World of Weird Al Yankovic

Both known alternate versions of the song are available in the Quicktime program on the "Poodle Hat" CD.

Yeah, unless you downloaded the song like some hooligan! Not implying anything, mind you.

This person PMed me several times, and said he wasn't a fan of Al's, more a fan of Ben's. He's too cheap to buy PH, so he just wants an mp3. That's why I told him no file trading.

algonacchick @ Jun 10 2006, 03:48 PM wrote: This person PMed me several times, and said he wasn't a fan of Al's, more a fan of Ben's.

Being a fan of Ben's should be reason enough to buy "Poodle Hat" since Ben does play a whole track on it.

Yeah, I don't really get it, either. Poodle Hat is a good cd, and WDTAHTM is a great song. Ben's piano sounds really good on it. Seems like a good enough reason to buy a copy.

And it's funny because, really, Ben's presence doesn't necessarily add anything to the song as far as content goes; it just makes the execution of it that much cooler. It would have probably been as funny of a song if Ruben was playing on it, but Ben just adds an extra layer to its spirit.

The comparison that comes to mind is the scene toward the end of "Spaceballs" when John Hurt recreates his mishap from "Alien." If it had been just some other actor, the scene probably would have been as funny since the gag is that the diner food caused the alien to grow in the person's stomach, and of course that the alien baby then sings and dances a la Michigan J. Frog. The fact that it's John Hurt doing it, however, just adds a certain indescribable level of class to the parody.

The other meta-message that having Ben play on the song (or having Dweezil Zappa play on GIF) sends, is that Al really, really is not parodying music because he hates the songs or has no respect for the musicians. There's a considerable streak of music-fan in Al, right alongside his emperor-has-no-clothes eye for popular culture.

CatraDhtem @ Jun 10 2006, 11:03 PM wrote: The comparison that comes to mind is the scene toward the end of "Spaceballs" when John Hurt recreates his mishap from "Alien." If it had been just some other actor, the scene probably would have been as funny since the gag is that the diner food caused the alien to grow in the person's stomach, and of course that the alien baby then sings and dances a la Michigan J. Frog. The fact that it's John Hurt doing it, however, just adds a certain indescribable level of class to the parody.

"Oh no, not again..."

I'm surprised this song isn't more popular than it is, considering the presence of Ben (BTW, I only became interested in Ben's music when he started collaborating with Al). I think why I enjoy it so much is because it deals with what should be the last thing people would think about when events like those Al experienced in the song happen

I had already been a huge fan of Ben's for years, so the song was already just too perfect for me.

I love this song. When I first heard it, I would have to admit that it was a shock. After the shock wore off however I really enjoyed it. I think it is just an exageration of the truth. Al blows it out of proportion and that what makes it funny and you could also incur a message or two from it. Just my view on it, "stuff happens but it could be worse". When something goes wrong I can think of this song and it cheers me up a bit.