Well said. I agree that the food-based parodies are usually Weird Al's best. I'm frequently find myself singing "the key is there to open the can, the can is there to hold in the SPAM!" (Hey, it's no more nonsensical than the original lyrics.) And I love the little details you might miss on the first few listens, like when he sings "Oh Lard" in "Eat It." Sheer genius.
As fantastic as his best parodies are, his originals are often even better. “Dare to be Stupid” is such a spot-on pastiche of Devo that Mark Mothersbaugh himself reportedly called it “the perfect Devo song,” and “Everything You Know Is Wrong” features so many quirks of They Might Be Giants’ style that it’s clear Al really enjoys their music. Then there was the time he got Ray Manzarek himself to play keys on his Doors pastiche “Craigslist.”
Rice-rice baby hits me so hard. Syllabically... the adaptation is unparalleled. "Hungry, for a little chop suey. i want Chinese, not hong kong phooey" Aaaaand thematically so true: "while you're on the soup, the food is here too soon"... "they say vegetables but that means snow pea". Also in keeping with the 90s hip hop genre's brazen lean into sex appeal, "cooking like Connie Chung". This one has it all.
Well said. I agree that the food-based parodies are usually Weird Al's best. I'm frequently find myself singing "the key is there to open the can, the can is there to hold in the SPAM!" (Hey, it's no more nonsensical than the original lyrics.) And I love the little details you might miss on the first few listens, like when he sings "Oh Lard" in "Eat It." Sheer genius.
As fantastic as his best parodies are, his originals are often even better. “Dare to be Stupid” is such a spot-on pastiche of Devo that Mark Mothersbaugh himself reportedly called it “the perfect Devo song,” and “Everything You Know Is Wrong” features so many quirks of They Might Be Giants’ style that it’s clear Al really enjoys their music. Then there was the time he got Ray Manzarek himself to play keys on his Doors pastiche “Craigslist.”
Rice-rice baby hits me so hard. Syllabically... the adaptation is unparalleled. "Hungry, for a little chop suey. i want Chinese, not hong kong phooey" Aaaaand thematically so true: "while you're on the soup, the food is here too soon"... "they say vegetables but that means snow pea". Also in keeping with the 90s hip hop genre's brazen lean into sex appeal, "cooking like Connie Chung". This one has it all.
So freaking good