Perspective · 1:13am Jul 16th, 2014
It's a sad, sad day when Weird Al is releasing singles from his album and I'm sitting here going "Is this a parody? I don't know this song..."
Figured out pretty quickly that Tacky is a parody, but I've never heard Happy, so I didn't recognize it. Takes a little bit of the fun out of the parody, I find. I have no idea if Word Crimes is a parody, but it's pretty amusing. I spend so much free time thinking about writing that it resonates. It also probably accuses. Grammar and I have been in a knock-down, drag-out fight for quite a while now. I'm not sure who is winning.
But I guess that I've reached that age where I don't listen to this new fangled music the young'uns seem to like. That's pretty weird for me, since the one thing I've always been ahead of the curve on is music. But since I'm always writing now, and I need quiet for writing, I rarely listen to music much anymore. So here I sit going who the hell is Pharrell Williams? Okay, it's not that bad. I do know who the guy is. I've just never actually heard his song.
Another sign that I'm losing it: I kinda want to read that Dash in the ball pit story. I have no logical explanation as to why that interests me. It just sounds amusing, even thought my better instincts is to avoid it like the plague.
"Word Crimes" is a parody of "Blurred Lines," a rather popular song with some controversy about it possibly being sexist and encouraging rape. Worth listening to for the context... I did once. Meh.
I looked on the Weird Al wiki for many, personally.
Quick breakdown, plus my knowledge of the source material:
Handy - "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea - Didn't know it, listened to it, was ok
Lame Claim to Fame - Style of "Southern Culture on the Skids" - Didn't recognize
Foil - "Royals" by Lorde - knew it! :D
Sports Song - parody of football team songs - n/a
Word Crimes - "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke - didn't know it, listened to it, eeehh
My Own Eyes - style of Foo Fighters - recognized them!
Mission Statement- style of Crosby, Stills & Nash - didn't recognize
Inactive - "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons - know it and love it
First World Problems - style of "Pixies" - didn't recognize
Tacky - "Happy" by Pharrell Williams - know it and love it
Jackson Park Express - style of Cat Stevens - didn't recognize
That's only 5/11 songs whose source material I recognized, personally, but I still love the album.
Plus there's his new polka, "Now That's What I Call Polka." I recognized 8/11 songs. Link to list of sources
Even some of the ones I didn't know I really liked. The beauty of Weird Al is that his songs aren't just parodies, but often make a point or have a message independent of the song. Some of Weird Al's songs become more popular than the "originals," after all, like "Amish Paradise."
I went through Al's entire catalogue until 1999 without knowing more than 10% of the songs he parodied.
I enjoyed them regardless. :B
Go for it! It doesn't really have anything to do with the meme, it's just Filly Dash being cute in a ball pit.
That's what I thought until I remember he sung an awful vocal for Swedish House Mafia. And if it's any consolation – though you don't sound like you need it, I'll say it anyway – I have absolutely zero cred when it comes to knowing mainstream music, and here I am, seventeen, the age that is apparently supposed to know this crap. When I went to my first voice lesson about two years ago, my teacher showed me a book of sheet music for popular music, the idea being that we could give my untrained voice a test run. But I didn't know hardly any of the songs – I didn't even recognize most of the artist names, let alone be able to know the songs themselves.
You've NEVER heard Happy before!? What kind of cave have you been living in!?
I don't think I ever liked current music. Sturgeon's Law is in full effect, especially when compared to the work of decades past. Most of what I listen to that was made after 1990 or so is either video game soundtracks or Weird Al.
2289339 Ooh! A Southern Culture on the Skids style parody. I love those guys.
2289370 There is no way not to enjoy them. Weird Al is a musical genius.
2290143 I read it, and it was better than expected. It's not really my kind of story, but it was decent for what it was.
2290194 I was actually really good at knowing who and what to listen to for about three decades, but I've isolated myself so much now that I'm way behind. Since I don't listen to radio, or really go to shows, or watch TV, or make the time to find internet radio stations because they are all blocked at work, I've finally just entered that stage where I listen to all my old stuff and consider that good enough. That makes me sad, since I know there are lots of new and brilliant bands I'm missing out on. Maybe I'll make the effort again when I'm sick of writing.
2290277 It's a cave with "Authorship" written over the entrance. That's pretty much my pastime now, and I need quiet in order to do it. Since I don't have TV at my house, I pretty much have to seek out media now. That means I don't passively hear things like Happy. I find that both invigorating and depressing at the same time.
2290760 It might be the lens of nostalgia, but I think popular bands were just better when I was younger. I'm sure every generation thinks that, but I remember when The Talking Heads, The B-52s, Depeche Mode, A Tribe Called Qwest, Nirvana, etc. were all on the radio in rotation. I have a hard time thinking that people are really going to be dying to hear Li'l Wayne in two decades, but I could be very wrong about that.
I've always been the one in my circle of friends that knew about the new bands and the new musical movements, but no longer. It's a weird thing to discover that you've been left behind.
There is some good news as far as music these days goes. I have a fifty year old friend who I recently introduced to a genre called electro swing and he's fallen in love with it.
2293299 Oh, I'm all about Electro-Swing. I have a bunch of albums. Caravan Palace and Parov Stelar, of course, plus five or six compilations.