An Open Letter To Weird Al

[TheLazenby]

This is an open letter to Weird Al... whether he actually reads it, I'll probably never know - but I think I should write this, and in open view of the rest of the forum, after the trouble I caused.

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Dear Al,

My name is Steven Worek, and I am a nineteen-year-old member of the World of "Weird Al" Yankovic forums who has listened to and adored your music since a very young age. I have always admired your ability to uncannily mimic the music of others and write parodies that never fail to be clever or very humorous. However, I feel that by way of the WOWAY forums, I have done you a great disservice, one that a true fan would not have done.

Recently, I expressed my misgivings about the similarities between your song "Albuquerque" and the Rugburns' "Dick's Automotive." I have always been aware of your style parodies and have never thought anything of them besides that they were fun to hear and to try to decipher who the target of the parody was. However, I suppose that upon hearing the Rugburns' song, I felt somewhat disappointed that what I took to be a very unique song (your "Albuquerque") was in fact a very close style parody of an obscure song that not many people knew about.

Upon re-reading my post on this topic on the WOWAY forums, I realize now that despite my disappointment, I may have overreacted, and may have come off sounding more than a little harsh in my judgement of your song. I came to realize as replies started to appear that some people thought that I was accusing you of plagiarism, which I did not originally intend with my post; I was only expressing my observations of how close, musically and lyrically, the two songs were.

It came as a shock to me when shortly after, you not only acknowledged in an "Ask Al" that you did a style parody of the Rugburns, but that from now on, you would give credit to the targets of your style parodies. Whether or not these occurrences were coincidences, I don't know; but I certainly feel guilty that my thoughtless words were the cause of these. In all sincerity as a long-time fan, I would never want something I said to have changed your manner of doing things, or for you to feel worried that others might share the harsh feelings that I wrongly displayed.

Therefore, I feel that I must express with all honesty that despite what I may have said on this forum over time, I feel very grateful for the music that you have given us throughout your career, and certainly do not find fault in anything that you may create. I understand your intentions as a parody artist, and from this point on vow never to make such a thoughtless comment on your forum, nor anywhere else; and also, I will continue to unjudgingly enjoy your music as I have done many, many times in the past.

Sincerely,
Steven Worek

[Orthography Enthusiast]

That's a very honest, stand-up letter, Steven. And Al probably will see it. If you send a copy to Al via CPFOA, though, he will see it for sure.

[algonacchick]

That was very honest and heartfelt, Steven, and I'm sure that Al and everyone here will appreciate it. I know I do. Thank you for posting that.

[Kevbo1987]

That's a very nice letter, Steven. I definitely appreciate that you took the time to write that, and I'm sure Al will too.

[jerAL]

Classy, Steven.

[MarsBar]

Very nice, Steven.

I kind of wanted to thank you, because I have always wanted the style parodies listed in the Album Booklets.

[Squirrelygirl]

That's a very sincere, thoughful letter. Thanks for posting that and for being so caring about Al's feelings.