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Too weird, apparently


Nathan Strum

1,426 views

Lady Gaga (who I've managed to largely ignore) is weird.

 

I think that's a pretty safe statement.

 

"Weird Al" Yankovic is also weird. But "Weird Al" is "funny" weird, rather than "don't let her near your cat" weird.

 

But now, apparently, "Weird Al" is too weird for Lady Gaga.

 

You can read the whole story in "Weird Al's" blog.

 

In short though, Al decided to do a parody of Lady Gaga. Admittedly, this is sort of like saying "the sky is blue", and for that reason, Al avoided doing a parody of her (she is a "her"... right?) because it was so obvious.

 

But he came up with a great idea for a parody (and video concept), so he decided to go for it. He wrote asking for permission, and got the response back that she'd need to hear the parody first.

 

Not just read the lyrics... but hear the finished song. Before approving it.

 

So, Al went to the trouble and expense of fully recording the song.

 

Then she turned him down.

 

That, to me, smacks of a complete lack of respect for Al as a recording artist. (I'd say "fellow recording artist", but I'm not entirely sure I'd classify her as such.) Almost as if she were saying, "I'll teach that guy to even dare think about making fun of me!" Of course, maybe that isn't the case at all. But you'd think after reading the lyrics, she could have figured out at that point whether she was okay with the idea or not.

 

In the end, it won't be on "Weird Al's" new album. Thus, his new album (which is done, except for a lead single) is delayed until he can find that next "big idea" to kick the album off with.

 

 

 

(pause...)

 

 

 

 

Okay... apparently, that isn't the case.

 

As I got to that pause in typing up this blog entry, I went to grab the YouTube URL for the track, which "Weird Al" had posted. I was going to post it here, and tell about how some of "Weird Al's" best parodies were about the artists themselves: "It's Still Billy Joel To Me", "Achy Breaky Song", "Smells Like Nirvana", and this was one of those kind of songs, and how it was too bad that we'd never get to see the video Al was going to make, and so on.

 

So, while I was at YouTube, I opened up the little "Show More" tab about it, and what did it say?

 

"UPDATE: Lady Gaga has approved the parody!!! Album release information coming soon!"

 

I was at Al's site literally minutes before that. Just long enough to type this up, and so now everything I wrote is now completely obviated. :roll:

 

 

(shorter pause...)

 

 

And now, here's an update on Al's blog. Apparently, this was all Lady Gaga's manager's fault, as he'd never actually told her about the parody. She has since heard it, loved it, approved it, and so now Al's album is back on track.

 

Managers. Go figure.

 

But since I've already typed all this up, I might as well post it.

 

 

The strange thing is, the same but opposite thing happened the last time Al put out an album. James Blunt approved a parody of his song, "You're Beautiful" as "You're Pitiful". Al recorded it, and was all set to release it, when Blunt's record company denied permission. In the end though, that one never got worked out, so Al released the song for free on the internet, and ended up doing "White 'n' Nerdy" as the replacement track, which became a huge hit and a viral video smash (probably more than "You're Pitiful" ever would have been).

 

It looked like

all over again.

 

For about 15 minutes. :roll:

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If I were a cynic, I'd wonder if this wasn't staged to gain publicity.

 

After all... his YouTube video of the song (which is just the music over a screensaver) has already gotten 650,000 hits.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUxXKfQkswE

 

But I'm not that much of a cynic.

 

Still, even a minor controversy makes for nice, free advertising.

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