Thursday, October 23, 2008

Happy Birthday Alfred Matthew Yankovic

Yes, Weird Al turns 49 today. There was a time years ago, that I found him humorous. He came into his own at exactly the time MTV did, which was really the perfect forum for his brand of humor.

I find it slightly ironic that he still makes his living making fun of contemporary music, and I no longer enjoy him. How is that ironic you ask? The reason I no longer enjoy him is because I'm so freaking old I don't recognize any of the song he is parodying!

That's right, he hasn't become irrelevant, I have.

I realize many of you may not be a fan of his. I understand that. At the risk of falling into gender stereotypes, I get the feeling he is more popular among males than females. I imagine his demographic is the same as Mad Magazine's.

Love him or hate him, it's hard to deny his cleverness, and his longevity.

This is, I think, his Magnum Opus.

(Geek warning - There is a high level of Geek required to appreciate this song) -

Sorry, embedding is blocked, you'll have to click here.

12 comments:

Bitty said...

That's right, he hasn't become irrelevant, I have.

I realized this was true of me about 10 years ago!

One of the best things about growing older is that I no longer care. ;)

I think you're dead-on about his target audience. It's never been me.

Bitty said...

Did any of what I just wrote make any sense? (Time to power down and go home. Sheesh!)

Anonymous said...

Hoo boy, are you right about being out of touch with the songs. I wouldn't know a parody from an original at this point.

After reading this, I'm inclined to buy a Mad Magazine. I miss reading Mad.

Robin said...

Old fan of his here, too. I had his first two on cassette. Now a friend's 17-year-old son likes Weird Al's work so I've learned some of his newer stuff. I think there will always be a place for parody music, like Dr. Demento.

The part that blew my mind was when I first saw his picture without the bushy afro, the glasses and the mustache. I was positive he was a different person.

Brave Sir Robin said...

Bitty - Are you kidding me? You always make sense.

Dcup - I was a huge Mad Magazine fan for longer than I'd care to admit.

Robin - I know - He's actually a decent looking guy.

Bee said...

This is way out of my area of expertise. All I can offer is that Laura, my best friend from Houston, took her two preteen boys to see him live -- and they thought he was hee-larious.

I wonder how long he will keep up his schtick? Who's going to retire first? Weird Al or Mick Jagger?

Anne said...

I remember being vaguely aware of him in middle school and high school (10-15 years ago), but I think that since then, the number of times I've thought about him can be counted on one hand.

"Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi." Ha!

somewaterytart said...

In sidebar, your son with baby: CANNOT HANDLE. TOO ADORABLE. The one where they're looking at each other? Must mash keyboard klh;agiwoeghw0a9nv4tu09we!

Comrade Kevin said...

I liked him in my childhood, but these days, music is so awful that I don't pay attention to much of anything that is Top 40 and thus worthy of parodying.

Brave Sir Robin said...

Tart -

Two beautiful boys, huh?

:)

Scarlet said...

Like you, I appreciated him when he was younger...or maybe when I was younger. (When WE were younger??) ;)

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