It's polka time!
How can you not love Weird Al? He's funny, quirky, clever, and best of all, plays a mean accordion. As such, ten songs seems a little skimpy when making a list of great Weird Al songs. But I've scrounged through polka, parodies and all-around perplexity of the great man Yankovic. And here's my Top Ten.
10. "Couch Potato"
When "Lose Yourself" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, nobody dared to parody it. Nobody, that is, except Weird Al. When he pitched the idea to Eminem, Eminem requested that he hold off on the promotion of the single, as he feared it may hurt his career. So "Couch Potato" stands video-less, but loses none of its charm. Name-dropping just about every TV show, channel, and star in the book, "Couch Potato" will make you just want to get up and... sit back down and watch some more TV.
9. "Dare to Be Stupid"
While not a direct parody of any of Devo's songs, it's quite obvious by the song and the video as to who is getting the Weird Al treatment here. However, this is an original Weird Al song, commanding us all to dare to be stupid in all sorts of ways.
You better squeeze all the Charmin you can while Mr. Wimpole's not around
Stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan
Yes, such as those. When asked about the song, Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. For me, it only ranks at #9, but I can see where he's coming from.
8. "Yoda"
Okay, even if the parody wasn't that funny (which it is), I love The Kinks so much that Weird Al's parody of them had to make the list. Anyway, this song is hilarious. It's one thing to replace "Lola" with "Yoda", but it's quite another to twist the entire song into a Star Wars parody. Such brilliant lines in this one.
7. "The Saga Begins"
One good Star Wars song deserves another, I say. This one gets the nod over "Yoda" because parodying "Lola" with Star Wars is doable once you replace "Lola" with "Yoda", but the idea to make a Star Wars-themed "American Pie" is just insane. Much like the man himself. And of course, the parody is dead-on, right down to the acoustic guitar solos.
6. "Like a Surgeon"
Okay, come on. If Weird Al doing a Madonna-like "Hey!" isn't enough to get you rolling in the aisles, then you need to check your laugh box and make sure it's still there. This song is absolutely hilarious. Who but Weird Al could have turned "Like a Virgin" into a song about a grossly incompetent surgeon, cuttin' for the very first time?
5. "Everything You Know is Wrong"
While Weird Al is no doubt the most famous for his parodies, I think his original songs deserve some merit. And this is the best of his original work. It's catchy, it's absolutely ridiculous, and it pretty much sums up Weird Al: forget what you know about music, because everything you know is wrong. Also, the song wouldn't be complete without an accordion solo, of course. (Warning for photosensitive epileptics: the video gets pretty flashy.)
4. "Perform This Way"
Obviously, the one artist that Weird Al has to parody in this day and age is Lady Gaga. Actually, fun fact: This is one of the few songs that is technically a parody, in that it makes fun of Lady Gaga with a Lady Gaga song. This is just chock-full of great gags (I particularly like the Madonna reference). Unfortunately, it was a bitch and a half for Weird al to actually release, because he had to get through the dreaded record label. Gaga loved the song, however, and so do I. Weird Al can perform any way he wants to.
3. "Trapped in the Drive-Thru"
This song is why I absolutely love Weird Al: Before this song, "Trapped in the Closet" looked like the ultimate un-parodyable song. But then Weird Al came along and whipped up something even funnier and more pointless than the original. Weird Al loves his food, and I think this was his best food-themed parody ever. It is so ridiculous, and so is the original. I think these two songs could be best friends.
2. "Amish Paradise"
There is absolutely NO ONE that finds this song unfunny. NO ONE. Except maybe Coolio.
While this is one of Weird Al's best parodies, this is also one of his most controversial, because Coolio was disgusted with the parody of his song "Gangsta's Paradise", and stated that he had never given permission for the song, something that Weird Al always gets before he makes the parody. Weird al has since written a letter of apology to Coolio, and has stated that he and Coolio are on good terms again. Probably because both are awesome songs. "Gangsta's Paradise" for its edge, and "Amish Paradise" for its humour. Now can we all just get along?
1. "A Complicated Song"
Throughout this list, there have been many parodies of many songs. But this song is different. This song is three parodies of the same song, one for each verse and chorus. That is just freakin' awesome. Constipation, incest, and decapitation all in a cutesy Avril Lavigne package. My hat's all to you, Weird Al. Brilliant. If you've never heard of Weird Al, then this list will make you an instant fan.
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