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This is actually my favorite Weird Al composition ever. It's just a short little instrumental track that was supposed to be the theme music for a never-produced show and it ended up being his intro music for every concert since. It's such a great piece of pump up music that it makes me excited for whatever is about to come next!
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Sticking with theme songs, this was the theme for his short-lived 1997 show that made me a Weird Al fan in the first place. I like how it mocks the idea of "setting up the story in a song" by featuring little to nothing about what the show's actually about. (Also, the show was a great showcase for many sketches, short films and parody snippets that never made it onto a CD.)
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Hey! Did you know that Weird Al wrote another theme song that never got used? It was for Talk Soup (which has since evolved into The Soup), a show that provided snarky commentary on the ridiculousness of that week's talk shows (and soap operas, game shows, reality shows, shopping channels, cooking shows, and other mindless television drivel). But talk shows are where they started and while this song didn't get picked up and the show's it references are no longer airing, the topic remains perfectly relevant.
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Hey! Did you know that Weird Al wrote another theme song that never got used?! Well, not actually. This one is a concert-only parody of the Friends theme "I'll Be There for You." Al has many concert-only parodies to his name, but most of them just appeared as short bits in larger medleys. This is the only full-length parody that (like the rest of his concert-onlies) couldn't make it onto a CD or in mp3 format due to legal issues.
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Speaking of Al's live shows, this is one of the songs from his original repertoire that I didn't fully understand until I pictured Al performing it live. Using just his accordion and minor percussion, Al creates the illusion that his best friend uses an iron lung to live. And it ends on a decidedly bleak note, which shows that while Al usually positive and upbeat, he can go to some dark places.
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As I stated earlier tis week, In 3-D was my first Weird Al album and it remains my favorite to this day. I contemplated just featuring the whole CD one day but, well, that's too late now. Still, here are some of my favorite originals from that album. "Midnight Star" just sounds awesome. It was Al's favorite song off the album (and mine when I was a kid) and he wanted to make it his first single but his producers thought "Eat It" would be better for some reason.
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"Fun Zone" may be my favorite Weird Al track, but this is my favorite song of his with lyrics. It grew on me over time but just imagining the scenario that Al presents here makes me so happy. A boy who solves all of his social problems through his ability to dance is just a great concept and the phrase "That boy could dance!" brings a smile to my face.
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If "That Boy Could Dance" weren't on the album, this would be my favorite from In 3-D. A supremely spooky, gory, and silly look at horror films, specifically the type that were popular during the '80s. "If you like the 6 o'clock news, then you'll love Nature Trail to Hell in 3-D!" Sometimes Al can capture an idea so perfectly in one single lyric. In 3-D! IN 3-D! IN 3-D!
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Although I didn't, I could have made a mix comprised of Weird Al's love songs. He has some great approaches to the genre (most of them are anti-love songs, when you think about it). This twangy, country number appeals to me the most for some reason. It expresses a feeling that few want to admit and would never dare put in a song.
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Weird Al wanted to do a Ben Folds song. And so he did. That's Ben Folds on the piano. It's one of his rare collaborations and it really lends to the experience. Not a knock on his regular keyboardist, but I always thought this song sounded special before I learned the reason why. Of course part of it is that, once again, Al put music to a selfish point of view that no one wants to admit to thinking.
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You may have noticed that as time went on, Weird Al made less and less purely original songs. Everything is a parody of some artist in one way or another. He just enjoyed trying different styles and sounds. That attempt to keep changing resulted in this spectacular song. Although he never stated who the original artist that inspired this song was, Al noted that he went way off track and ended up with this audio feat. When I first listened to the song, the chorus had me flabbergasted since I had been following along in the liner notes trying to sing along. And then came the bridge. Dear goodness, the bridge. Obviously, Al will never perform this song live, but what if, one day, he did...
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For Weird Al's cult hit film (a movie that improves with age, like a fine Twinkie-weiner sandwich), Al made this theme song to go along with it. It's just a fun rock song and not a specific parody, but the video makes up for that by parodying every big music video of the era.
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This Cat-Stevens-inspired love song may or may not be the last Weird Al song we get for a while. Mandatory Fun was noteworthy for being the last album in Al's three-decade-long contract and with that it mind, it feels like Al is putting his all into this final epic song. It's filled with some of his funniest and weirdest lines that it would do them injustice to list them now. Just listen to it and appreciate it as the magnum opus it might be.
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