“Weird Al” Yankovic: A Gift To Humanity

Weird Al’s “Atlantic Records Sucks” shirt worn during his performance of “You’re Pitiful” on August 8, at the Ohio State Fair in 2007. Photo b y Phil3070 at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Best concert I’ve ever been to was one of the four of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s I’ve been to.

You read that right. Four times.

The Alpocalypse tour, the Mandatory Tour, the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour, and the Strings Attached tour. That third one is probably the best overall experience, as I picked up a VIP ticket for just myself and got into it with other super fans of the man, the myth, the legend. It was a tour for his most dedicated fans, with no costumes, almost no direct parodies, and a different cover song at each stop. (My concert was one of the best, as it was better than the original song.) Alfred Yankovic is a true gift to humanity in a way I can’t understate. I got to meet him, got his autograph on one of his coffee table books, mentioned Ninja Sex Party (he has since met Dan Avidan on Guest Grumps,) and snapped a couple photos. I look a bit haggard because it was like half past midnight and I had a good three-hour drive ahead of me. I had been up since like 8 or 10 that morning. If I didn’t consciously notice it, I almost surely would have fallen asleep on the drive home. But it was worth it.

I am a dedicated “Weird Al” Yankovic super fan. Every song he’s ever released on an album, even the special Medium Rarities album I had to buy a massive collection in order to get. I just had to have the theme from Spy Hard. I even have a few unreleased songs, usually his early stuff that got released as vinyl singles (so glad I missed that era) prior to his full self-titled debut album. I am a buyer of music. I like to support the artists directly. Buying their MP3s or full albums is the easiest way to do that. As of late, probably more than I should. That shuffle playlist of mine? 4,185 songs now. That’s 221 hours and 6 minutes of music. Constant improvement.

What makes the man so amazing is that he largely avoids politics, is genuinely charming in interviews, and treats his fans well. Those meet and greets in the middle of the night, sometimes hundreds of fans, have to be exhausting, but he clearly loves it. My people. He also was so socially awkward and largely straight edge (Adam Ant had a song about this) that he never went through a crisis of drugs or sex, although that Funny or Die fake biopic trailer with Aaron Paul was dope. He didn’t meet his wife until much later in his career and has one daughter. He seems far more grounded than most musicians, much like Dan Avidan (although that controversy did hit him a few months ago…) It helps that he has such a massive back catalog that every super fan has a different favorite song. Hundreds to pick from, mostly all good. Although I never liked “Ricky” because a massive chunk of the song is not his vocals, and the woman singing does that annoying Lucy impersonation that just doesn’t sound good. At all. Grates on the eardrums.

I advise any casual “Weird Al” Yankovic fan, I won’t judge, who wants to listen to his more obscure stuff to pick a random album (he has more than fifteen if you count compilations) and look over the track listing on its Wikipedia page. He has some dark songs, too. Pick a song and YouTube it. His YouTube page has every song “Weird Al” Yankovic has ever released on an album outside of Medium Rarities. And enjoy yourself as you fall down a YouTube song hole. I know I have. As does my wallet.