The Eternal Timeliness of "Weird Al" Yankovic
During one of the interviews I’ve done to promote the Weird Accordion to Al book I was asked if I thought Al would release more albums. I answered that I certainly hoped so, being something of a fan and all, but that Al has reached an enviable place in his life and career where he does not need to put out new music in order to tour or do the talk show or podcast circuit or stay relevant, beloved and forever in the news for one reason or another.
Al could honestly tour on his back catalog for the rest of his life and fans would not mind. That’s because Al has a way of staying almost suspiciously timely even when it’s been ages since his last proper LP.
This is true of songs connected to massive pop culture phenomena, of course, like Jurassic Park, Rocky or Star Wars but it’s also true of more surprising, more obscure songs and subject matter as well.
Who wore it better?
The emergence of the Corona virus as an extinction-level threat, for example, has reminded a shockingly large percentage of the population of Al’s ineffable oeuvre, in no small part because its name rhymes so easily and mellifluously with both the title of the song that inspired Al’s first officially released parody, the Knack’s “My Sharona” and Al’s parody, “My Bologna.”
In The Weird Accordion to Al, I write about songs of opportunity and songs of inspiration. Songs of inspiration tend to be originals and pastiches reflecting Al’s sensibility and taste, like “Dare to Be Stupid”, “Genius in France” or “Virus Alert.” Songs of inspiration, in sharp contrast, are songs inspired by something huge in pop culture or the culture at large.
In that respect, a tastelessly timely parody of an ancient Knack song that Al already parodied for one of his signature early singles would represent the ultimate song of opportunity. It would also be a terrible idea, of course, for any number of reasons. But it’s a testament to how indelibly rooted Al’s parodies and songs of opportunity are in the public imagination that it somehow became news, or perhaps “news” that “My Corona” would not be an upcoming “Weird Al” Yankovic release.
Look up “Weird Al” and “My Corona” and it links to article like “Weird Al” Yankovic Declines To Do Coronavirus Parody “My Corona” (from Huffington Post), “Weird Al” Yankovic Decides Against Coronavirus Parody” (from Billboard) and “‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Rejects Fan Requests to Parody Coronavirus With ‘My Corona’ (from Spin).
Who else gets positive press for NOT writing a song? Al’s Tweet of “Yeah, sorry, not going to do “My Corona” went viral. That seems appropriate, since Al’s suspiciously timely discography also includes such suddenly relevant deep album cuts as “Germs”, a Nine Inch Nails pastiche about a man living in soul-wracking fear of germs and bugs and diseases, and “Virus Alert”, a wonderful Sparks pastiche that deals with computer chicanery but has the word virus in its title.
It goes beyond that, of course. Al got a whole lot of attention when Baby Yoda became the hottest thing in pop culture and when Disney unveiled the poster for its upcoming Dwayne Johnson vehicle Jungle Cruise it couldn’t help but remind Al super-fans of the Weezer tribute “Skipper Dan”, a bittersweet character study of a would-be Olivier reduced to serving as the wisecracking tour guide at the “Jungle Cruise ride.”
Al doesn’t need to put out new material to hold onto his place of pride and distinction in the hearts and minds of his fans. Al’s work is inextricably interwoven into the fabric of American society during good times and unprecedented crises alike.
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