9 of Weird Al's best music videos

Reporter

Aug 02, 2014 10:00 am

He's been making the headlines after releasing eight new music videos from his Mandatory Fun album that hit No. 1 spot on the US Billboard chart.

But while Weird Al Yankovic's new songs like Tacky have been racking up eyeballs, it's probably poignant to note that the 54-year-old comedian singer isn't an overnight sensation.

Whether it's a pop culture spoof, polka or a Weird Al original, the master parodist has been churning out side-splitting tunes for more than 30 years.

While you can go through a myriad of songs on his YouTube Vevo page, here are the nine best Weird Al music videos (in no order of merit) from the past for your laughing pleasure.

9. THE SAGA BEGINS

K-pop group BTS and Unicef's partnership started in 2017.

Music

BTS launch youth mental health initiative with Unicef

Apr 23, 2024

Released: 1999
Parody of: American Pie by Don McLean

What better way to kick off this list with the right title. While it wasn't Weird Al's first foray into Star Wars territory (go look up the song Yoda), The Saga Begins was awesome in so many ways.

Aside from the uncanny lyrical similarities with the original song, the song pretty much encapsulates the entire plot of Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace.

More impressively, The Saga Begins was written based entirely on Internet spoilers and only needed minor tweaks from Yankovic after he was granted an advanced screening by Lucasfilm.

8. SMELLS LIKE NIRVANA

Released: 1992
Parody of: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

Apart from making fun of the late Kurt Cobain's nearly unintelligible singing in Nirvana's smash hit, the music video for Smells Like Nirvana is also incredibly faithful to the original.

7. AMISH PARADISE

Released: 1996
Parody of: Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio

While Yankovic ran into controversy over Coolio's permission to parody this song - which has since smoothed over - Amish Paradise presents a surreal song combining the menacing music from Gangsta's with the lyrics from an Amish man's perspective of his plain style of living.

Look out for the Michelle Pfeiffer lookalike referencing her appearance in the Gangsta's Paradise music video due to its link with Dangerous Minds.

6. PERFORM THIS WAY

Released: 2011
Parody of: Born This Way by Lady Gaga

This parody of Lady Gaga's hit song about her wacky dresses and performances nearly never saw official release until Gaga herself intervened to give her personal approval.

With Yankovic's face digitally superimposed on a model, the video parodies Gaga's penchant for the outlandish and features her strange outfits like the bubble dress from her Fame Ball Tour and the infamous meat dress from the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.

5. EAT IT

Released: 1984
Parody of: Beat It by Michael Jackson

Did you know that the late King of Pop was a big fan of Weird Al?

The first parody MJ gave Yankovic his blessing for was Eat It, which landed Al his first of three Grammies in the 1984 Best Comedy Recording category.

While the music video closely mirrors the one for Beat It, be warned that the clip ends on a rather freaky note.

4. FAT

Released: 1988
Parody of: Bad by Michael Jackson

The second song to receive MJ's blessing for a parody, it features a fatsuit version of Weird Al in Jackson's costume from Bad performing some his classic dance moves like the crotch grab (to humourous effect of course).

What's not to like?

3. YOU DON'T LOVE ME ANYMORE

Released: 1992

When he's not singing a parody or a polka version of other peoples' songs, Yankovic does actually write his own material.

Take You Don't Love Me Anymore for example, which mixes melancholy with laughter as the song for jilted guys who can't get a hint when a relationship is over.

Note: You'll have to search for the start of the whole video because Vevo rules apparently don't allow for the word anti-Christ to be used.

2. DARE TO BE STUPID

Released: 1986

While it's not a direct parody of a particular song, Dare To Be Stupid was a style parody of synthpop band Devo - the guys who sang Whip It.

Featuring all sorts of absurd instructions that contradict conventional wisdom and sayings, this song also featured in the original Transformers animated movie in 1986.

1. WHITE & NERDY