James Blunt speaks out on "You're Pitiful"

[bellminer]

Clayton Perry: "There is one particular subject that has always had a cloud of mystery hovering over it. You don’t have to answer, but as a long-time fan of 'Weird Al' Yankovic, I was always curious to know what transpired in the 'parody permission' fiasco."

James Blunt: "I'm a fan of his, particularly the earliest stuff he did, though he got his notoriety and his fame for what were genius moments along the way, and they were really exciting. And for me, I've only been flattered by parodies of my own songs. There are some great ones out there. I have absolutely no problem with Al. I think it's a huge compliment for what he's done. At the same time, it's generally not my favorite of the parodies. I think it was a safe one. It wasn't as exciting as some others. There's one really special one which you should look up by a guy called Tom Gleeson, and it's just really clever. And for me, that was a more exciting one."

http://www.seattlepi.com/pop/433185_151 ... s.org.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(Not sure if this merits its own thread or if it should go in the "You're Pitiful" thread. Mods, feel free to move as you see fit.)

[AlejandraDD]

Wow, that did not clarify at all. Whether he liked the parody or not has nothing to do with if he gave permission or not

[weird_el]

He said "[he] had no problem with Al" We've known all along James wasn't the problem -- Atlantic Records was. He said he was flattered by Al's parody but there are parodies he liked better.

[mrmeadows]

I'm sure you've all looked it up already, but here's the Tom Gleeson spoof he's talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKmnKEjHSSk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hmmm....okay. Not bad, but maybe it's funnier if you're Australian. And it isn't a parody, it's more like an MST3K riffing on the song. Al doesn't do that, so not sure how "exciting" he needs to make your boring-ass song for you to like it.

Although Blunt has a fair point: "You're Pitiful" isn't one of Al's best. It's good, but not "lead-single" good. I could have seen it buried at Track 10 (in place of the throwaway DICYO) on SOL.

[weirdojace]

If You're Pitiful was the lead single from SOL, the album would have bombed. We're damn lucky Atlantic Records stepped in and ultimately forced Al to write White & Nerdy.

[HappyGilmore]

If You're Pitiful was the lead single from SOL, the album would have bombed. We're damn lucky Atlantic Records stepped in and ultimately forced Al to write White & Nerdy.

Best thing to ever happen. For a multitude of reasons. First off, it's not a great song by any means. Secondly, it opened the doors for the last minute of addition of White and Nerdy. Plus any press in the newspaper, even over the denied parody, opens the doors to letting people know there's an album out there. Plus White and Nerdy is just such a good song that it makes You're Pitiful look like someone else did it entirely.

The fact that Al was perfectly ready to release it as the lead single boggles my mind.

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Al was probably in much the same place he is right now, with a whole album in the can and getting antsier and antsier to get the album out before everything passes its sell-by date.

One thing that interesting about comparing the two songs as lead single candidates: if You're Pitiful had been the lead single, it would have had to be the audience's familiarity with the original song that carried it, because, as noted, the lyrics weren't Al's absolute best effort. And, big as the song was, just because of how big it was, it lapsed pretty quickly into elevator-music and put-an-icepick-through-my-eardrums-i'm-done-with-it territory. Whereas White & Nerdy succeeds brilliantly on the strength of Al's lyrics and video. You don't even have to be familiar with Chamillionaire's song, you just have to have a few friends of the proper demographic (or be one yourself) to completely identify with it, and find it hilarious. Al's success with that song absolutely did not depend on Chamillionaire.

[sarahhh]

At the same time, it's generally not my favorite of the parodies. I think it was a safe one. It wasn't as exciting as some others.

This just reminded me so much of in Al's Eminem interview 'I can only change the lyrics. I can't change the music too!'

Silly James Blunt.

[Grom]

maybe it's funnier if you're Australian

Nope. That guy sucks and is overrated.

[mrmeadows]

maybe it's funnier if you're Australian

Nope. That guy sucks and is overrated.

Hmmm....must be like your version of Jeff Foxworthy.