Top 5 Weird Al Songs That Are Better Than the Original

In a passing conversation recently, I mentioned "Eat It" to my son, and it became clear that, not only did he have no idea who Weird Al Yankovic is, he was equally unfamiliar with Michael Jackson's "Beat It", the song that "Eat It" was based on.

I wanted to show him the Weird Al song, but "Eat It" is only funny if you know "Beat It." After showing him the videos for both tunes (he laughed), he went off to do this own thing, while I remained at the desktop and allowed myself to get sucked into Youtube's collection of Weird Al songs and clips.

The realization hit me: many of the songs that Weird Al made in fun are actually better tunes than the ones being parodied. Here, then, is my list of the best Weird Al creations that are better than the original:

5. "Achy Breaky Song"

Original: "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus

Comment: This one is unique in that the entire point of the Weird Al song is to dis the Billy Ray original.

4. "Do I Creep You Out?"

Original: "Do I Make You Proud" by "Taylor Hicks"

Comment: Most "American Idol" winners are contractually obligated to issue an embarrassingly bad first single composed by music-mill writers, and "Do I Make You Proud" is one of the most bloated of the lot. "Do I Creep You Out" captures the song's soap-opera-ness and adds lyrics which exploit the melodrama in the best way possible.

3. "Jurassic Park"

Original: "MacArthur Park"

Comment: Weird Al uses Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of Michael Crighton's novel to take a swipe at Barney the Dinosaur as he takes on the song with the worst lyrics in music history (low point: "Someone left the cake out in the rain/I don't think that I can take it/Cause it took so long to bake it/And I'll never have the recipe again/Oh NOOOOOO!")

2. "Ricky"

Original: "Mickey"

Comment: Basing it on "I Love Lucy" is genius. Toni Basil's "Mickey"is one of most irritating songs of my lifetime.

1. "Yoda"

Original: "Lola" by the Kinks

Comment: Although "Lola" is highly regarded among critics and even made the list of 500 Greatest Songs by Rolling Stone magazine, in my view, it's pretty lousy. I fully realize that my assessment of "Lola" makes me lose credibility with music snobs, and I'm comfortable with that.

How about you? What is your favorite Weird Al song?

Comments

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