World of Weird Al Yankovic

He's certainly no innocent. If he chooses to work clean for the most part, it's not out of naivete. But there is a fairly large segment of his audience that would be made uncomfortable if he followed fashion and moved closer to the "edgy."

As for whether he's a saint, that kind of depends on how you define your terms, doesn't it?

bigmac or a jumbojack @ Aug 27 2006, 04:42 PM wrote: I saw Al perform it live in 1983 right before a Food Medley.

Was it at the Bottom Line in New York? Just wondering...

Bargle Nawdle Zouss @ Apr 27 2008, 03:54 PM wrote: Al probably didn't know what it meant when he wrote it, then 8 years later "Oh!"

Ooh... we all hate you now...

Orthography Enthusiast @ Apr 27 2008, 10:34 PM wrote: He's certainly no innocent. If he chooses to work clean for the most part, it's not out of naivete. But there is a fairly large segment of his audience that would be made uncomfortable if he followed fashion and moved closer to the "edgy."

As for whether he's a saint, that kind of depends on how you define your terms, doesn't it?

I agree wholeheartedly. Al's no innocent, and he does push the envelope now and then(the fading parts of DDTS and Phony Calls are proof ). But he keeps his music clean so that everyone can enjoy it, not because he doesn't know how to be crude.

Anyway, on topic again, I finally heard IICMLTAB thanks to YouTube, and I loved it! Its blue, sure, but its just clean enough to get away with it.
I think its awesome.

Orthography Enthusiast @ Apr 27 2008, 09:34 PM wrote: He's certainly no innocent. If he chooses to work clean for the most part, it's not out of naivete. But there is a fairly large segment of his audience that would be made uncomfortable if he followed fashion and moved closer to the "edgy."

As for whether he's a saint, that kind of depends on how you define your terms, doesn't it?

Well yes... but there is an interesting dilemma here. Should Al be able to express himself creatively as a mature rock musician or should he be constrained like a children's entertainer?
I think it is great that he is so considerate of his wider audience, but I can't help but wonder if that kind of cuts him off from being taken entirely seriously as an artiste by the Music Industry as a whole.

Al is due a good deal more respect than he appears to get, and I think perhaps it could be partly the widespread perception of him as "a kids entertainer" that has prevented him from breaking through into (for instance) the UK market where even pretty crappy music is taken intensely seriously, but the slightest whiff of "child friendly" gets you consigned instantly to the Bargain Bin

Personally, I don't think Al is really concerned about what the critics think. Comedy music--specifically parodies--pretty much instantly is going to get knocked on without merit. He has a reputation as one of the most family-friendly entertainers out there today, and as long as fans feel like they're getting their moneys' worth, he's probably satisfied.

I think the original purpose of this song was to kill some time during concerts.

Louise, you make some interesting points, but Al's cds haven't been thrown into the bargain bin yet, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Yes, if Al wanted to, he could probably go edgier, but that's just not his style. I think he likes having his family-friendly status, yet he can still put just enough edge on a song or two to satisfy his older fans.

Getting back to the song, I think it's pretty funny, even if it is short.

Honestly, I don't think Al is really "constrained" by anything other than his own choices. He got a little more scatological than usual on Poodle Hat (I think he said something about not wanting people to think that he'd gone soft when he became a father) and then said later that he kind of regretted it when, for example, the drive-time DJ's played "A Complicated Song" over and over and over again, to the neglect of the rest of the album.

My personal feeling is that relying on sexual or other bodily function humor is actually a constraint on humor... it narrows the topics. And I think Al likes the challenge of being funny without always aiming for those broad obvious targets.

IICMLTAB is on YouTube?

Yes. someone put together a bunch of concert only songs, and it's the last one in the first of three such groupings. It's just audio.