Where in the world is “Weird Al” now?

“Weird Al” Yankovic. We all know him and most of us love him. He’s been a pop culture icon since the early 1980’s, and his work has influenced the musical landscape of today without a doubt. So where is “Weird Al” now (no, he isn’t dead), and what do parodies mean to our culture today?

To begin we should probably talk about what a parody actually is. For our discussion, I’ll draw on this definition: “writing in which the language and style of [another] author of work is closely imitated for comic relief or ridicule, often with certain peculiarities greatly heightened or exaggerated”.

But what about “Weird Al”? A valid question seeing as I used him as the draw card in this title.

Al’s success began when he reminded the world why musical comedy has such a special place in our hearts with his release of Another One Rides the Bus in 1981. Since then, it’s only been onward and upward for the comedian, with the production of over 150 songs to date during his 30-year plus career.

But don’t be fooled into thinking he’s slowing down; his latest album, Mandatory Fun (2014), debuted at number one on US charts — pretty good considering the general industry slump in sales in this now digital (and let’s face it, piracy-ridden) age. I for one am particularly drawn to the song “Word Crimes”, it really appeals to the grammar nazi within me, and I just might have shared in on Facebook as a casual hint to those who need help with kicking their habit of incorrect apostrophe use… jeez.

‘But why is his work so culturally significant?’ I hear you ask? Great question. Well, for starters, it represents a chronology of music hits throughout the last thirty odd years. That’s pretty handy! And that’s also why he’s probably so successful. From the iconic Smells like Nirvana in 1992, to the infamous White and Nerdy in 2006, Al’s music can reflect the musical trends of the time, and can make us chuckle in the process. By creating parodies around already successful songs, Al sets himself up with a bit of built-in success by leveraging off the acceptance and love of the existing melodies, but doesn’t alienate said audiences with lyrics that make too much fun of the original artists.

But it’s not just the public that love Al’s parodies, even the artists whose songs are the basis of Al’s interpretations are thrilled… well, most of them, anyway. See, creating a song that later gets used in one of Al’s parodies is seen in the industry as being the mark of success; an indication that the song you created was so bloody good it was worthy of being canonised into the list of culturally significant works that makes up “Weird Al”’s repertoire.

But what about those who aren’t so thrilled of their work being used by Al? One of the more famous cases of the few who oppose the use of their work has got to be Coolio… you know, that guy who put out the song Gangsta’s Paradise? Well, despite later conflict over the permissions to use Coolio’s song as the basis of “Weird Al”’s Amish Paradise, there seemed to be no ramifications for Al. No copyright infringement. No royalties that suffered. Why? Was it because “Weird Al”’s lawyers bullied Coolio into giving up? No! It was actually because US copyright law has a concept called ‘fair use’, a provision that allows copyrighted material to be used in a way that allows for further creative expression in a ‘fair’ and constructive way. We have something of an equivalent concept here in Australia, however our law is much more specific in its protections of parody and satire, as it is deemed to be a worthy cultural contribution. And besides, by looking at the very definition explored above, by its very nature, an effective parody must draw on elements of the original work. So I can see why these provisions are not only in place, but are a necessary part of modern copyright law. Great news for the likes of “Weird Al” and all other creatives!

So where’s the parody at today? Well it’s still mega popular, if going by Al’s success is any measure. But a more interesting trend in current parody culture is the rise of the YouTube parody star. People have clued on that videos are more effective at communicating literary nuances than just words. “Weird Al” knew this, which is why he has so many video albums. But now YouTube allows anyone and everyone to share their works with the world. Take for example What’s Up Moms’ production called I’m so pregnant — a parody of Iggy Azalea’s Fancy. With nearly 12 million views we can definitely say this semi-professional production was quite the hit! And this is just one example — there are even entire YouTube channels dedicated to musical parodies.

So yes, it’s probably safe to say there has been a shift in who we can say is a ‘typical’ parody producer — a shift from professional to amateur. And as a result we can probably see a change in the content as well, with some arguing a more shallow approach with less of the traditional cultural commentary and critique. I don’t know about you, but it’s all ok with me. I’ll laugh along with the Whats Up Moms-esque productions; but I think we’ll all agree, Al is the king of parody, and always will be.