for commenting on something else.
A parody is fair use and requires no authorization from the copyright holder.
A satire is a derivative work. A satirical song doesn’t require authorization but must comply with the terms of a compulsory license for use of a musical composition. The license requires payment of royalties.
The Supreme Court ruled that 2 Live Crew’s version of “Pretty Woman” was parody and thus no authorization from Acuff Rose or royalties to Acuff Rose was required.
I had the same thought! About 2/3 of the way through when he says “call me…” I was like “Oh, this actually looks like a local handyman commercial.”
Funny thing: I was driving home tonight on a bit of a long trip and I thought “Oh, I haven’t seen today’s new Weird Al. I wonder what it is?”
And then I started flipping through the radio stations and I heard “Fancy” (and Iggy Azalea) for the first time ever.
Then I got home and saw this. The stars aligned!
He sang Tacky on Conan tonight and it was pretty cool.