The biggest forum about Weird Al Yankovic
https://www.weirdalforum.com/
How come you've seen all these, but no "Lame claim to fame"?Muppetboy09 wrote:Alright. My stand on the videos so far
1. Foil
2. Handy
3. Tacky
4. First World Problems
5. Sports Song
6. Word Crimes
7. Mission Statement
I think it definitely varies per song. In Don't Download This Song, for instance, Al is singing as himself ("don't take away money from artists just like me"). In songs like Smells Like Nirvana or Perform This Way, Al is clearly singing as the original artist. And there are songs from the perspective of a character, such as The Saga Begins or White & Nerdy. In these cases, there's not usually many hints regarding said character is aware they're singing a parody - Achy Breaky Song may be the closest I could think of.TMBJon wrote:It's an interesting philosophical question I often think about when listening to Weird Al.
Are we supposed to think of each song as Al himself singing it, the original artist singing it, a new character? If it's a new character, are we supposed to pretend that this is an original song, or does the character know he's singing a parody? In the case of style parodies, are we supposed to think of it as if we're hearing a new song by that band?
I think "Achy Breaky Song" could be considered Al himself, singing about the original song but not necessarily aware that he is singing a parody. I know that sounds a little weird, but I think it's different from the interpretation of "Handy" as a handyman who is parodying "Fancy" for an ad or the "Foil" Al, who is aware he is singing a food parody before he decides to go off on a conspiracy rant.drewdy9999 wrote:In these cases, there's not usually many hints regarding said character is aware they're singing a parody - Achy Breaky Song may be the closest I could think of.
I see Achy Breaky Song as analogous to several Allan Sherman songs - the singer isn't aware that they're singing a "professional" parody, but they're aware that they're singing along with the original song's music; they're doing it out of mocking/frustration.Skippy wrote:I think "Achy Breaky Song" could be considered Al himself, singing about the original song but not necessarily aware that he is singing a parody. I know that sounds a little weird, but I think it's different from the interpretation of "Handy" as a handyman who is parodying "Fancy" for an ad or the "Foil" Al, who is aware he is singing a food parody before he decides to go off on a conspiracy rant.drewdy9999 wrote:In these cases, there's not usually many hints regarding said character is aware they're singing a parody - Achy Breaky Song may be the closest I could think of.
Thank you!TMBJon wrote:Oh, I really like this interpretation of the song!PlayAWarGame wrote:the narrator is a handyman who's decided to do a "Fancy" parody for his commercial.
TMBJon wrote:It's an interesting philosophical question I often think about when listening to Weird Al.
Are we supposed to think of each song as Al himself singing it, the original artist singing it, a new character? If it's a new character, are we supposed to pretend that this is an original song, or does the character know he's singing a parody? In the case of style parodies, are we supposed to think of it as if we're hearing a new song by that band?
I hate to tell you this, but I just did the same thing after you.Muppetboy09 wrote:Just like to say, I unvoted for Foil, then voted for it again to be the 27th Voter...
