World of Weird Al Yankovic

Didn't see a topic for this when I searched, or when I looked at the Song Discussion Sticky...

Personally, I LOVE this song. It just seems so incredibly random, and it really shows off Al's incredibly deep vocabulary. I am a tad unsure what the song is about...I'm kind of under the impression it is about a really crazy guy in a mental institute, just randomly ranting or something(???)...

A question for anybody who might be familiar with the song, does anyone know if the 'frogs' Al was referring to in this song were referring to the reptiles, or to French people?

Anyways, the song has a pretty great quality and a very catchy tune. It is featured in my regular Al song rotation!
What does everyone else think?

Yeah I love this song. Probably my favorite unreleased original.
I think the title is a reference to the saying "Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and I get the sense it's sort of a Tom Lehrer-influenced track based on the wordplay.

TMBJon @ April 08, 2009 10:31 pm wrote: Yeah I love this song. Probably my favorite unreleased original.
I think the title is a reference to the saying "Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and I get the sense it's sort of a Tom Lehrer-influenced track based on the wordplay.

hahahaha...
Wow, I never thought about that! But I totally catch the connection.
It sounds very unique, and I wouldn't have minded if Al had put some more work into it and released a Studio version of it.
But that's what I love about the unreleased songs...they have that earlier 'warmth' to them, and it makes them special.
This is most likely, also, one of my favorite unreleased songs too.

It seems like "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" is a song by Geraint Watkins, a rock pianist and accordionist. So surely there must be some influence from him as well.

Checking into that artist on YouTube presently...

Yeah it seems like he had a tendency to "booglarize", or play popular rock songs with accordion arrangements...

TMBJon @ April 08, 2009 10:50 pm wrote: Yeah it seems like he had a tendency to "booglarize", or play popular rock songs with accordion arrangements...

You're talking about Geraint Watkins, right?

If anyone manages to track the Chicken song down, post it in here! For all we know, Nobody Here But Us Frogs may very easily be a style parody!

Al performed this on Demento at least once... I heard a performance from there, and it was considerably slower than the demo. It just draaaaaaagged.

I'm not sure if I would've liked this as a studio track; IMHO, I think there are other demos that would've done much better in the studio. "American Slob" is one.

TheLazenby @ April 09, 2009 09:50 am wrote: Al performed this on Demento at least once... I heard a performance from there, and it was considerably slower than the demo. It just draaaaaaagged.

I'm not sure if I would've liked this as a studio track; IMHO, I think there are other demos that would've done much better in the studio. "American Slob" is one.

American Slob IS, actually, one of those wonderful Demos that would have done well with a studio track.
I do have to admit, however, that some songs sound good to stand as they are (like I said earlier about that 'warmth' or magic they have...) This one is one of his best live demos, I'd say though.

Here is my analysis of the lyrics:
This song takes place within a dystopia where the ozone layer has gotten so bad that it has negatively affected everyone's brain chemistry, rendering them insane and pyromaniacal, while physically turning people and their feces green and plastic like a cross between frogs and lima beans, and making their belly buttons disgustingly rusted and their nasal hairs extremely long, which turns women off. Weird Al has been in the asylum with an Eskimo who he is paranoid is contaminating the boiling ice cubes (another bizarre side effect of the dystopia) with his radioactive purple discharge. The hogs are what Weird Al calls the guards in jail who he disrespects by throwing his meals at. Strangely, nobody on Wilshire Boulevard has been infected with these ozone layer diseases and remain affluent, so Weird Al thinks they are behind the changes.

This is one of my favorite demos. It's a great song.