Are original songs the ideal version simply for existing first? When does a parody reign supreme? Learn the answers to these questions at Vs. Weird Al, where we'll pit the music that Weird Al Yankovic has parodied versus.... well, Weird Al!
Here's how it works: this blog will make polls where people can vote between a song (like Michael Jackson's "Bad") and its Weird Al parody (in this case, "Fat"). After listening to both pieces, participants will choose which one they like the most. From this, we can determine how often Weird Al's music becomes more beloved and memorable than the songs that he parodies.
But first, some fair warnings...
Q: Why haven't you included "Dare to be Stupid," "Genius in France," "Virus Alert," etc.?
While Weird Al Yanovic is known for parodying specific songs, he has also written many style parodies. This is when a song (such as "Dare to Be Stupid") parodies the style of band or musical group rather than one specific work (in this case, DEVO). It would be unfair to pit an entire band's discography against one song, no matter how good it is, so style parodies have been disqualified.
Q: In what order are you posting the songs?
I've decided to post the songs in relatively chronological order for Weird Al's parodies. However, it's not exact. I've grouped the songs by Weird Al release years, but put songs in the same year in alphabetical order. Chronological/alphabetical blips can and will occur due to human error and/or preference.
Q: Why do some polls have very short songs that weren't released individually/commercially?
In some cases, Weird Al made shorter parodies that weren't released commercially and were only featured in medleys. In other cases, he wrote small songs that were featured in TV shows. There are more nuanced cases even beyond the ones I've listed, but hopefully you get the gist.
Q: Why are the short medley/snippet songs getting graded separately?
As the snippets and medley songs are so much shorter than full parodies, they deserve their own competition class. Once all of Weird Al's parodies have competed, there will be three scores: the full parody score (full songs only), the bonus medley score (specifically for snippets and medleys), and the total score (full songs and snippets/medleys combined).
Q: Hey, you missed one of these small medley songs!
Basically, I decide to make a poll for a parody that was part of a medley if A) I could determine some kind of release/performance year for it and B) if I could find a video of that specific song to include in the poll. Videos with multiple parodies in it are too much trouble to include, as I have to bother with timestamps, but I may include YouTube "clips" of larger videos.
Q: I've found another mistake!
At the end of the day, I am no poll expert, just a Weird Al enthusiast. Feel free to let me know anything I should correct and I'll try to address it!
After almost four months, this blog went over as many of Weird Al's direct song parodies (not his style/artist parodies or polka remixes!) as humanly possible. And we're happy to say that for both full song parodies and smaller parody medleys...
Weird Al won!
The final score for full song parodies is:
Originals: 18, Weird Al: 60
Weird Al didn't just win. He won by a landslide.
Due to the sheer number of victories by Weird Al in this category, we have put the full list of winners under the Read More. (We have also put a full list of the polls where voters were the most decisive, where no one voted to see results.)
The 18 original songs that beat Weird Al were:
Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who)
Another One Bites the Dust (Queen)
Taxman (The Beatles)
The Safety Dance (Men Without Hats)
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me (Billy Joel)
Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)
U Can't Touch This (MC Hammer)
Zoot Suit Riot (Cherry Poppin' Daddies)
One Week (Barenaked Ladies)
Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) (The Offspring)
Complicated (Avril Lavigne)
Lose Yourself (Eminem)
Piano Man (Billy Joel)
American Idiot (Green Day)
Born This Way (Lady Gaga)
You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift)
Radioactive (Imagine Dragons)
Now for the bonus medley category! Despite the smaller amount of contenders, the race was a lot closer in this section, but Weird Al still pulled ahead! The bonus medley section's final score is:
Originals: 11, Weird Al: 17
The short, but sweet, Weird Al parodies proved to be:
Avocado
Fatter
I Feel Like Throwing Up
Flatbush Avenue
Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut
Take the L out of Liver
We Got the Beef
Burger King
Doctor, Doctor
Make Me Steak #3
Moldy Now
Blame It on the Drain
Bedrock Anthem (Under the Bridge portion)
Gee, I'm a Nerd
Lousy Haircut
Fast Food
I'm in Luv Wit Da Skipper
The victorious original songs were:
House of the Rising Sun (The Animals)
More Than a Feeling (Boston)
Take Me to the River (Al Green)
Crazy On You (Heart)
Time in a Bottle (Jim Croce)
Maneater (Hall & Oates)
Don't You (Forget about Me) (Simple Minds)
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin)
Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney and Wings)
Black or White (Michael Jackson)
My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion)
Fun Facts!
This blog had two ties during the course of the competition that required additional 24-hour tiebreakers.
"Feel Like Makin' Love" (Bad Company) and "I Feel Like Throwing Up" (Weird Al) both tied for 45.5% of 22 votes, with 9.1% of people electing to see results. "I Feel Like Throwing Up" later won with 58.8% of 17 votes from a lightning round tiebreaker.
"Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin) vs. "Whole Lotta Lunch" (Weird Al) both tied for 47.4% of 19 votes, with 5.3% electing to see results. "Whole Lotta Love" later won with 62.5% of 16 votes from a lightning round tiebreaker.
There were 8 original songs that got 0% of their polls' votes:
"Jeopardy" (The Greg Kihn Band) got 0% of 36 votes. If no one had voted to see results (2.8%), Weird Al would have gotten a full 100% sweep!
"Suddenly Last Summer" (The Motels) got 0% of 12 votes. 25% of voters elected to see results. This song lost to a medley song.
"Doctor! Doctor!" (The Thompson Twins) got 0% of 8 votes. 12.5% of voters elected to see results. This song lost to a medley song.
"I Want a New Drug" (Huey Lewis and the News) got 0% of 19 votes. 0% of voters chose to see results. Which means that "I Want a New Duck" is the first Weird Al song to win 100% of the votes against its opponent!
"Baby Don't Forget My Number" (Milli Vanilli) got 0% of 8 votes. 25% of voters elected to see results.
"MacArthur Park" (Richard Harris) got 0% of 32 votes. 3.1% of voters elected to see results.
"It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)" (Puff Daddy) got 0% of 21 votes. 0% of votes chose to see results. "It's All About the Pentiums" is the second Weird Al song to win 100% of the votes against its opponent!
"Jack & Diane" (John Mellencamp) got 0% of 24 votes. 12.5% of voters chose to see results.
There was at least one instance that we could find of identical poll results:
Both "More Than a Feeling" vs. "More Than a Filling" and "Take Me to the River" vs. "Take Me to the Liver" saw the original song get 56% of 25 votes, the parody get 44%, and the "see results" option get no votes.
There was one unique matchup in which voters routinely disliked both original song and Weird Al's parody:
Multiple voters said it was hard to choose between "Baby Talks Dirty" (The Knack) and "Baby Likes Burping" (Weird Al) because both songs are (allegedly) very unpleasant to listen to.
Finally... a shoutout to the two polls that got the most votes overall:
"My Sharona" (The Knack) vs "My Bologna" (Weird Al), which got 342 votes.
"Another One Bites the Dust" (Queen) vs. "Another One Rides the Bus" (Weird Al), which got 458 votes.
Thank you all so much for tuning into this competition! After a brief hiatus, we will be back for Phase 2: Artist/Style Parodies!
Here are all the Weird Al parodies that won the main contest:
My Bologna
Beverly Hillbillies/Miss You
Baby Likes Burping
You Don't Take Your Showers
I Love Rocky Road
Ricky
Stop Draggin' My Car Around
Eat It
I Lost on Jeopardy
King of Suede
I Want a New Duck
Like a Surgeon
Yoda
Addicted to Spuds
Here's Johnny
Living with a Hernia
Toothless People
Alimony
Fat
I Think I'm a Clone Now
Lasagna
(This Song's Just) Six Words Long
Isle Thing
Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies
She Drives Like Crazy
Spam
The Plumbing Song
Smells Like Nirvana
Taco Grande
The White Stuff
Achy Breaky Song
Bedrock Anthem
Green Eggs and Ham
Jurassic Park
Livin' in the Fridge
Headline News
Amish Paradise
Cavity Search
Gump
I'll Repair for You (Theme from Home Improvement)
Laundry Day
Phony Calls
Syndicated, Inc.
It's All About the Pentiums
The Saga Begins
eBay
Trash Day
Confessions Part III
Do I Creep You Out
Trapped in the Drive-Thru
White & Nerdy
You're Pitiful
Homer and Marge
Whatever You Like
Another Tattoo
Party in the CIA
Foil
Handy
Tacky
Word Crimes
This blog saw 0% of voters choose to "see results" for 31 polls:
"More Than a Feeling" (Boston) and "More Than a Filling" (Weird Al)
"Take Me to the River" (Al Green) and "Take Me to the Liver" (Weird Al)
"Crazy on You" (Heart) and "Throw Gravy on You" (Weird Al)
"Time in a Bottle" (Jim Croce) and "If I Could Make Love to a Bottle" (Weird Al)
"I Love Rock 'N Roll" (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts) and "I Love Rocky Road" (Weird Al)
"Mickey" (Toni Basil) and "Ricky" (Weird Al)
"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (Billy Joel) vs. "It's Still Billy Joel to Me" (Weird Al)
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" (Simple Minds) vs. "Don't You (Forget About Meat)" (Weird Al)
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Cyndi Lauper) vs. "Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch" (Weird Al)
"I Want a New Drug" (Huey Lewis and the News) vs. "I Want a New Duck" (Weird Al)
"Like a Virgin" (Madonna) vs. "Like a Surgeon" (Weird Al)
"Who's Johnny (Short Circuit theme)" (El DeBarge) vs. "Here's Johnny" (Weird Al)
"I Think We're Alone Now" (Tiffany) vs. "I Think I'm a Clone Now" (Weird Al)
"La Bamba" (Los Lobos) vs. "Lasagna" (Weird Al)
"Got My Mind Set on You" (George Harrison) vs. "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long" (Weird Al)
"Wild Thing" (Tone Lōc) vs. "Isle Thing" (Weird Al)
"She Drives Me Crazy" (Fine Young Cannibals) vs. "She Drives Like Crazy" (Weird Al)
"Livin' on the Edge" (Aerosmith) vs. "Livin' in the Fridge" (Weird Al)
"Gangsta's Paradise" (Coolio) vs. "Amish Paradise" (Weird Al)
"Thank U" (Alanis Morissette) vs. "Fast Food" (Weird Al)
"My Heart Will Go On" (Celine Dion) vs. "Free Delivery" (Weird Al)
"It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)" (Puff Daddy) vs. "It's All About the Pentiums" (Weird Al)
"One Week" (Barenaked Ladies) vs. "Jerry Springer" (Weird Al)
"American Pie" (Don McLean) vs. "The Saga Begins" (Weird Al)
"Complicated" (Avril Lavigne) vs. "A Complicated Song" (Weird Al)
"Hot in Herre" (Nelly) vs. "Trash Day" (Weird Al)
"American Idiot" (Green Day) vs. "Canadian Idiot" (Weird Al)
"Do I Make You Proud" (Taylor Hicks) vs. "Do I Creep You Out" (Weird Al)
"Party in the U.S.A." (Miley Cyrus) vs. "Party in the CIA" (Weird Al)
"Radioactive" (Imagine Dragons) vs. "Inactive" (Weird Al)
"Blurred Lines" (Robin Thicke) vs. "Word Crimes" (Weird Al)
We've finally made it! As of yesterday, this blog has made polls for all of Weird Al's song parodies. If any were missed, that is likely because they were either 1) performed but not written by Weird Al, 2) could not fit comfortably into either the main song parody and medley categories, or 3) missed due to human error.
So, what's next? Over the coming week, we will post results for the remaining polls that have time left. Afterwards, we'll share the grand total of originals vs. Weird Al to see who emerges victorious.
And after that... well, hopefully, no one will mind if the blog takes a little break. We may post silly polls just for fun, but most of that time will be spent preparing for stage 2 of the blog.
Up until now, we've been examining the music that Weird Al made to parody specific songs. But what about his artist/style parodies? Or his polka remixes? Only time will tell what we choose to challenge next...
