World of Weird Al Yankovic

This topic came up a few times in the "Whatever You Like" thread, and I thought it would make an interesting topic all on its own. In general, the subjects of Al's parodies are completely unrelated to the original songs (e.g. "Eat It", "Yoda", etc.) However, sometimes he will satirize the original lyrics or artist such as in these songs:

(This Song's Just) Six Words Long
Achy Breaky Song
Confessions Part III
It's Still Billy Joel to Me
Smells Like Nirvana
Theme from Rocky XIII
Whatever You Like

Now, when I say that these are "true" parodies, I'm not trying to belittle Al's (or anyone else's) other work, but I can't think of a better term for them. Can you think of any others? Do you think that this type of parody is better or do you prefer more random lyrical themes?

White & Nerdy is pretty much the opposite of Ridin' Dirty ...

I find Headline News is a "true parody"

In the original, its about people who where publicly exposed against their will, and in Al's, it about people who use things that happen to them to get famous... (or more famous)...

I'd add "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" to that list since the whole point of the song was to mock the absurdity of the original.

Those are all good points. I think if we add those, then we have to add "Amish Paradise" too since the Amish lifestyle is pretty much the antithesis of gangsta.

It's not an actual parody, but I feel that YD&U would fit in with this, mainly because it's exaggerating their badassiness, despite being total sissies.

You're right, MT, but nearly every style parody would fit under "true" parody designation if we were to count that one. I think this list should stick to actual parodies.

Although, not quite the same thing as this, both "The Plumbing Song" and "Isle Thing" are similar in that they both make direct reference to another song by the same artist they are parodying - "Girl You Know It's True" and "Funky Cold Medina" respectively.

I've always found those funny!

This is interesting, because I've been thinking about this for a while and now someone came and made a topic for it... how coincidental.