My husband who is an Editor, who has to deal with bad grammar on a daily basis, loves this song. I also quite like it, but my dyslexia and dysgraphia doesn't usually let me spell or use correct grammar. So I make my husband do a once over of anything I have to submit at work. This is his least favorite thing in the world. I'm apparently as bad in one page as one month of scripts from his job.
Schoolhouse Rock was a series of shorts they used to have on kids TV from the 70s - 80s and responsible for many kids doing well in some subjects. It covered math with different multiplication tables with American history with animation and catchy tunes. I can't tell you how much those shorts taught me as a kid.
Weird Al always finds a way to make me smile. What is sometimes lost in all the humor is the fact that the man is a deft performer with superb delivery and a decent singing voice.
One of my favorite parts is the line "You better figure out the difference//irony is not coincidence". The image for coincidence depicts rain on a wedding day, taking the piss out of Alanis Morrisette's song "Ironic" where she sings "Isn't it ironic?//It's like rain on your wedding day//like a free ride when you've already paid" and a full song of other coincidences that she calls proceeds to irony.
@@charlie.on.youtubeor, or, in my mind, she just looked for things that kinda rhymed and didn't even notice that none of her examples were actually examples of irony.
The biggest thing about Weir Al's songs for me has always been: He has to write them constrained by the original songs. It's hard enough coming up with something original in the first place. But doing so within the limits set, shows his skill. He is a truly unique talent.
Most of the time he shows that he's a better writer than whoever came up with the original. This song for example I think Weird Al says word crimes once, while Blurred Lines just repeats those same words throughout the entire song, with repeated choruses
He received the nickname "weird Al" in university as he was a very shy young introvert who played the accordion. But he was also brilliant having been the class valedictorian when he graduated high school 2 years early then got his degree in architecture..
Weird Al has 21 studio albums for a reason. He is brilliant both with words and music. I mean he got the entire Star Wars saga to fit with the American Pie music, flawlessly I might add. That is brilliants.
@@MrToken4201 … Oh my, my this here Anakin guy Maybe Vader someday later, now he's just a small fry He left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye Sayin', "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"…. Brilliant!
@@MrToken4201 Apparently Don McLean, the singer of American Pie, admitted that he has to stop himself from singing the Weird Al lyrics whenever he performs American Pie thanks to his kids having played it so often that he thinks of Al's version before his own.
What's even more amazing is he did an interview in which he described the fact that he'd been working on that song months ahead of the movies actual release and didn't have access to its plot or storyline, so he wound up doing it off of a few plot leaks that had gotten out and a lot of guesswork. Lucas knew what he'd been up to and wound up inviting him to a private screening about a month in advance where he discovered he'd gotten 90% of it accurate off the bat and only had to make a couple minor last minute corrections.
I don't know how Weird Al is regarded across the pond, but here in the States there exists an aphorism "When Weird Al parodies your work, you know you've made it!" Best regards, gents!
While Weird Al is very talented he couldn't pull this off without his crew. He has always treated his band and people very well. and has always acknowledged their work. Many of his Band are highly sought after yet never have abandoned him though he is a very demanding and strict artist. he always treats them fairly.
This has become my Favourite Weird Al song. He is, without a doubt, brilliant, and there are very few musicians/groups that would turn up their nose at having him do one of their songs. Kinda proves you got noticed!
What's remarkable about Al is how faithfully he reproduces the essentials of the original song he parries, right down to pause and such. In this one, you can hear the girl say "meow" as she does in Blurred Lines. I'm not sure how many people today recognize that when he says literacy's your mission, the burning fuse and the font are those of the original television series, Mission Impossible. And since he made this the ignorant mob has triumphed, and experts not recognize the figurative literal as proper.
I remember seeing him doing a little video when this came out with him going to grocery stores and replacing the “10 items or less” signs with “10 items or fewer” It was legend.
I love Weird Al. It's his original songs and live performances that really show what talent he has. At the beginning of the pandemic Al posted a concert performance of his original song, GERMS. It's incredible. I'd love to see you react to an original song plus Al's amazing live performance.
When I was a teenager in the 90's, Weird Al took over Much Music (Canadian MTV essentially) for a weekend and played everything he'd released up til then. I was lucky enough to have a blank VHS ready. Ah, good times. :P
A key thing to note about Weird Al is that he never finishes writing a parody without the permission of the original artist (Coolio was an accidental exception, but they fixed that later). The line "or your name is Prince" is a reference to this; he never got Prince's permission to do anything, so he just mentions him every now and then out of respect.
Weird Al is actually an amazing artist, perhaps not in the level of mastery that many people talk about from great singers or guitarists, but he has the ability to write some amazing parodies and perform them in many different genres, from rap to pop to rock, and many others with very well produced and performed very well. Most artists are only great in one genre or on certain things, weird Al is capable of doing well with many genres and musical styles and still entertaining people even after many of the artists he parodied have fallen from the limelight.
Love seeing the reactions of people discovering Weird Al for the first time 👍 If you haven't done it yet, I would highly recommend 'The Beverly Hillbillies theme' where Al sends up the classic 'Money For Nothing' by Dire Straits, including the video, with the help from a guest guitarist and guest keyboardist... Otherwise, I'd say 'Party In The CIA' from 'Alpocalypse' is his masterpiece; a masterclass of satire with the Miley Cyrus bubblegum pop music contrasted by cheerful lyrics talking about assassination and extraordinary renditions... Also... 'Foil' (hilarious spoof of Lorde's 'Royals'), 'Whatever You Like' (spoof of the same name from T.I.), 'Handy' (spoof of 'Fancy' by Iggy Azalia), 'Dare To Be Stupid' (a 'style parody' of DEVO)... Heck, just go through the full catalogue. There is literally nothing but genuine bangers in Al's repertoire. Even the polka variants are hilarious and musically well done.
I've known of "Weird" Al Yankovic since the early 80s... being one of the youngest kids in my parents' friend group, and amongst my cousins, I had a ton of older influences on my musical tastes. I can still remember weirding out my entire Water Exercise class my Freshman year at University, by singing along, accurately, to Tom Lehrer's "Masocism Tango." I first heard it on the Dr. Demento show, the DJ whom had a syndicated Radio show from the 1970s through the 1990s. Dr. Demento got Al his start. I think of Al's songs his two original songs about breakups, "One More Minute" (has a doo-wop vibe) and "Since You've Been Gone" are still some of my favorites, and I recommend them. Although, everything off his "In 3D" album has stuck with me nearly 40 years later... I catch myself singing just the chorus of "Nature Trail to Hell (in 3D)" sometimes. For more fun stuff, "Dare to be Stupid" is hilarious. And the claymation for "Jurassic Park" is fun.
I think my first Tom Lehrer was probably "Silent E" or maybe "L-Y" on The Electric Company... but I first heard "Poisoning Pigeons In The Park" on Dr. Demento.
Love you guys pronouncing Thickeeeeee---since its pronounced Thick---the "e" is silent. This is my first time hearing this---very very funny song and smart. School House Rock was a stable on the Telly here in the US on Saturday Morning. The themes covered included grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics. The series' original run lasted from 1973 to 1984; it was later revived from 1993 to 1996. Keep the coming gents---have a great weekend. Cheers!
If you are not familiar with Schoolhouse Rock you should look some of them up and react to them. I loved them as a kid. My favorite was "Conjunction Junction"😊
He has so many great songs, it's difficult to pick a favorite. However I recommend "Living With a Hernia", "I Lost On Jeopardy", "I'm So Handy" and a couple original songs of his, "One More Minute" and "Dare To Be Stupid".
I adopted this song as my personal anthem as soon as I heard it (I am a copy editor). There is so much to hear in the main lyrics, but once you have memorised the song, listen to it again and listen for all the backing vocals - they are just as entertaining!
I just subscribed because of your fun reaction. One thing I love about Weird Al is his gift with lyrics. He's a genius, really. He's no 'Moran' when it comes to word play! Love the guy ! He single handedly made an artform out of song parody. Not an easy achievement.
"Schoolhouse Rock" was a public service educational thing that ran on American TV in the last century. It's available on UA-cam, if you want to see what it was about; just put "Schoolhouse Rock" in the search. It was a number of subjects, many of them linguistic/grammatical ("Conjunction Junction", "Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here", etc) and others covering US history or government ("Tea Party", "I'm Just A Bill", etc). As far as "Word Crimes" go, even with AI and Grammarly and the rest, the real issue is texting and speaking. Many of the 'Crimes' mentioned in the song are spoken word, others are spelling and texting-induced failures that e-fixes cannot help. If anything, the e-fixes are eroding human intelligence. Other suggestions for Weird Al songs: "Foil", "Tacky", "The Saga Begins", "All About The Pentiums", "White & Nerdy", "One More Minute", "Your Horoscope For Today"...
The graphics were done by a guy named Jarrett Heather. He was contacted by Weird Al after another video that he did and then he worked on "Word Crimes" in his spare time (he had a normal full time job). Here's a local news story about him: ua-cam.com/video/rPN4OA7T1XQ/v-deo.html
There are so many that I would recommend by Weird Al... So I'm just going to start with one: BOB. It's a parody of a Bob Dylan song with an underlying theme throughout the song. See if you can guess what it is before the end!
I don't know if you guys are watchers of the Simpsons, but the song has a nod to one of their long-time characters. When he sings "if you don't know how to conjugate", the screen shows the HR teacher as Mrs. Krabappel. That was the name of Bart's long time teacher on the Simpsons until they retired the character when Marcia Wallace, the voice actress who provided her voice, passed away.
This is such a clever song. Weird Al's mind intrigues me. This would be a great song for teachers. Students should be aware of the proper way to professionally communicate. Social media encourages laziness in communication.
When you mention "Schoolhouse Rock," it brought back memories from when I was a child back in the 80s. Here in the USA, Saturday mornings were the time for us kids to sit in front of the TV with a bowl of our favorite cereal and watch nothing but cartoons. Times were great. During the line-up of cartoons, the ABC network would broadcast educational animated shorts titled "Schoolhouse Rock." These shorts would show you things such as the proper way to use a conjunction, the way a bill becomes law, etc. It was quite fun to watch and to this day I catch my self singing "Conjunction junction, what's your function."
Toured this year, too. I was supposed to see him back in February, but literally while my brother and I were looking for our seats, ten minutes before the warm-up act started, I fell down some stairs, hit a balustrade in a railing, and sliced my arm open on it. I spent three and a half hours in A&E instead, getting seventeen stitches. What bugs me most is not the massive scar its left me with, but that I missed the concert. Weird Al is unlikely to tour Europe again anytime soon, if at all.
A quick note: The word "spastic" does not have the same negative/offensive connotation in North America as it does in the U.K. and some other places- it describes someone who is goofy and weird, rather than casting shade on people with disabilities.
Yeah, all too true. I was stationed in the UK in the 70s and there were charity boxes around for the 'Spastics Society' or something like that. To find out that it was an actual condition and not just a school yard insult was weird.
Sure it does. Kids just used to use the slang spaz as a derogatory term against my child while in school due to autistic stimming. Kids can be very cruel.
It most certainly does have a negative connotation in the US. It may just mean goofy to you but it doesn't to all of us who were called that and not just by kids. It's what people, not so very nicely, called my ADHD behaviors. It what they called (and still do sometimes) autistic stimming, tourette's tics, people with any kind of palsy or siezures. It's not a "nice" friendly joshing term.
@@theConquerersMama You can add my entire generation from the late 50s to mid 60s to that, we had no idea that being a 'spastic' was an actual condition. You can add Al to that group, when he found out, he apologized for the use.
His dig on Prince was because Prince said he would sue Weird Al if he did any of his songs. Al didn't need permission to do a parody by law but he wouldn't do a parody without the original artist permission
For Amish Paradise, he had gotten permission from Coolio's producer, but not directly from Coolio himself. It was a misunderstanding that led Coolio to dislike him for a time. They are friendly now.
You are right. I have always wondered where in the world does Al get an idea for a song like this? Like Amish Paradise or White & Nerdy. He's amazing!!
So many great songs by Weird Al. I'd suggest one of his Michael Jackson parodies either "Eat It" or "Fat". His song "Living With A Hernia" is also a brilliant parody. Fun reaction.
@Mark T Cheers Mark, we will certainly be getting to the Michael Jackson ones soon. Thanks for the comment and we hope you check out more from our channel
I took my daughter to Fox Theater at Foxwood Casino in Connecticut USA to see Weird Al in 2015 (when this song was new) she was 13 and loved it. (side note -- i think this song helped her pass freshmen english in high school )
"Tacky" is a parody of Pharrell's "Happy". The video is a brilliant single shot with a bunch of guest stars, including Jack Black, Aisha Tyler, and Margaret Cho, in very very tacky clothing. "Trapped in a Drive Through" is an awesome 11 minute video parodying R.Kelly's magnum opus "Trapped in a Closet". Since the original is 91 minutes long, I think Weird Al did 11 minutes to mimic the long without being loooooooong. "Foil" is a weird little video that is a parody of "Royals" by Lorde. Or you can go back into the way back machine and hit 1979 with Weird Al's "My Bologna" a parody of the Knack's hit song "My Sharona". Weird Al has been at this for quite a while. There are quite a few fun tunes and videos to choose from.
Also, there is actually a grammatical error in the song. He put it there intentionally to see who would notice. SPOILER: it's where he says "try your best to not drool" which is called a split infinitive. split in·fin·i·tive noun noun: split infinitive; plural noun: split infinitives a construction consisting of an infinitive with an adverb or other word inserted between to and the verb, e.g. she seems to really like it.
In contrast to how your other videos only get 30+ likes, and this one has 3,000 and caused me to subscribe. I think you guys are experiencing the Weird Al effect, much like celebrities do.😂 It means Weird Al rakes in the views and the interest of your content. I think he's your sponsor now. You guys should listen to "Party in the CIA" by him. It's hilarious.
Superb parody. More than the original deserved. Over 40 years of immaculate silliness. The original lost a plagiarism case, so I like you saying "Thickeeee". Dodgy original lyrics. The video for _Perform This Way (Parody of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga) (Official 4K Video)_ is beautifully made. You'll quickly guess, it took a *_lot_* to get in shape. Best Wishes, ☮
The lyric "Get out of the gene pool" reminded me of the Darwin Awards. I looked and found this playlist _Darwin Award Winners_ on "BE AMAZED": ua-cam.com/play/PLDgvFPuLtQbQMcFFmSOHwA2fB9k-nWODi.html For example _Embarrassingly Dumb Ways People Died - Darwin Awards Winners [Part 1]_ ua-cam.com/video/x1Vz0e6HjrY/v-deo.html WARNING - Some made me wince. Best Wishes, Chaps. ☮ G-Man-😎
You should give "Bob" a listen. That Al Yankovic tune is a style parody of Bob Dylan, and EVERY LINE IS A PALINDROME...SPELLED THE SAME, FRONTWARDS AND BACKWARDS.
You asked for followups?Most of my favorite songs of his are his originals! See: Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me; Trigger Happy; Melanie; Good Enough For Now; Don't Wear Those Shoes; Christmas At Ground Zero; The Night Santa Went Crazy. Now you have homework!! Greetings from Seattle!! Just found your channel through suggestions and immediately subscribed!!(I also love DN Reacts, The Beesleys, The Office Blokes; maybe you've heard of them?)
Lol, my grammar is pants. I write as I speak a lot of the time, and I'm always annoyed when Word tells me 'fragment, consider revising', or some such thing. Ugh. Duck off, Word. Lol. I love a good wordsmith, so this was fab!
I love this one! Schoolhouse Rock was great. Conjunction junction! I have a pet peeve with bad grammar. It used to drive me nuts when my students did it. They would take out another piece of paper and do it all over again. And Thickeee? NO! It's Thick with a silent E. Idk if you remember his father Alan Thicke. He was the dad on Growing Pains. Don't know if you got that over there or not.
@@DodonaWind I always corrected them. But we had to teach to the test. That was what was most important. 🙄 You get bonuses if your score goes up and if you're an "A" school, big bonus. You don't want to lose it once you got it. My brother and I were just out of hs and we're talking to our mom on the porch. We didn't know who won WW2 and worse than that, who was in WW1. Taught to the test which that wasn't in.
I was so happy when I heard "Irony is not coincidence" (the picture explanation was spot on) as that is one of my pet peeves. For example "Wow- that was quite ironic you happened to buy your swimsuit on the same day your ex wife was also in the store buying a swimsuit." For another educational video by Weird Al, see "Living with a Hernia".
As someone who is daily annoyed by bad grammar, I truly appreciate this song.
*annoyed by bad grammar daily
But you are ok with Robin Thickay?
@@exceedcharge1damn 💀
My husband who is an Editor, who has to deal with bad grammar on a daily basis, loves this song. I also quite like it, but my dyslexia and dysgraphia doesn't usually let me spell or use correct grammar. So I make my husband do a once over of anything I have to submit at work. This is his least favorite thing in the world. I'm apparently as bad in one page as one month of scripts from his job.
Why is you bothered bad grammar?
Yes, I is your chain yanking
Schoolhouse Rock was a series of shorts they used to have on kids TV from the 70s - 80s and responsible for many kids doing well in some subjects. It covered math with different multiplication tables with American history with animation and catchy tunes. I can't tell you how much those shorts taught me as a kid.
I LOVED Schoolhouse Rock.
@@AsTheCrowSquawks"
"Conjunction Junction, what's your function?" 😊
Loved "3 Is a Magic Number." To this day, I count in 3s, rather than 2s.
"I'm just a Bill!"
I haven't seen that one. Imma gonna hafta check it out.
Weird Al is both a legend and a genius. Many of his versions are better than the originals.
He's also literally a genius. Dude's IQ is insane
@@pissgaming420 Probably Weird Al would find your two sentences insane.
Weird Al always finds a way to make me smile. What is sometimes lost in all the humor is the fact that the man is a deft performer with superb delivery and a decent singing voice.
He has a video on his YT page that's him doing semi-serious covers at live shows and they're all great.
Weird Al is one of the most underrated musicians of this and several generations. The man is utterly brilliant.
The man has 6 platinum albums, 5 Grammies, and a career in its 5th decade. And I agree that he's underrated!
One of my favorite parts is the line "You better figure out the difference//irony is not coincidence". The image for coincidence depicts rain on a wedding day, taking the piss out of Alanis Morrisette's song "Ironic" where she sings "Isn't it ironic?//It's like rain on your wedding day//like a free ride when you've already paid" and a full song of other coincidences that she calls proceeds to irony.
You might say it's rather ironic that all her examples aren't irony.
@@russb24 Don'tcha think?
@@russb24in my head, she did it that way on purpose. Well played, Alanis. Well played.
@@charlie.on.youtubeor, or, in my mind, she just looked for things that kinda rhymed and didn't even notice that none of her examples were actually examples of irony.
@@kariebossa4851 probably more likely, but I like the idea that it was all a meta play. 😊
The biggest thing about Weir Al's songs for me has always been: He has to write them constrained by the original songs. It's hard enough coming up with something original in the first place. But doing so within the limits set, shows his skill. He is a truly unique talent.
Most of the time he shows that he's a better writer than whoever came up with the original. This song for example I think Weird Al says word crimes once, while Blurred Lines just repeats those same words throughout the entire song, with repeated choruses
Not to mention the fact that he has ALL genres covered!!!
Not to mention that he will use some of the same words from the original, fitting them into his new narrative and rhyming scheme.
He chooses words that sounds right compared to the original lyrics. Thats some skill.
it helps that lyrics and melody's are so simplistic these days but YES, AL IS A GENIUS
Weird Al is literally a Genius 🤯 and that's not hyperbole 🤯
He received the nickname "weird Al" in university as he was a very shy young introvert who played the accordion. But he was also brilliant having been the class valedictorian when he graduated high school 2 years early then got his degree in architecture..
@Rich Diddens
Thanks for the great information Rich
Much appreciated
I'd like to see a building designed by him.
Though he completed his degree, he never worked in architecture.
@@themoviedealersfor which we owe Dr. Demento a tremendous debt of gratitude.
Weird Al has 21 studio albums for a reason. He is brilliant both with words and music. I mean he got the entire Star Wars saga to fit with the American Pie music, flawlessly I might add. That is brilliants.
I often find myself singing Al's lyrics when American pie comes on the radio lol
@@MrToken4201 … Oh my, my this here Anakin guy
Maybe Vader someday later, now he's just a small fry
He left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin', "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"…. Brilliant!
@@MrToken4201 Apparently Don McLean, the singer of American Pie, admitted that he has to stop himself from singing the Weird Al lyrics whenever he performs American Pie thanks to his kids having played it so often that he thinks of Al's version before his own.
What's even more amazing is he did an interview in which he described the fact that he'd been working on that song months ahead of the movies actual release and didn't have access to its plot or storyline, so he wound up doing it off of a few plot leaks that had gotten out and a lot of guesswork. Lucas knew what he'd been up to and wound up inviting him to a private screening about a month in advance where he discovered he'd gotten 90% of it accurate off the bat and only had to make a couple minor last minute corrections.
@@MrToken4201Don McLean actually said he's accidentally sang parts in concert!😂
“The saga begins” is brilliant and supposedly Don McLean has to concentrate singing “Bye bye American pie” sometimes to avoid getting confused.
I don't know how Weird Al is regarded across the pond, but here in the States there exists an aphorism "When Weird Al parodies your work, you know you've made it!" Best regards, gents!
While Weird Al is very talented he couldn't pull this off without his crew. He has always treated his band and people very well. and has always acknowledged their work. Many of his Band are highly sought after yet never have abandoned him though he is a very demanding and strict artist. he always treats them fairly.
This has become my Favourite Weird Al song. He is, without a doubt, brilliant, and there are very few musicians/groups that would turn up their nose at having him do one of their songs. Kinda proves you got noticed!
I’ll never forget the first time seeing this video - I “literally” died laughing. 😉
R.I.P.
I think this is his best song
Listen to the captain underpants theme dude it’s great
I show this in my English classes each year. You should do All About the Pentiums. Al is just brilliant, and he reconstructs the videos so on point.
If there aren't English teachers trotting this song out in Primary School... they're missing out.
What's remarkable about Al is how faithfully he reproduces the essentials of the original song he parries, right down to pause and such. In this one, you can hear the girl say "meow" as she does in Blurred Lines. I'm not sure how many people today recognize that when he says literacy's your mission, the burning fuse and the font are those of the original television series, Mission Impossible. And since he made this the ignorant mob has triumphed, and experts not recognize the figurative literal as proper.
I remember seeing him doing a little video when this came out with him going to grocery stores and replacing the “10 items or less” signs with “10 items or fewer” It was legend.
But he says 10 items or less in the song Midnight Star (a song about a tabloid with ridiculous headlines not unlike the now defunct Weekly World News)
He also had a video where he corrects road signs.
Yeah his expression in that one lives rent free in my head. He scoffs!
I love Weird Al. It's his original songs and live performances that really show what talent he has.
At the beginning of the pandemic Al posted a concert performance of his original song, GERMS. It's incredible.
I'd love to see you react to an original song plus Al's amazing live performance.
When I was a teenager in the 90's, Weird Al took over Much Music (Canadian MTV essentially) for a weekend and played everything he'd released up til then. I was lucky enough to have a blank VHS ready. Ah, good times. :P
A key thing to note about Weird Al is that he never finishes writing a parody without the permission of the original artist (Coolio was an accidental exception, but they fixed that later). The line "or your name is Prince" is a reference to this; he never got Prince's permission to do anything, so he just mentions him every now and then out of respect.
That was brilliant!! Never seen this one before but love some of his other stuff. Always hilarious and clever. Amish Paradise is a good one.
Weird Al is actually an amazing artist, perhaps not in the level of mastery that many people talk about from great singers or guitarists, but he has the ability to write some amazing parodies and perform them in many different genres, from rap to pop to rock, and many others with very well produced and performed very well. Most artists are only great in one genre or on certain things, weird Al is capable of doing well with many genres and musical styles and still entertaining people even after many of the artists he parodied have fallen from the limelight.
“Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”. Except in his case, he’s a master of all.
“This song is 6 words long”, is my favourite of weird al’s
Love seeing the reactions of people discovering Weird Al for the first time 👍
If you haven't done it yet, I would highly recommend 'The Beverly Hillbillies theme' where Al sends up the classic 'Money For Nothing' by Dire Straits, including the video, with the help from a guest guitarist and guest keyboardist...
Otherwise, I'd say 'Party In The CIA' from 'Alpocalypse' is his masterpiece; a masterclass of satire with the Miley Cyrus bubblegum pop music contrasted by cheerful lyrics talking about assassination and extraordinary renditions...
Also... 'Foil' (hilarious spoof of Lorde's 'Royals'), 'Whatever You Like' (spoof of the same name from T.I.), 'Handy' (spoof of 'Fancy' by Iggy Azalia), 'Dare To Be Stupid' (a 'style parody' of DEVO)...
Heck, just go through the full catalogue. There is literally nothing but genuine bangers in Al's repertoire. Even the polka variants are hilarious and musically well done.
I've known of "Weird" Al Yankovic since the early 80s... being one of the youngest kids in my parents' friend group, and amongst my cousins, I had a ton of older influences on my musical tastes. I can still remember weirding out my entire Water Exercise class my Freshman year at University, by singing along, accurately, to Tom Lehrer's "Masocism Tango." I first heard it on the Dr. Demento show, the DJ whom had a syndicated Radio show from the 1970s through the 1990s. Dr. Demento got Al his start.
I think of Al's songs his two original songs about breakups, "One More Minute" (has a doo-wop vibe) and "Since You've Been Gone" are still some of my favorites, and I recommend them. Although, everything off his "In 3D" album has stuck with me nearly 40 years later... I catch myself singing just the chorus of "Nature Trail to Hell (in 3D)" sometimes.
For more fun stuff, "Dare to be Stupid" is hilarious. And the claymation for "Jurassic Park" is fun.
I think my first Tom Lehrer was probably "Silent E" or maybe "L-Y" on The Electric Company... but I first heard "Poisoning Pigeons In The Park" on Dr. Demento.
The Elements is also great.
You must see schoolhouse rock. There is a whole generation that knows stuff thanks to schoolhouse rock.
Love you guys pronouncing Thickeeeeee---since its pronounced Thick---the "e" is silent. This is my first time hearing this---very very funny song and smart. School House Rock was a stable on the Telly here in the US on Saturday Morning. The themes covered included grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics. The series' original run lasted from 1973 to 1984; it was later revived from 1993 to 1996. Keep the coming gents---have a great weekend. Cheers!
* staple (a stable is a place where cows and horses can live)
If you are not familiar with Schoolhouse Rock you should look some of them up and react to them. I loved them as a kid. My favorite was "Conjunction Junction"😊
My favorite was/is Victim of Gravity sung by the Tokens of The Lion Sleeps Tonight fame.
What’s your function.
@@gregkortbein5108 hooking up words and phrases and clauses 😁
I loved the 90s remake of Electricity. I still have it get stuck in my head randomly. 😂
I learned my 3, 7, and 8 multiplication tables from Schoolhouse Rock
Best Weird Al song: Amish Paradise. The video is one of the best ever made by anyone.
He has so many great songs, it's difficult to pick a favorite. However I recommend "Living With a Hernia", "I Lost On Jeopardy", "I'm So Handy" and a couple original songs of his, "One More Minute" and "Dare To Be Stupid".
Also, ‘Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota’
It’s one of his originals but it freaking amazing! It was always reserved for road trips in our family.
Like A Surgeon ( Madonna's Like A Virgin)
Albuquerque!
My daughter and I are in the process of learning "White and Nerdy" for karaoke night.
I adopted this song as my personal anthem as soon as I heard it (I am a copy editor). There is so much to hear in the main lyrics, but once you have memorised the song, listen to it again and listen for all the backing vocals - they are just as entertaining!
I just subscribed because of your fun reaction. One thing I love about Weird Al is his gift with lyrics. He's a genius, really. He's no 'Moran' when it comes to word play! Love the guy ! He single handedly made an artform out of song parody. Not an easy achievement.
"Schoolhouse Rock" was a public service educational thing that ran on American TV in the last century.
It's available on UA-cam, if you want to see what it was about; just put "Schoolhouse Rock" in the search.
It was a number of subjects, many of them linguistic/grammatical ("Conjunction Junction", "Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here", etc) and others covering US history or government ("Tea Party", "I'm Just A Bill", etc).
As far as "Word Crimes" go, even with AI and Grammarly and the rest, the real issue is texting and speaking. Many of the 'Crimes' mentioned in the song are spoken word, others are spelling and texting-induced failures that e-fixes cannot help. If anything, the e-fixes are eroding human intelligence.
Other suggestions for Weird Al songs: "Foil", "Tacky", "The Saga Begins", "All About The Pentiums", "White & Nerdy", "One More Minute", "Your Horoscope For Today"...
This is one of my favorite Weird Al songs. I absolutely love that it gives me a smile every time.
It's like Animaniacs. Perfect combination of humor and education.
Forget Thicke. This is the true version of that song. Thank you Weird Al.
The graphics were done by a guy named Jarrett Heather. He was contacted by Weird Al after another video that he did and then he worked on "Word Crimes" in his spare time (he had a normal full time job). Here's a local news story about him: ua-cam.com/video/rPN4OA7T1XQ/v-deo.html
al is sooooo freaking talented. he has amazing range with his voice. he doesnt get enough credit for that alone
The graphics (I am an artist) are what really take this song over-the-top. I love Weird Al, but the visuals really bring it home. LOL
Can you imagine living in Weird Avi's mind?? The chaos😁😂😁😂😁😂 He is amazing. Thanks guys so much fun.✌
So true!
Love Al, but his long time band never gets enough credit for how well they cover all the different genres of music they play.
There are so many that I would recommend by Weird Al... So I'm just going to start with one: BOB. It's a parody of a Bob Dylan song with an underlying theme throughout the song. See if you can guess what it is before the end!
I'd write a long comment, but I'm being taken to Word Jail as we speak. Great reaction, BPs!
Love Weird Al; man is genius! And always great fun and entertainment. One of my favs will always be Amish Paradise
I don't know if you guys are watchers of the Simpsons, but the song has a nod to one of their long-time characters. When he sings "if you don't know how to conjugate", the screen shows the HR teacher as Mrs. Krabappel. That was the name of Bart's long time teacher on the Simpsons until they retired the character when Marcia Wallace, the voice actress who provided her voice, passed away.
"The Impotence of Proofreading" is a comedy skit, I don't remember the comedian. But great fun. Taylor Mali is the comic
Al is a smart man, he didn't even make the mistake of adding an S to Emoji to pluralize it
My favorite is one of his original songs: One More Minute
fun trivia: Weird Al has a grudge against Prince because that singer would not give him permission to parody one of his songs
if you REALLY want to see Al with a grudge then check out his Kevin Federline interview parody
Weird Al is an underrated creative genius.
This is such a clever song. Weird Al's mind intrigues me. This would be a great song for teachers. Students should be aware of the proper way to professionally communicate. Social media encourages laziness in communication.
When you mention "Schoolhouse Rock," it brought back memories from when I was a child back in the 80s. Here in the USA, Saturday mornings were the time for us kids to sit in front of the TV with a bowl of our favorite cereal and watch nothing but cartoons. Times were great. During the line-up of cartoons, the ABC network would broadcast educational animated shorts titled "Schoolhouse Rock." These shorts would show you things such as the proper way to use a conjunction, the way a bill becomes law, etc. It was quite fun to watch and to this day I catch my self singing "Conjunction junction, what's your function."
Oh, and Weird Al toured last year and had his movie The Al Yankovic Story
Toured this year, too. I was supposed to see him back in February, but literally while my brother and I were looking for our seats, ten minutes before the warm-up act started, I fell down some stairs, hit a balustrade in a railing, and sliced my arm open on it. I spent three and a half hours in A&E instead, getting seventeen stitches.
What bugs me most is not the massive scar its left me with, but that I missed the concert. Weird Al is unlikely to tour Europe again anytime soon, if at all.
Fun fact: the video was animated by Jarret Heather, who is a pretty good musician in his own right as well.
A quick note: The word "spastic" does not have the same negative/offensive connotation in North America as it does in the U.K. and some other places- it describes someone who is goofy and weird, rather than casting shade on people with disabilities.
Yeah, all too true. I was stationed in the UK in the 70s and there were charity boxes around for the 'Spastics Society' or something like that. To find out that it was an actual condition and not just a school yard insult was weird.
Sure it does. Kids just used to use the slang spaz as a derogatory term against my child while in school due to autistic stimming. Kids can be very cruel.
It most certainly does have a negative connotation in the US. It may just mean goofy to you but it doesn't to all of us who were called that and not just by kids.
It's what people, not so very nicely, called my ADHD behaviors. It what they called (and still do sometimes) autistic stimming, tourette's tics, people with any kind of palsy or siezures.
It's not a "nice" friendly joshing term.
@@theConquerersMama Well said! 👏 Sorry you had to suffer the cruel ignorance and intolerance as well. 😥
@@theConquerersMama You can add my entire generation from the late 50s to mid 60s to that, we had no idea that being a 'spastic' was an actual condition. You can add Al to that group, when he found out, he apologized for the use.
Weird Al is the 21st Century's response to Gilbert and Sullivan.
His dig on Prince was because Prince said he would sue Weird Al if he did any of his songs. Al didn't need permission to do a parody by law but he wouldn't do a parody without the original artist permission
I love how he starts out educational and then gradually gets more and more caustic as the song progresses.
Yes! Everyone learnt something in the beginning of that video lol 😆👍🏻👍🏻
The national anthem of proofreaders everywhere.
Some would say you know you made it, when Weird Al parodies your song. Mind you, he gets permission.
It's really cool that he chooses to get permission to keep good relationships in the industry, even though he doesn't have to.
For Amish Paradise, he had gotten permission from Coolio's producer, but not directly from Coolio himself. It was a misunderstanding that led Coolio to dislike him for a time. They are friendly now.
Al is a genius when it comes to lyrics.
Not many people do Jackson Park Express but I love it
FYI the guy who animated the music video was Jarret Heather
"Word Crimes" is FIRE and a great way to actually enjoy the beat of "Blurred Lines."
Whereas Weird AL eschews controversy, Rucka Rucka Ali embraces it.
"I could care less"
That's definitely a word crime.
It's supposed to be "I could care *fewer".😁*
Lots of good ones, I would recommend Amish Paradis, Hardware store, Fat, Tacky but really he doesn't make bad stuff so anything he's done is gold
You are right. I have always wondered where in the world does Al get an idea for a song like this? Like Amish Paradise or White & Nerdy. He's amazing!!
@susanhauke8164
Hi Susan, we have a great one coming soon too.
All the best
I loved his song "You don't love me anymore". It's just insane.
So many great songs by Weird Al. I'd suggest one of his Michael Jackson parodies either "Eat It" or "Fat". His song "Living With A Hernia" is also a brilliant parody. Fun reaction.
@Mark T
Cheers Mark, we will certainly be getting to the Michael Jackson ones soon.
Thanks for the comment and we hope you check out more from our channel
Another Weird Al banger is Living With a Hernia ... a must see.
I became a Weird Al fan in the late 70s with "My Bologna."
Shout out to Jarrett Heather for the video graphics! He also did Shop-Vac, which I recommend. Not a Weird AL song.
I took my daughter to Fox Theater at Foxwood Casino in Connecticut USA to see Weird Al in 2015 (when this song was new) she was 13 and loved it. (side note -- i think this song helped her pass freshmen english in high school )
Al deserved the Grammy for this album, but he deserved so many more.
"Tacky" is a parody of Pharrell's "Happy". The video is a brilliant single shot with a bunch of guest stars, including Jack Black, Aisha Tyler, and Margaret Cho, in very very tacky clothing. "Trapped in a Drive Through" is an awesome 11 minute video parodying R.Kelly's magnum opus "Trapped in a Closet". Since the original is 91 minutes long, I think Weird Al did 11 minutes to mimic the long without being loooooooong. "Foil" is a weird little video that is a parody of "Royals" by Lorde. Or you can go back into the way back machine and hit 1979 with Weird Al's "My Bologna" a parody of the Knack's hit song "My Sharona". Weird Al has been at this for quite a while. There are quite a few fun tunes and videos to choose from.
6:01 he’s shown in other songs that he genuinely cares about grammar. Like songs will be completely unrelated to grammar and he’ll remind you still
This song by Weird Al is brilliant. He is so underrated.
Also, there is actually a grammatical error in the song. He put it there intentionally to see who would notice.
SPOILER: it's where he says "try your best to not drool" which is called a split infinitive.
split in·fin·i·tive
noun
noun: split infinitive; plural noun: split infinitives
a construction consisting of an infinitive with an adverb or other word inserted between to and the verb, e.g. she seems to really like it.
Funniest part is that it sounds way better than even the original, since Weird Al is way better vocalist than the original singer
In contrast to how your other videos only get 30+ likes, and this one has 3,000 and caused me to subscribe. I think you guys are experiencing the Weird Al effect, much like celebrities do.😂
It means Weird Al rakes in the views and the interest of your content. I think he's your sponsor now.
You guys should listen to "Party in the CIA" by him. It's hilarious.
Weird Al released one song a day on UA-cam when these were released. It was such a big deal! He is super talented. He is SO GOOD in concert!!!
You gotta check out some of his older stuff. Check out his parody of Madonnas Like a Virgin, his is called, Like a Surgeon.
Perform this way is one of my favorites!
Superb parody. More than the original deserved. Over 40 years of immaculate silliness.
The original lost a plagiarism case, so I like you saying "Thickeeee". Dodgy original lyrics.
The video for _Perform This Way (Parody of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga) (Official 4K Video)_ is beautifully made. You'll quickly guess, it took a *_lot_* to get in shape.
Best Wishes, ☮
The lyric "Get out of the gene pool" reminded me of the Darwin Awards. I looked and found this playlist _Darwin Award Winners_ on "BE AMAZED":
ua-cam.com/play/PLDgvFPuLtQbQMcFFmSOHwA2fB9k-nWODi.html
For example _Embarrassingly Dumb Ways People Died - Darwin Awards Winners [Part 1]_ ua-cam.com/video/x1Vz0e6HjrY/v-deo.html
WARNING - Some made me wince.
Best Wishes, Chaps. ☮
G-Man-😎
You should give "Bob" a listen. That Al Yankovic tune is a style parody of Bob Dylan, and EVERY LINE IS A PALINDROME...SPELLED THE SAME, FRONTWARDS AND BACKWARDS.
You asked for followups?Most of my favorite songs of his are his originals! See: Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me; Trigger Happy; Melanie; Good Enough For Now; Don't Wear Those Shoes; Christmas At Ground Zero; The Night Santa Went Crazy. Now you have homework!! Greetings from Seattle!! Just found your channel through suggestions and immediately subscribed!!(I also love DN Reacts, The Beesleys, The Office Blokes; maybe you've heard of them?)
Thank you for this pleasant videos
Weird Al is a gem!
That's what I always say, if someone says I could care less they must or else they couldn't care less 👍
Lol, my grammar is pants. I write as I speak a lot of the time, and I'm always annoyed when Word tells me 'fragment, consider revising', or some such thing. Ugh. Duck off, Word. Lol.
I love a good wordsmith, so this was fab!
I love this one! Schoolhouse Rock was great. Conjunction junction! I have a pet peeve with bad grammar. It used to drive me nuts when my students did it. They would take out another piece of paper and do it all over again. And Thickeee? NO! It's Thick with a silent E. Idk if you remember his father Alan Thicke. He was the dad on Growing Pains. Don't know if you got that over there or not.
I'm with you on terrible grammar. My 15 yo stepdaughter tells me she didn't learn grammar in school. I wonder if they gave up on correcting them, too?
@@DodonaWind I always corrected them. But we had to teach to the test. That was what was most important. 🙄 You get bonuses if your score goes up and if you're an "A" school, big bonus. You don't want to lose it once you got it. My brother and I were just out of hs and we're talking to our mom on the porch. We didn't know who won WW2 and worse than that, who was in WW1. Taught to the test which that wasn't in.
I was so happy when I heard "Irony is not coincidence" (the picture explanation was spot on) as that is one of my pet peeves. For example "Wow- that was quite ironic you happened to buy your swimsuit on the same day your ex wife was also in the store buying a swimsuit." For another educational video by Weird Al, see "Living with a Hernia".
And Pancreas!
One of his better songs among a lifetime of amazing songs!!!
Full on. Love the slang from my British Mates.
Funny and true. Lots of graduates don't know shit about what really matters in life.
The genius of Weird Al...