More on Weird Al

I first presented my reasons for regrading Weird Al as “my favorite musician” here.  Oddly enough, I probably haven’t heard even half of the songs that he’s released and I’ve only watched a few of his videos.  For someone who lives without TV most of the time and without cable all of the time, there aren’t many opportunities to catch him on MTV.  It was only after writing that previous post that I thought to check YouTube and see what I’d been missing.  Here are some of the discoveries I made.

I would aver that these videos and others like them further cement Weird Al’s reputation as the greatest active musician in America.  They not only show musical talent and writing talent, but they show that he has a unique perspective on the quirks, the aspects, the ins-and-outs of American culture.  Check out the video for Craigslist.  It not only manages the merge together the instrumental portions of several songs from The Doors with funny lyrics, but it also manages to say something.  While we have a lot of pointy-headed intellectuals who are making their pointy-headed statements about how the internet will change the world, will enlighten people, will open minds, and so forth, real people who actually use the internet know otherwise.  In reality, the internet is the dwelling place of mediocrity, where people post without thinking much about what they’re saying and nonsense propagates without anything to check it.  That’s the point of Weird Al’s Craigslist, though it’s done with such sly humor that you can listen to it several times before you notice it.

Weird Al Yankovich.  Listen to him.