I think it would be very interesting to find out if Genius in France was written before French bashing became our patriotic duty, since some will undoubtety accuse Al of just doing it because it is popular.
But let's not let this degenerate into a political discussion. I like what Weird Al said in the chat when some one asked him "Are you a Republicac "(he probably meant Republican)
Weird Al said "I don't give out my species like that."
According to weirdal.com all the original songs were recorded around March 2002, over a year ago, so I guess it's just one of those wacky coincidences that a year later it turned out to be kinda relevant... oui oui.
First off, the guitar intro to Genius in France sounded EXACTLY like the intro to Frank Zappa's song "Im the Slime." (which is also about TV, like the title track to Poodle Hat)
title track doesn't mean the intro track. a title track would be a song called poodle hat.
According to weirdal.com all the original songs were recorded around March 2002, over a year ago, so I guess it's just one of those wacky coincidences that a year later it turned out to be kinda relevant... oui oui.
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Yes, I guess you are right- Back in March of 2002, we didn't have any reasong to hate the French besides the fact that they are annoying, just like the British. Just joking, Brits and Frenchies.
It's a wacky coincidence, but I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Once again, I guess it depends partly on your political view, and whether you are French or don't have a sense of humor, but I think the song would have been funnier if had been released back when it was recorded.
Alot of people are going to say: making fun of the French. That's original. (sarcastically)
But as a zappa tribute, it is dead on. The music and style in which the words are sung are excellent in replicating zappa's style, even though the lyrics don't sound particularly inspired to me. By that I don't mean the various Zappa references in the lyrics, of which there are many, I just mean that the ideas in the song lyrics don't sound very original anymore, but they probably would have at the time it was recorded.
I wonder whether Al thinks the French bashing trend helped or hindered his song. I know Al doesn't want to reveal his political views too much, but you don't have to be a republicac to make fun of French people.
oh yeah, another zappa reference is around five minutes, the verse sounds like a portion of "Can't Afford No Shoes". And the thing at 3:03 is sort of a Zappa reference...
WDTAHTM sounds a bit like a Vanessa Carlton style parody.
I'm ranking every Beatles song on my new pop culture blog. Check it out! https://anthonycusumano.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The only Vanessa Carlton song I've heard is that one they played incessantly all throughout the summer on every radio station. I don't know how I even managed to hear any radio stations during that time, but I'm glad the hype is finally over...
"Hardware Store" has some vague They Might Be Giants elements to it. The first couple seconds sounds like one of the last songs on "John Henry" - "Thermostat", I think, but I'd have to listen to it again to make sure I'm putting the right intro with the right song. I could see it fitting in nicely with TMBG's childrens album they released last year.
