With "Weird Al" Yankovic's newest album, Alpocalypse, I have found myself revisiting his older albums. I was a great fan of Weird Al since UHF. I acquired as many albums as I could get my dirty fingers on. And I was there when Off The Deep End was released, greedily buying the cassette tape (hey it was '92!). But I hadn't sat down and listened to all his albums in at least a demi-decade.
Great stuff! But I noticed something.....he has a few outdated songs.
We don't often think about songs being outdated. Most bands sing about relationships, feelings, experiences, or tell stories, which, no matter what time period, can have relatable elements. While Weird Al often sings of food, television, and "those-things-we-do-not-mention", which can still cross time periods (I was listening to "Taco Grande", and thought "hmmm...I could go for a taco, or a chimichunga..hmmm, delicious...), he does occasionally writes songs that are very specific. Too vague to be a story, too detailed to ignore the specifics.
I found three-ish outdated songs.
1. "Phony Calls" (from Bad Hair Day (1996)): This was the song that got me thinking about this. The chorus goes...
'Don't go making phony calls,
Only dial the seven digit numbers you're used to.'
The song is about how peops should not make prank phone calls. There are two things that make this song outdated. First, with caller ID, prank phone calls are mostly a thing of the past. You can get a blocked number, but seriously who answers those calls. Second, there is a repeated reference to seven phone numbers. Hey, many big cities have at least two different area codes. And with cell-phones spewing out like electronic vomit parasites...few places can afford to ignore the 3 digit area codes. SO, ten digit numbers is more accurate now.
2. "The Check's In the Mail" (from "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983)): Er...so I'm not actually sure what this song is about. It sounds kinda like an investment scam. I am aware, though I was not writing checks, that in the 80's and/or before it was common to say "the check's in the mail," as a way of dodging immediate liability. The idea being that if the check is in transit, than it is honored...and just hasn't reached your hands yet. BUT with the internet (like freakin' paypal) and the abundance of credit cards, it is no longer a viable dodge. In fact checks are mostly obsolete; except for a few inconsiderate jerks, like me, most bills are now payed paperlessly.
3. "Nature Trail to Hell" (from In 3D (1984)): This is my favorite, because first it became outdated and then it became relevant again. It's just a simple song about a slasher flick, a la Friday the 13th, IN 3D!!! In fact Friday the 13th Part 3 (or Part 3D) came out 2 years earlier (1982). So this song must have come out around the peak of the slasher flicks, with their gimicky 3D effects. But by the 90's no one gave a crap about slasher flicks, and there was even less interest in 3D films. Outdated! But ho! what yonder light shines bright? 3D got better. By 2000's 3D came back, and so it was tested on the most forgiving crowds: horror fans and kids. The 3D slasher flicks came back! and so the song became relevant again.
I have difficulty thinking of any other musician who has accomplished such a feat. Some might consider this a negative quality. They might say that an artist ought to "create works that will stand the test of time" or some baloney. But HEY! isn't accomplishing something no one else has ever done before worth some praise?
In my book, "Weird Al" Yankovic is tops!
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