Weird Al Yankovic is on the right track this week. He released a music video for his parody of Lady Gaga’s hit song “Born This Way” on YouTube Monday night, and his latest album, “Alpocalypse,” hits stores today.
Known for spoofing popular hits such as “Gangsta’s Paradise,” Weird Al takes on Lady Gaga in his new music video, “Perform This Way.” “The parody is basically her music ... with my lyrics,” said Yankovic about the new song, which garnered almost half a million views on YouTube in just one night.
Yankovic is the star of the video, his face superimposed on the body of a young woman wearing Gaga-esque costumes. The costumes and lyrics are clever. KoVideoreported that the “Perform This Way” lyrics include “My mama told me when I was hatched/act like a superstar/Save your allowance/buy a bubble dress/and someday you will go far.”
Controversy originally surrounded the parody, which was leaked in April, when fans learned that Lady Gaga rejected Yankovic’s request to release the song on his new album. According to Yankovic, he sent the lyrics to Gaga and was denied the rights to release the song.
After hearing about the controversy, Gaga claimed she never saw the lyrics herself; her manager had rejected the parody. She called the spoof a “rite of passage” for pop singers and has since allowed Yankovic to release the song on his new album. All proceeds from the song will go to the Human Rights Campaign.
Yankovic had been waiting for a song like “Born This Way” to come along and pave the way for the debut of his new album, “Alpocalypse.”
“I had the 11 other tracks in the can for close to a year, and I was waiting for the right lead-off single,” he told TV Guide. “I’ve come to learn over the course of my career that my albums are more successful if they are released concurrently with a single that’s very topical and maybe celebrates a pop culture event of serious magnitude. I thought that Lady Gaga, and specifically her new album and single, was a sufficiently large event. I thought Gaga had sufficiently rocked the zeitgeist enough for me to make that choice.”
“Alpocalypse,” which is in stores today, also features spoofs on Gaga’s “Poker Face,” Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” and Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA.”
Known for spoofing popular hits such as “Gangsta’s Paradise,” Weird Al takes on Lady Gaga in his new music video, “Perform This Way.” “The parody is basically her music ... with my lyrics,” said Yankovic about the new song, which garnered almost half a million views on YouTube in just one night.
Yankovic is the star of the video, his face superimposed on the body of a young woman wearing Gaga-esque costumes. The costumes and lyrics are clever. KoVideoreported that the “Perform This Way” lyrics include “My mama told me when I was hatched/act like a superstar/Save your allowance/buy a bubble dress/and someday you will go far.”
Controversy originally surrounded the parody, which was leaked in April, when fans learned that Lady Gaga rejected Yankovic’s request to release the song on his new album. According to Yankovic, he sent the lyrics to Gaga and was denied the rights to release the song.
After hearing about the controversy, Gaga claimed she never saw the lyrics herself; her manager had rejected the parody. She called the spoof a “rite of passage” for pop singers and has since allowed Yankovic to release the song on his new album. All proceeds from the song will go to the Human Rights Campaign.
“I had the 11 other tracks in the can for close to a year, and I was waiting for the right lead-off single,” he told TV Guide. “I’ve come to learn over the course of my career that my albums are more successful if they are released concurrently with a single that’s very topical and maybe celebrates a pop culture event of serious magnitude. I thought that Lady Gaga, and specifically her new album and single, was a sufficiently large event. I thought Gaga had sufficiently rocked the zeitgeist enough for me to make that choice.”
“Alpocalypse,” which is in stores today, also features spoofs on Gaga’s “Poker Face,” Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” and Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA.”
