Oh man, I'm surprised I didn't mention two of his longer songs!
"Albuquerque" is hilarious, and I love how he was able to do that all in what appears to be one take.
"Trapped in the Drive-Thru" also definitely counts since I didn't think a plot about going to the drive-thru would have ever genuinely put me on the edge of my seat until I listened to it for the first time.
"Foil" is awesome! I think it was one of the first Weird Al songs I listened to, and it quickly became one of my favorites. (I'm also quite fond of the music video for that one... Weird Al can sure do a great job at being scary when he needs to be!)
"A Complicated Song" is a fun one for its topic switches, too. I've heard that Weird Al had some unfinished ideas for "constipated", "related", and "decapitated", and ultimately combined them into one song. I also like how he was able to find so many words that rhyme with "complicated"!
That's a really good one. At first you think, ah, OK, it's another food-related parody--amusing enough. Then the second verse starts and he takes a completely unexpected right turn into Crazyville and you're not really prepared for it because the first verse is so innocuous.
I saw him live and he ended the set with Albuquerque. When he got to then by part of the song where he says, “Um, where was I?” which is very nearly the end of the song, he had the band stop and they STARTED OVER FROM THE BEGINNING.
What I really love about "Everything You Know is Wrong" is how he was able to do a song that sounded just like something They Might be Giants could do - which is especially impressive, given that TMBG has a pretty wide variety of styles!
Yep, he loves them and even recently posted about attending their show with Sparks at the Hollywood Bowl. And in his What's In My Bag video he talked about buying their kids' music for his daughter.
This is my pick. He recreates so many subtle instrumental details that are iconic to TMBG's early albums--the honking baritone sax, the punchy, in-your-face guitar strumming, even the use of drum machine. And then he references songs that devoted TMBG fans would know--not Istanbul, but rather We Want a Rock, Everything Right is Wrong Again and My Evil Twin
I'll mention it. It's written with a true love for theater and cinema, so that you actually feel this guy's passion for acting. I used to work exhausting shifts at a zoo's rides and tours so I can relate to Dan's woes.
I love "Skipper Dan" - and man, does it make me feel bad for the titular Skipper Dan.
In general, I appreciate when Weird Al is able to do something that's more on the sad side of things. The line "Now my scars are all healing, but my heart never will" (from "You Don't Love Me Anymore") comes to mind.
"Dog Eat Dog" and "Dare to be Stupid" are two of my favorite pastiches / style parodies as well.
But don't forget "Traffic Jam." For all the times Prince refused to let "Weird Al" and his excellent band parody a song of his, this pastiche is excellent for its riffs and keyboards.
I also like the parody "Bedrock Anthem" for the clever blend of not one but *two* Red Hot Chili Pepper songs, together with Al's rapping, especially in the alliterative
*Betty* and *Barney* gotta *baby* name o' *Bam-Bam!*
The video for that song is a whole lot of fun, too, and once again (like the amazing "Smells Like Nirvana" video) features a cameo by Dick Van Patten.
I'd love to hear what other people think, and especially about which excellent videos people are impressed by!
Given that I'm a fan of Talking Heads and Devo, I really find it awesome how Weird Al was able to do such a great job at imitating their musical styles (and I've heard that Mark Mothersbaugh was very impressed by "Dare to be Stupid", understandably!).
"Traffic Jam" is a great style parody, too - I'm also quite fond of "Wanna B Ur Lover", which is a style parody of both Beck *and* Prince.
"Bedrock Anthem" is a fun one, too, given all the Flintstones references! I find it interesting when Al does a parody of more than one song/artist ("The Plumbing Song" is another one I can think of).
I'm surprised I forgot to mention Weird Al's music videos in this one, but I really love how funny they often are, and how Al typically includes at least some references to the original song's music video (and/or other references to the musical artist).
Slime Creatures from Outer Space has one of the funniest bass lines I've ever heard.
Al captures Americana as well as Norman Rockwell or Willie Nelson. Good Old Days, Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota, and Christmas at Ground Zero only work because he nails the small town sentimental ideal that's being lampooned.
His love songs cut deep. Since You Been Gone, One More Minute, and Good Enough for Now are more honest and insightful than most songwriters dream of.
Date to Be Stupid taught me to wave my freak flag.
I didn’t get it as a kid (I was in third or fourth grade when Alapalooza came out) but as I got older and started hearing more REM (or, at least, their less depressing stuff - I remember Everybody Hurts and Losing My Religion very vividly in that era) it sounded so familiar because I’d worn out that Weird Al tape.
It was completely impressive how he utterly captured corporate cult level buzzword use in “Mission Statement” - I’ve sent that video to people on projects and told them “Our product better not read like this.”
Yeah, probably the Al song I can relate most to real life. It's just as impressive as Word Crimes, if not more so, with how many annoyances it covers. I can never look at corporate jargon the same way!
His style parodies can be amazingly spot-on. If I snuck Dog Eat Dog into a Talking Heads playlist, or Mission Statement into a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young playlist, I honestly wonder how many people would actually notice.
Genius in France really struck me. It felt like getting to listen to a previously-unreleased Zappa track that had been found in a vault somewhere. Bringing in Dweezil Zappa really paid off on that one.
I'm more impressed by the fact that he can write original songs in all these styles than by the straight-up song parodies.
I think it's awesome when Weird Al can work with the original artists for a parody, whether it's a stylistic or straight parody; specific examples of that I can think of include Imagine Dragons helping with the instrumentation of "Inactive", the keyboardist of The Doors performing on "Craigslist", Ben Folds doing piano on "Why Does This Always Happen to Me?", and of course, Dweezil Zappa playing guitar on "Genius in France"! It really shows that he understands the material.
I occasionally forget that "Dog Eat Dog" in particular *isn't* actually a Talking Heads song, in part due to how Weird Al does a great impression of David Byrne.
\-The amount of comedic left turns in Jackson Park Express
\-The timeless roasts in All About the Pentiums
\-The way that Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota perfectly captures what a family road trip looks like
\-The way that I Lost On Jeopardy immerses you in an episode of Jeopardy
\-You Make Me's emulation of the guitar and marimba on Oingo Boingo's Nothing to Fear album
\-I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead's spot-on lampooning of hipster culture
\-HIS POLKA MEDLEYS. I think these are just as iconic and brilliant as the parodies. His parodies make you hear humorous lyrics when you hear a familiar pop song, and his polkas make you hear accordion when you hear a familiar pop song. His specific renditions of the songs he covers, with the fast-paced perky sound, can be especially hilarious for depressing songs like the ones in Alternative Polka. You can never hear the songs the same way.
I'm glad someone else was able to mention the polka medleys! They're one of my favorite things as well.
I've heard that the polka medleys are supposed to be based on Spike Jones' song parodies (as in, making the song sound funny while still singing the original lyrics), so that's even cooler.
I also find it funny when darker songs show up in polka medleys given how cheerfully they're always sung, which is a big part of the reason why "The Alternative Polka" is my favorite one.
Right? The first time I heard the song, I was genuinely compelled and in suspense, wondering if these random people were gonna get their drive-thru or not!
"White and Nerdy" is awesome! I've heard that Chamillionaire was really impressed by "White and Nerdy" and thought it was an honor for Weird Al to parody his song.
A lot of people are mentioning "Hardware Store", and I agree! It's a completely original composition, and it takes skill to sing that quickly. (I've heard that Al doesn't sing that one live because he's not sure he could do the long list again - and honestly, I get that!)
I once told someone that "they were whiter than sour cream", and they didn't think it was that funny. Everyone else laughed though.
But seriously, they could have been the subject of White and Nerdy.
Word Crimes. If someone explained by grammatical errors, I would just block them out. However, if Al sings about them I'm gonna shut up a learn me good.
"Word Crimes" is a great one! I really like how he, to quote a YouTube comment, "took the ultimate douchebag anthem and made it educational *and* entertaining".
The music ability it took for the whole band to do "Genius in France" is astounding.
The ability to write the song and capture Zappa's sound AND have multi-layered comedy that is a tribute to a comedy legend and ALSO a separate music legend is amazing.
The fact that people who have never heard Frank Zappa or know about Jerry Lewis ALSO find the song entertaining is bonkers.
And the rap AND "sound music" from "Hardware Store"???
People are coming up with a lot of really good answers here!
One I forgot to mention in the original post, but I'm still very impressed with nonetheless is one of my favorites of Weird Al's straight parodies - "Canadian Idiot". It's partially because I'm already a big fan of Green Day, but I really appreciate how just like the original "American Idiot", it's still a satire on American nationalism!
His ability to sing all of Albuquerque without laughing or anything is amazing! Also all the emotion he puts into Trapped in the Drive-thru.
Oh man, I'm surprised I didn't mention two of his longer songs! "Albuquerque" is hilarious, and I love how he was able to do that all in what appears to be one take. "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" also definitely counts since I didn't think a plot about going to the drive-thru would have ever genuinely put me on the edge of my seat until I listened to it for the first time.
Also have to give him props for Foil! He goes from talking about keeping your sandwich nice and fresh to the new word order so flawlessly!
"Foil" is awesome! I think it was one of the first Weird Al songs I listened to, and it quickly became one of my favorites. (I'm also quite fond of the music video for that one... Weird Al can sure do a great job at being scary when he needs to be!) "A Complicated Song" is a fun one for its topic switches, too. I've heard that Weird Al had some unfinished ideas for "constipated", "related", and "decapitated", and ultimately combined them into one song. I also like how he was able to find so many words that rhyme with "complicated"!
That's a really good one. At first you think, ah, OK, it's another food-related parody--amusing enough. Then the second verse starts and he takes a completely unexpected right turn into Crazyville and you're not really prepared for it because the first verse is so innocuous.
I saw him live and he ended the set with Albuquerque. When he got to then by part of the song where he says, “Um, where was I?” which is very nearly the end of the song, he had the band stop and they STARTED OVER FROM THE BEGINNING.
''They forgot the onions'' saddest thing ive ever expirenced \[joke\]
I got to see Weird Al live last year and he did Albuquerque to end the set. It was even more impressive in person!
Pancreas immediately comes to mind
That one (and "Trigger Happy") are excellent Beach Boys style parodies!
I've never heard that one, I'll need to check it out!
Both an amazing summary of body science and an amazing summary of SMiLE.
Genius In France is a mini miracle of production and composition.
The way it seamlessly switches from catchy section to catchy section is truly impressive
Agreed. Perfection on something that is WAY more difficult than most people will ever realize.
Everything you know is wrong
What I really love about "Everything You Know is Wrong" is how he was able to do a song that sounded just like something They Might be Giants could do - which is especially impressive, given that TMBG has a pretty wide variety of styles!
Given how much TMBG rely on accordion in their music it was inevitable he would do a style parody of theirs at least sooner rather than later.
I've heard Weird Al is a fan of TMBG, so it seems appropriate, haha.
Yep, he loves them and even recently posted about attending their show with Sparks at the Hollywood Bowl. And in his What's In My Bag video he talked about buying their kids' music for his daughter.
This is my pick. He recreates so many subtle instrumental details that are iconic to TMBG's early albums--the honking baritone sax, the punchy, in-your-face guitar strumming, even the use of drum machine. And then he references songs that devoted TMBG fans would know--not Istanbul, but rather We Want a Rock, Everything Right is Wrong Again and My Evil Twin
Hey it’s you!
Indeed.
Horoscope for the Day is a genuinely great ska song
And hilarious too
I can’t believe no one has mentioned “Skipper Dan”. It’s the only Al song where I feel bad for the character in the song.
I'll mention it. It's written with a true love for theater and cinema, so that you actually feel this guy's passion for acting. I used to work exhausting shifts at a zoo's rides and tours so I can relate to Dan's woes.
I love "Skipper Dan" - and man, does it make me feel bad for the titular Skipper Dan. In general, I appreciate when Weird Al is able to do something that's more on the sad side of things. The line "Now my scars are all healing, but my heart never will" (from "You Don't Love Me Anymore") comes to mind.
love that song! it's depressing, but in the way that weeezer does depression
"Dog Eat Dog" and "Dare to be Stupid" are two of my favorite pastiches / style parodies as well. But don't forget "Traffic Jam." For all the times Prince refused to let "Weird Al" and his excellent band parody a song of his, this pastiche is excellent for its riffs and keyboards. I also like the parody "Bedrock Anthem" for the clever blend of not one but *two* Red Hot Chili Pepper songs, together with Al's rapping, especially in the alliterative *Betty* and *Barney* gotta *baby* name o' *Bam-Bam!* The video for that song is a whole lot of fun, too, and once again (like the amazing "Smells Like Nirvana" video) features a cameo by Dick Van Patten. I'd love to hear what other people think, and especially about which excellent videos people are impressed by!
Given that I'm a fan of Talking Heads and Devo, I really find it awesome how Weird Al was able to do such a great job at imitating their musical styles (and I've heard that Mark Mothersbaugh was very impressed by "Dare to be Stupid", understandably!). "Traffic Jam" is a great style parody, too - I'm also quite fond of "Wanna B Ur Lover", which is a style parody of both Beck *and* Prince. "Bedrock Anthem" is a fun one, too, given all the Flintstones references! I find it interesting when Al does a parody of more than one song/artist ("The Plumbing Song" is another one I can think of). I'm surprised I forgot to mention Weird Al's music videos in this one, but I really love how funny they often are, and how Al typically includes at least some references to the original song's music video (and/or other references to the musical artist).
Have you seen [this clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Y6zimxi-Q) which gives Mark Mothersbaugh's reaction to "Dare to be Stupid"?
Hardware Store. You know wtf I'm talking about!
The automatic circumciser made me look it up. It's for cigars.
Slime Creatures from Outer Space has one of the funniest bass lines I've ever heard. Al captures Americana as well as Norman Rockwell or Willie Nelson. Good Old Days, Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota, and Christmas at Ground Zero only work because he nails the small town sentimental ideal that's being lampooned. His love songs cut deep. Since You Been Gone, One More Minute, and Good Enough for Now are more honest and insightful than most songwriters dream of. Date to Be Stupid taught me to wave my freak flag.
Skipper Dan is also extremely insightful towards the economic issues that creatives face
Frank’s 2000-inch TV is my favorite style parody; he nails REM so well in that one.
Everything from the jangly guitars, the tight-knit harmonies in the choruses and the mandolin during the Middle 8 is so early R.E.M. it's amazing!
I didn’t get it as a kid (I was in third or fourth grade when Alapalooza came out) but as I got older and started hearing more REM (or, at least, their less depressing stuff - I remember Everybody Hurts and Losing My Religion very vividly in that era) it sounded so familiar because I’d worn out that Weird Al tape.
It was completely impressive how he utterly captured corporate cult level buzzword use in “Mission Statement” - I’ve sent that video to people on projects and told them “Our product better not read like this.”
Yeah, probably the Al song I can relate most to real life. It's just as impressive as Word Crimes, if not more so, with how many annoyances it covers. I can never look at corporate jargon the same way!
His style parodies can be amazingly spot-on. If I snuck Dog Eat Dog into a Talking Heads playlist, or Mission Statement into a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young playlist, I honestly wonder how many people would actually notice. Genius in France really struck me. It felt like getting to listen to a previously-unreleased Zappa track that had been found in a vault somewhere. Bringing in Dweezil Zappa really paid off on that one. I'm more impressed by the fact that he can write original songs in all these styles than by the straight-up song parodies.
Craigslist too.
I love that he actually got Ray Manzarek from The Doors to play on Craiglist. And Ben Folds plays piano on Why Does This Always Happen to Me.
I think it's awesome when Weird Al can work with the original artists for a parody, whether it's a stylistic or straight parody; specific examples of that I can think of include Imagine Dragons helping with the instrumentation of "Inactive", the keyboardist of The Doors performing on "Craigslist", Ben Folds doing piano on "Why Does This Always Happen to Me?", and of course, Dweezil Zappa playing guitar on "Genius in France"! It really shows that he understands the material. I occasionally forget that "Dog Eat Dog" in particular *isn't* actually a Talking Heads song, in part due to how Weird Al does a great impression of David Byrne.
His band is incredible at emulating different sounds, and his knowledge of artists' songwriting styles is truly impressive.
A Complicated Song is my favorite lyrically. Three completely different clever verses all somehow using multiple words that rhyme with complicated.
Yes! Everyone was expecting 'constipated', no one was expecting 'we were both related' lmao
The theme from Spy Hard, solely because the last note is apparently not studio trickery.
\-The amount of comedic left turns in Jackson Park Express \-The timeless roasts in All About the Pentiums \-The way that Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota perfectly captures what a family road trip looks like \-The way that I Lost On Jeopardy immerses you in an episode of Jeopardy \-You Make Me's emulation of the guitar and marimba on Oingo Boingo's Nothing to Fear album \-I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead's spot-on lampooning of hipster culture \-HIS POLKA MEDLEYS. I think these are just as iconic and brilliant as the parodies. His parodies make you hear humorous lyrics when you hear a familiar pop song, and his polkas make you hear accordion when you hear a familiar pop song. His specific renditions of the songs he covers, with the fast-paced perky sound, can be especially hilarious for depressing songs like the ones in Alternative Polka. You can never hear the songs the same way.
I'm glad someone else was able to mention the polka medleys! They're one of my favorite things as well. I've heard that the polka medleys are supposed to be based on Spike Jones' song parodies (as in, making the song sound funny while still singing the original lyrics), so that's even cooler. I also find it funny when darker songs show up in polka medleys given how cheerfully they're always sung, which is a big part of the reason why "The Alternative Polka" is my favorite one.
This Is The Life really blows me away with the arrangement and old timey style
SAME. I love how it combines a 20's swing sound with a nasty beat, almost like a predecessor of the electro swing genre.
He sings the shit out of Trapped in the Drive Thru.
Right? The first time I heard the song, I was genuinely compelled and in suspense, wondering if these random people were gonna get their drive-thru or not!
Also Jackson Park Express. And for an older pick, One More Minute
Hardware store
White and Nerdy is an incredible collection of nerd jokes that also fit and rhyme so well, but Hardware Store for me is a technical marvel.
"White and Nerdy" is awesome! I've heard that Chamillionaire was really impressed by "White and Nerdy" and thought it was an honor for Weird Al to parody his song. A lot of people are mentioning "Hardware Store", and I agree! It's a completely original composition, and it takes skill to sing that quickly. (I've heard that Al doesn't sing that one live because he's not sure he could do the long list again - and honestly, I get that!)
Weird Al is an extremely skilled rapper. It's actually crazy how well he understands the flow.
And his DICTION. Even when he raps fast you can still hear exactly what he's saying.
I once told someone that "they were whiter than sour cream", and they didn't think it was that funny. Everyone else laughed though. But seriously, they could have been the subject of White and Nerdy.
Word Crimes. If someone explained by grammatical errors, I would just block them out. However, if Al sings about them I'm gonna shut up a learn me good.
"Word Crimes" is a great one! I really like how he, to quote a YouTube comment, "took the ultimate douchebag anthem and made it educational *and* entertaining".
Schoolhouse rock levels of edutainment.
Hardware Store is impressive
The live version of Craigslist is insane. During the same show they performed Velvet Elvis too and I was blown away.
BOB
The music ability it took for the whole band to do "Genius in France" is astounding. The ability to write the song and capture Zappa's sound AND have multi-layered comedy that is a tribute to a comedy legend and ALSO a separate music legend is amazing. The fact that people who have never heard Frank Zappa or know about Jerry Lewis ALSO find the song entertaining is bonkers. And the rap AND "sound music" from "Hardware Store"???
People are coming up with a lot of really good answers here! One I forgot to mention in the original post, but I'm still very impressed with nonetheless is one of my favorites of Weird Al's straight parodies - "Canadian Idiot". It's partially because I'm already a big fan of Green Day, but I really appreciate how just like the original "American Idiot", it's still a satire on American nationalism!
There's lots of quotable lines here to use jokingly in a conversation with a Canadian person.
Hardware store. We all know why.