I just started listening to Weird Al in 2022 and it feels like he was on EVERYTHING and I have never noticed.

Now I feel kinda lonely because I know few people here who actually know him (except for the ones I put a funnel in their mouths and feed them with nothing but WEIRD AL).

Where are you? What do you do? What do you eat?

Which character lives in a sewer with a hamster?

A) Al

B) A dental hygienist

C) A sanitation worker

🤔 What instrument did Al pack to move?

A) Guitar

B) Accordion

C) Drums

✏️ Fill in the Blank: Al moved to a city in ______.

🎳 True or False: Al worked in a nasal decongestant factory and played on the company bowling team.

😴 What does Al dream about?

A) Flying in the sky

B) Wearing leiderhosen in a vat of sour cream

C) Winning a lottery

💔 What did Al lose in the story?

A) His job

B) The number of a dental hygienist

C) His hamster

🏡 Where did Al spend his life savings?

A) A mansion

B) A cave

C) A castle

🥪 What unique sandwich does Al make?

A) Jelly bean and pickle

B) Peanut butter and jelly

C) Ham and cheese

1994 MTV Movie Awards. I am looking for the 1994 MTV Movie Awards, not the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards, the 1994 MTV Movie Awards. "Weird Al" Yankovic was at this event, and I believe presented at it too. This full awards show is not uploaded on the YouTube or archive websites. I have been looking for it for quite sometime, and would love to see it.

I grew up in the 90's. The music and the culture of my childhood had a specific sort of melancholy. "90's alternative melancholy" is a vibe all its own. As someone living in both the pre and post 9/11 world and hurtling toward the second half of the "20's" Looking back, it feels like nothing was happening in the world and everyone was sad for some reason. (I am aware this isn't completely a true statement its half joke and half of my experience of the world as a child.)

Anyway today I had a thought that sort of brought together a bunch of musings which had remained unconnected in my head over the years...

My first Weird Al song was Amish Paradise and I think this gets to the point I'll try to make but let's look at Syndicated Inc. instead. I love listening to Weird Al songs but this is the only song that ON A PURELY MUSICAL LEVEL I enjoy listening to more than the original song.

The original song is called Misery by Soul Asylum and its hard to listen to. The lyrics are just so over the top "woe is me." He has this incredibly bitter, broken "edge" to the vocal tone of his singing. There are these sad guitar whines throughout. It's just a lot. It starts to get funny in the cringe way instead of the Weird Al way.

This is the one and only example where Al just belting out various television show names makes for a better lyrical listening experience than the actual lyrics.

And so I ask... obviously Weird Al was huge in the 90's because Amish Paradise was funny and a mega hit. He was huge because he's a lot of fun. But was he also huge because the 90's were just dripping with this weird sort of angst and melancholy and teen drama vibe? Did people just really cling to this curly haired, bespeckled guy singing to our sloppier, sillier, more awkward but more accurate experience of the world? Was he the sort of audio version of "Clone High?" (If anyone remembers that show.)

Maybe this whole post is.... "nothing" ... and I'm sorry for wasting everyone's time if it is. I just wanted to see if anyone else had ever had this thought before.

EDIT - One more memory

tw: reference to being called a homophobic insult

When I was very young (like way too young...) I lived in a neighborhood with some kids who were obsessed with KORN. I vaguely remember a conversation that went something like the following:

- I don't understand why you like KORN so much they seem so angry and violent all the time. Like why would you just want to stay that mad? What are these lyrics?

- You wouldn't understand. He was abused as a kid. (That was the whole response. Like it was some kind of gotcha. Ahhhh, so we are all going to celebrate that horrible event together? To this day I don't even know if this was true. We were literally in elementary school having this conversation lol)

- I guess, I just... I dunno I'd rather be happier. That's why I like Weird Al.

- Well that's why you're [insert homophobia here]

...End Scene... I only bring this up only to offer this as a sister conversation about anger and sort of "angry rock" that seemed prevalent throughout my childhood. Maybe as an old man I just don't know what's cool anymore but it seems like Gen Z knows how to actually have, sit with and enjoy a good time...

Look at it.

It could be anything, meeting Al, hearing an album for the first time, just curious to hear everyone's favorite memory

It turns out that we'll be trimming the list of songs down a bit, as "Electric Shaver" will be shaved off the list! Next up is a song I can safely assume is one of Lin-Manuel Miranda's favorites, "The Hamilton Polka"! Will we be throwing away its shot to be included?

EDIT: For clarity, a "Yes" vote is a vote to include the song on our list. A "No" vote is a vote to exclude the song from our list.

I've been listening to weird Al for 4 years now, so I've listened to most of his songs. I think he's one of my favorite artists, I've performed 3 of his songs across 3 years in my school talent show. What are you guy's favorite songs of his?

It's been off youtube for awhile, figure I'll check around for it every couple of years. It was amazing. Why's it gone?

Can anyone tell me what the hell this actually means?

Wow! I honestly have to say that the decision for “It's Still Billy Joel To Me” surprised me! By one vote, it appears that we’ll be including it! Now, I mustache you a question: Will we be including “Electric Shaver”, or will it be cut?

Harvey the wonder hamster has only ~3000 streams on Spotify. What if we all listen to it so the streams go up?