World of Weird Al Yankovic

While we're at it, let's burn down Volcano and resurrect Scotti Bros.

Okay, just finished catching up on the day's events and hearing the song for the third time. My feelings about this song have been changing as i find out more.

Initially, I heard the song on youtube before even readin anything about the controversy. I was at first happy that it wasnt going to be on the album, because frankly i didn't think it was that good (compared to W&N, Fat, SLN, etc). Then, as i read through Al's initial blog post i was angry over Gaga's supposed decision. But on the other hand i was glad that the song wouldn't be on the album, and that we'd still have it as an extra song, much like YP. But now that i see it's been resolved, I'm glad that Al will be able to release the album he wanted to, glad that it has this extra publicity, glad that we get the lead single early, and glad that this means the album will likely be out by this summer. But the strange thing is now i feel robbed of what would have been a replacement lead single. Even though it was never planned, and Al probably had no idea what it would have been, i feel like we've lost out on this potential song that will never be. Just think - if Perform This Way was going to be another You're Pitiful, might we in fact be losin the opportunity for another White & Nerdy?? I guess we'll never know.

Anyway, as for the song, maybe it'll grow on me, but i don't like Gaga, and the song doesn't have the sting of Achy Breaky Song or Smells Like Nirvana. But i am looking forward to the video and the concert performance. And i love that the profits are going to the Human Rights Campaign. I may just make a donation to them anyway, in addition to buying the song, album, and video!

Bruce the Duck wrote:Okay, just finished catching up on the day's events and hearing the song for the third time. My feelings about this song have been changing as i find out more.

Initially, I heard the song on youtube before even readin anything about the controversy. I was at first happy that it wasnt going to be on the album, because frankly i didn't think it was that good (compared to W&N, Fat, SLN, etc). Then, as i read through Al's initial blog post i was angry over Gaga's supposed decision. But on the other hand i was glad that the song wouldn't be on the album, and that we'd still have it as an extra song, much like YP. But now that i see it's been resolved, I'm glad that Al will be able to release the album he wanted to, glad that it has this extra publicity, glad that we get the lead single early, and glad that this means the album will likely be out by this summer. But the strange thing is now i feel robbed of what would have been a replacement lead single. Even though it was never planned, and Al probably had no idea what it would have been, i feel like we've lost out on this potential song that will never be. Just think - if Perform This Way was going to be another You're Pitiful, might we in fact be losin the opportunity for another White & Nerdy?? I guess we'll never know.

Wow, for once, Jeremy and I completely agree!!

Way_Moby wrote:While we're at it, let's burn down Volcano and resurrect Scotti Bros.

I thought Volcanos burned themselves down. All that magma's gotta be good for something.

Bruce the Duck wrote:Even though it was never planned, and Al probably had no idea what it would have been, i feel like we've lost out on this potential song that will never be. Just think - if Perform This Way was going to be another You're Pitiful, might we in fact be losin the opportunity for another White & Nerdy?? I guess we'll never know.!

Well, when you put it THAT way it sounds like we're getting screwed!

Does this mean that the "first release" will change in the recording dates section on weirdal.com since he didn't put it out as an mp3, or does Youtube count as being officially "released"?

I would say that YouTube counts as an official release.

Hey folks, there's a lot I want to reply to here and frankly today has been a very busy day for me, even without this great new Weird Al song in the world, but I wanted to add a few thoughts regarding the release controversy.

1) I haven't seen this point made but anyone besides Al himself: Let's not forget that until this morning, most of us probably had pretty positive feelings about Lady Gaga and her music. For those who consider themselves woefully out of touch with pop music, let me say that while I would probably agree with most of your assessments of the state of today's pop music, Lady Gaga really does not fall under that category. She is in fact a very talented musician who does write her own music and orchestrate much of her public persona, unlike most of her contemporaries. While I have no doubt she has a very talented managerial/publicity team that she works with, I think some people on here have not been giving her enough credit. She has released at least ten #1 hits in the last two years, and has writing credits on all of them.

2) Helen lays out a pretty strong case for being cynical about this and thinking Lady Gaga actually changed her mind once the negative publicity hit today. I choose, however, to take Gaga at her word. I found myself thinking the entire day as this was going on, why would Lady Gaga of all acts not "get" the whole Weird Al thing? She strikes me as a very bright woman with a keen sense of post-modernism and self-parody. I think this has a lot to do with Al's take in this song, making fun of the self-awareness of her whole persona. (I really liked that Al included a reference to her monsters.)

3) I know many of us were hoping Al would have the chance to parody Lady Gaga, and I have to say it's awesome that not only did he get to do it, but he didn't have to do it as some kind of convoluted movie, TV (or food) tie-in. Perform This Way (PTW, as we will all soon be calling it) tackles the idea of Lady Gaga herself. He actually got to do a good old fashioned satire on the artist/song itself, in the vein of Smells Like Nirvana. This is a proven formula for success, and it's easy to see this song becoming really huge which brings me to my next point.

4) I really think the success of this song hinges on a really, really good video: basically his funniest video yet. The song is very cleverly written (especially given the apparent time constraint), but I don't think that's how Weird Al gains popularity in 2011. If this song is going to be a hit, it's going to have to circulate online, and if that's going to happen then the video is clearly the key to its potential success. Now, Al has gone out on a limb and said how great the premise for his video is. I believe he did this as well with Couch Potato, and I know I've always wondered what he had planned. Now we get to see if Al is a man of his word. As a Weird Al fan, I have been hoping for five years that Al would top White & Nerdy with his next hit. Is Perform This Way successful in this way? I will withhold my thoughts on that until I see the video.

I've been busy and I didn't catch any of this until the very end with Al's follow-up blog. Boy, am I glad! I'm having A LOT of fun listening to this over and over, and I'm glad Al got Gaga's approval in the end.

What irritates me though, are all the mean spirited I hate Gaga posts, here and elsewhere. Sometimes it pays to wait for all the facts before conclusions are jumped to.

OMFG!!!!!! What an insane day!!!!!!!! I knew Gaga couldnt be so evil. My little monster status has been re-instated. And i saw the TMZ coments which from what i saw earlier were all good(except for that horribly creepy picture they quickly photoshopped and put with the story). I love TMZ again too. And just so much goodness all in one day!!! This will be a huge hit just from all this controversy in one day. Lady Gaga should be fired and exiled off to some deserted island. YAYAYAYAYAYAY