I’m sitting here listening to Running With Scissors, which I finally got around to buying (along with Bad Hair Day, to round out my Al collection) after seeing him in concert a couple weeks ago.
So, anyway, I was just wondering what anybody’s favorite Weird Al song is (or songs are).
I’ll be honest – I can’t pick one, or even just a few. I’ll have to think about it. But meanwhile, let’s see what others think.
“When I Was A Kid” is pretty d@mn funny.
“Harvey the Wonder Hamster”
“Amish Paradise”
Yoda
ya-ya-ya-ya-Yo-da
“Dare to Be Stupid” is definitely my all-time favorite. Although I do have a soft spot in my heart for “UHF”
And I must say, that Weird Al puts on a hell of a liveshow. I saw him perform about four years ago. My only quibble was that he didn’t feature Stanly Spudowski’s rousing speech about his mop on the big screen.
“Now you may find it inconceivable
Or at the very least a bit unlikely that the relative positions
Of the planets and the stars can have a special deep significance
Or meaning that exclusively applies to only you,
But let me give you my assurance that these forecasts and predictions
Are all based on solid scientific documented evidence
So you would have to be some kinda moron not to realize
That ev’ry single one of them is absolutely true.
Where was I?”
– Weird Al Yankovic, “Your Horoscope For Today” (sung all in one breath)
I like a lot of the really obscure non-parody ones.
“This is the Life”
“Good Enough For Now” (You’re the woman that I’ve always dreamed of. Well, not really. But you’re good enough for now.)
“Those Were the Good Old Days”
“Christmas at Ground Zero”
“The Night Santa Went Crazy”
“One of Those Days”
“(This Song is Just) Six Words Long” - OK, that one’s a prody, but the fact that the title alone is seven words long is enough to make me include it.
“Truck Drivin’ Song”
Lots of the parodies are great, too, but I’ve always liked these. Evidence of a misspent youth, I suppose.
“Gump”.
Another one rides the bus…
Another one rides the bus.
And another one’s on, and another one’s on,
Another one rides the bus.
Hey! I’m gonna sit with you.
Another one rides the bus.
Virtually all comedy/novelty records follow the same pattern. The first time you hear it, you laugh hysterically. The second time, you giggle. The third time, you chuckle. The fourth time, you start to wonder why you ever thought it was funny in the first place.
This is a long-winded way of saying that almost NONE of Al’s songs make me laugh NOW. But the first few times I heard his Crash Test Dummies “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” parody (what was it called? “Headline News”?), I laughed hysterically.
I love “The Saga Begins…” It’s just so damn catchy. I have trouble singing along with the original without using Al’s lyrics, which I think must be a sign of a great parody. I have the same problem with “Yoda”.
Other than that, I have to vote for “One More Minute”.
“What if God Smoked Cannibis?” and “The Saga Begins” get lot of play here.
I heard “Yoda” before I was aware that it was a parody. One day, I was walking down the hallway in my high school and heard a familiar tune coming from an area where some maintenance workers were working. I was taken aback, because I didn’t exactly think of maintenance workers as “Weird Al” types. But a slightly closer listening revealed to me that, no, they weren’t digging on the master of parody.
Along with “Yoda,” I have a warm place in my heart for “Spam.” I was a huge R.E.M. fan at the time, and hearing a “Weird Al” parody was a signpost that R.E.M. was getting the respect and airplay it surely deserved.
Definitely: “Good Old Days”* and “You Don’t Love Me Anymore”
*immediately after thinking of this song I started singing, “Do you remember sweet Michelle? She was my…high school romance. She was fun to talk to and sweet to smell, so I took her to the homecoming dance. Then I tied her to a chair, and cut off all her hair, and left her in the desert all alone. Sometimes in my dreams, I can still hear her screams, oh I wonder if she ever made it home.”
Soooo good. 
Ditto! I love that song. (Full lyrics here). It’s the only Weird Al song I know the lyrics to. Every time I see a bus or hear Queen’s “Another one Bites the Dust,” this song goes through my head. Thank God I have a car now and don’t need to take the bus any more.
No one mentioned Fat yet?
Ham on,
Ham on Whole Wheat
He’s so fat his shadow weighs 32 pounds.
Who’s fat?
“I Remember Larry”
Say, do you remember when I broke in Larry’s house
Late at night and tied his mouth with a rag
Then I dragged him by his ankles to the middle of the forest
And stuffed him in a big plastic bag
If the cops ever find him, who knows what they’d say
But I’m sure if ol’ Lar’ were still with us today
He would have to agree with me it was a pretty good gag
I went to college with the most annoying guy on earth, Larry. The first time I heard this song I almost wet my pants.
Then there is the all time classic Christmas song:
“The Night Santa Went Crazy”
Well, the workshop is gone now he decided to bomb it
Everywhere you’ll find pieces of Cupid and Comet
And he tied up his helpers and he held the elves hostage
And he ground up poor Rudolph into reindeer sausage
He got Dancer and Prancer with an old German Luger
And he slashed up Dasher just like Freddie Krueger
And he picked up a flamethrower and he barbequed Blitzen
And he took a big bite and said, “It tastes just like chicken!”
Anyway, I LOVE Al and am lucky enough to be going to his show next week! I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself.
Zette
I’m trying to limit this, but here’s an oldie but goodie:
“I Want a New Duck”
I want a new duck.
One that won’t try to bite.
One that won’t chew a hole in my socks.
One that won’t quack all night.
And…Oh, my God- I’m going to hell for loving this one:
“Mr Frump in the Iron Lung”
I visit Mr. Frump in the hospital.
I see him 'most every day.
And when I see Mr. Frump in his iron lung,This is what I hear him say:
(wheezing iron lung sounds)
OK…I’ll stop now
Zette
(I also LOVE Grapefruit Diet and Callin’ in Sick)
God, there are SO MANY.
“Gonna Buy Me a Condo” from the “3D” album; “One More Minute”, “Spam,” “Toothless People,” and “Trigger Happy” were all classics.
The best, though, was “Christmas at Ground Zero,” which was the official Christmas carol of my Army unit. Everyone knew the words.
Reading the other posts - man, there are some terrific songs. Weird Al is silly and juvenile, but he’s good at it, and has been good at it for an amazingly long time.