Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The 50 Greatest Songs Ever Parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic


Get ready to feel old people, Friday marks the thirtieth anniversary of the self titled debut album of "Weird Al" Yankovic. And the guy is still at it releasing his thirteenth album a year and a half ago. He started working the album by releasing his T.I. parody Whatever You Like to iTunes a year before it appeared on an EP. I was hoping that was signs of things to come with Al hearing a song, making a parody and releasing it before a full album is done, but alas we will have to wait a little long to hear what he does with Call Me Maybe. Until then and in honor of the anniversary I have decided to rank the greatest songs he has ever parodied (because ranking his parodies seem too obvious). Here is what I came up with and put Al’s parody in parentheses.

1. Beat It - Michael Jackson (Eat It)

2. Lose Yourself - Eminem (Couch Potato)

3. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana (Smells Like Nirvana)

4. Trapped In the Closet - R. Kelly (Trapped In the Drive-Thru)

5. Piano Man - Billy Joel (Ode to a Superhero)

6. Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio (Amish Paradise4)

7. Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Bedrock Anthem)

8. American Pie - Don McLean (The Saga Begins)

9. Lola - The Kinks (Yoda)

10. King of Pain - The Police (King of Suede)

11. One Week - Barenaked Ladies (Jerry Springer)

12. American Idiot - Green Day (Canadian Idiot)

13. Wild Thing - Tone-Loc (Isle Thing)

14. I Love Rock 'N Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (I Love Rocky Road)

15. Living In America - James Brown (Living With a Hernia)

16. Eye of the Tiger - Survivor (Theme from Rocky XIII (Aka "The Rye or The Kaiser"))

17. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Stop Draggin' My Car Around)

18. Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Bedrock Anthem)

19. Bad - Michael Jackson (Fat)

20. Another One Bites the Dust - Queen (Another One Rides the Bus)

21. Lump - The Presidents of the United States of America (Gump)

22. The Safety Dance - Men without Hats (The Brady Bunch)

23. Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me - U2 (Cavity Search)

24. Waterfalls - TLC (Phony Calls)

25. Mony Mony - Billy Idol (Alimony)

26. You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift (TMZ)

27. Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) - The Offspring (Pretty Fly for a Rabbi)

28. She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals (She Drives Like Crazy)

29. Stand - R.E.M. (Spam)

30. Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer (Addicted to Spuds)

31. La Bamba - Los Lobos (Lasagna)

32. Misery - Soul Asylum (Syndicated Inc./a>)

33.
I Want a New Drug - Huey Lewis and the News (I Want a New Duck)

34. It's All About the Benjamins (Remix) - Puff Daddy, The Lox, The Notorious B.I.G., and Lil' Kim (It's All About the Pentiums)

35. I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys (Ebay)

36. Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper (Girls Just Want to Have Lunch)

37. U Can'T Touch This - MC Hammer (I Can't Watch This)

38. My Sharona - The Knack (My Bologna)

39. Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison ((This Song's Just) Six Words Long)

40. Complicated - Avril Lavigne (A Complicated Song)

41. Like a Virgin - Madonna (Like a Surgeon)

42. Who's Johnny - El DeBarge (Here's Johnny)

43. Money for Nothing - Dire Straits (Money for Nothing / Beverly Hillbillies)

44. I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany (I Think I'm a Clone Now)

45. Rico Suave - Gerardo (Taco Grande)

46. Mickey - Best of Toni Basil - Tony Basil (Ricky)

47. Party In the U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus (Party In the CIA)

48. Blame It On The Rain - Milli Vanilli (The Plumbing Song)

49. Ridin' - Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone (White & Nerdy)

50. Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies (Grapefruit Diet)


2 comments:

  1. I think "Fat" should be ranked higher than 19th, but ultimately I can't complain about this list. Brings back so many memories. Weird Al has documented the cultural zeitgeist like no one else.

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    1. Keep in mind this list is based on the original song, not the parody. Whenever I get around to a Greatest "Weird Al" Parodies, Fat would definitely be higher, probably even high than Eat It, but mostly because of the music video. Granted it is hard to differentiated a Weird Al parody with the accompaning video.

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