World of Weird Al Yankovic

BullMoose wrote:Concerts:
Is there a song you like performing the most? Do you bandmates have a favourite song to play?
Do you ever get embarrassed doing Wanna Be Ur Lovr?

I think he said that his favourite to perform is "Wanna B Ur Lovr"

BullMoose wrote:Do you think there would ever be a song you'd included in a Polka Medley that you found the perfect words for to make a parody song out of?

Generally the songs that go to polka medley are the ones that he couldn't find any ideas for a parody, although they were significant hits. And knowing his writing process, it's unlikely for the idea to come to him afterwards.

Yes, I was aware that's how the Polka Medleys went! Which is a good way to include songs. I wonder if simply changing the musical style is still considered parody? Well actually, as far as I've read, it's not as "simple" as changing the music style, heh.
It's just food for thought if it could ever happen. Such as a topic comes up that could fit a previous song~ These aren't really 'questions i wish I had the answer to' more like 'questions I'd ask him if I met him'. :3b

BullMoose wrote:I wonder if simply changing the musical style is still considered parody? Well actually, as far as I've read, it's not as "simple" as changing the music style, heh.

FWIW, I think about this a lot (I'm writing a dissertation chapter on Weird Al), and I would consider it a parody. The polka medleys are similar to many of Spike Jones's songs, which take a contemporary popular hit and re-work it in a zany, Dixieland jazz style ("Tennessee Waltz" is a good example).

With the polka medleys, I think the parody target is split between the popular song (which is re-worked in a polka style) and the style of polka (which is re-worked in the style of contemporary popular songs). It doesn't fit our conventional definition of a parody, but I think it still is one. In my research I've found that "parody" is an umbrella term for many different techniques. You have direct parodies (songs like "Fat"), style parodies (like "Craigslist" and the polka medleys), and other techniques that Yankovic doesn't use (like performance parodies a la Stan Freberg or new compositions written with references to and quotations from earlier musics a la P.D.Q. Bach).