World of Weird Al Yankovic

I can defiantly see what your saying...

While I don't necessarily think its his best ALbum (don't get me wrong it ROCKS!) it is very easy to listen to, and I love all the songs, while on some of his other ALbums the affection is somewhat scattered (I.E. I love dog eat dog, but don't care so much for Toothless People... actually I don't mind it, but its the only metaphor that comes to mind...)

And I love hearing the accordion on every track... you just never can get tired of Al on the accordion!

I really enjoy Al's debut album for the accordion, and the very apparent spazziness that comes through in his recordings. Oh early Classic Al, how we loved you!

The Check's In The Mail is a great song, though, I especially like the musical interlude in the middle. The mental images I get from it are pretty funny, too, I always envision Al stretched out behind a desk wearing a horribly tacky plaid suit, talking to a very visibly enraged man.

I imagine AL in a gray striped suit at a diner talking to a really meek gullible fella...

With his 'fro, Als just gotta have his 'fro in this song!

Ahh gosh, I love that old 'fro of his.
And those crazy patchwork silk pants!
And his glasses....
And his mustache.....

And his shirts... and his shoes and his socks, and his nose... and his earlobes, and his nostrils... and his hands...

WaffleQueen27 @ Feb 12 2008, 08:15 AM wrote: I really enjoy Al's debut album for the accordion, and the very apparent spazziness that comes through in his recordings. Oh early Classic Al, how we loved you!

The Check's In The Mail is a great song, though, I especially like the musical interlude in the middle. The mental images I get from it are pretty funny, too, I always envision Al stretched out behind a desk wearing a horribly tacky plaid suit, talking to a very visibly enraged man.

Exactly an image I had for it. I wish there'd be a bit more accordion now and then. Never thought those words would come out of my mouth/hands.

What did the US Postal Service say when Al purchased Franz Kafka's remains (as an homage to Michael Jackson, of course) but hadn't received the package for six months?
"The Czech's in the mail, would I lie to you?"

This is one of my favorite songs from his first album. I've been listening to it lately, and I suddenly realized... Is this song supposed to be intentionally funny? I find myself laughing or at least chuckling at a lot of lines and music, but I don't quite know why I'm laughing. Is the delivery supposed to be funny? Is it funny in a "so bad it's good" way? There are a few funny lines, like "have lunch with my machine" (but what's that supposed to mean? Is that meant to be him being nervous about getting sued that he messed up his wording?). And I wonder what that laughter at the end of the song is supposed to be (it sounds like a woman laughing, but according to an "Ask Al" that was actually Al laughing).

I think I've known that many of the lines were cliches, but I don't think I ever realized it was about trying to break into show business (when listening recently I thought maybe it was about getting clients to sign up for something).

One other thing I've recently wondered. Many years ago when I first got this album, I was listening to it with somebody, and when he heard the "won;t you sign on the dotted line?" line, he told me that's another way of saying "kiss my butt" or something like that. Anybody know if "sign on the dotted line" was ever actually slang (or at least popular slang, it's possible a small amount of people thought that way)?

I just always assumed that he wasnt even paying attention to what he was saying so he was mixing them up.

The song is about making it in the entertainment industry - whether music biz or film biz - and all the smurf you have to deal with in the process. The narrator of the song is a sleazy agent or manager, and the song satirizes the types of cliches that you typically hear from guys like this.

Having said that, this song has definitely devolved for me into a song that I really just like listening to as cool little ditty that gets stuck in your head, not paying much attention to the lyrics. I like this one way more now than I did when I first heard it.