There's three of us but we're not the Beatles
― F'kin Magnetometers, how do they work? (President Keyes), Friday, 22 July 2022 19:46 (two years ago) link
This poll is skewed by having the option to kill Billy Joel
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:00 (two years ago) link
^ this, PLUS, the other meta lyrics about how he couldn't think of words COUNT TOO, there are way more than six words.
but the disturbing thing is that anyone could hear the chorus as "song's" rather than "song is" - there are clearly two syllables there!
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:09 (two years ago) link
It wouldn't even be 6 words long if he sang the same words more than once. It would be "this song has six unique words".
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:18 (two years ago) link
xpost Genius.com tackled that at (as usual) way more length than necessary, lol
― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:18 (two years ago) link
imagining his writing process on this one is increasingly hilarious for me, like imagining him tearing his head out at 1am trying to decide between "six" (incorrect) "seven" (doesn't fit the rhythm) or "eight" (also incorrect).
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:18 (two years ago) link
*hair out
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:19 (two years ago) link
btw this poll will determine if we indict Weird Al in federal court
― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:19 (two years ago) link
this song has just siiiiix words
(silence for rest of song)
It's less absurd that the song is wrong in itself and more absurd that he bothered to write this as a parody where the sole, extremely thin premise of the parody is wrong.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:20 (two years ago) link
Imagine Billy Joel ghostwriting this for George Harrison
― castanuts (DJP), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:21 (two years ago) link
>> len('this song's just six words long'.split()) = 6>> len('this song's just six words long. this song's just six words long.'.split()) = 12
There it is, your honor
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:22 (two years ago) link
other angles he could have taken
"I caught my mom sniffing glue""This bat has too much pine tar" (George Brett incident)
― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:25 (two years ago) link
yeah this has always bothered me since Al seems like the kind of guy who sweats the small details and this is a pretty big one
― frogbs, Friday, 22 July 2022 20:25 (two years ago) link
lol neanderthal
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:26 (two years ago) link
I Coughed On My Sister's ShoeI Bought A Mine (Pickaxe Too)I Lost-A My Kangaroo (Mario's Down Under Lament)I Cooked a Lime Salmon Stew
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 22 July 2022 20:29 (two years ago) link
It's not one of his best - but I think all these incongruities (and the half-assed nature of the parody) are kind of funny in themselves, and suit the original song in sort of a meta way. Maybe that's overthinking it, lol
― A Hurricane of Jacarandas (morrisp), Friday, 22 July 2022 21:24 (two years ago) link
this thread is just28 posts long
― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Friday, 22 July 2022 21:26 (two years ago) link
now it's just 29 posts long
ffs, how hard would this have been:“This Song’s Only Six Words Long”
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 22 July 2022 21:30 (two years ago) link
I remember talking about this with someone in like 2nd grade who was convinced the title was "This Song Just's Six Words Long."
― billstevejim, Friday, 22 July 2022 21:44 (two years ago) link
that would require awkwardly putting emphasis on the wrong syllable of "only" xp
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 22 July 2022 21:46 (two years ago) link
Own Lee, the Lone Lee
― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Friday, 22 July 2022 21:49 (two years ago) link
Would like to go for "This Song's Just Six Words Long is absolutely fine and correct, however the other meta lyrics about how he couldn't think of words COUNT TOO, there are way more than six words."
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 22 July 2022 21:50 (two years ago) link
This Song's Just Six Words Long is absolutely fine and correct
It might be if that's what he sang!
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Friday, 22 July 2022 22:04 (two years ago) link
Neanderthal otm. And ONly isn’t nearly as awkward as SANta moniCA bouleVARD, and that thing was a huge hit.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 22 July 2022 22:06 (two years ago) link
OK who else didn’t know that the George Harrison song was a cover?
― Mr. Snrub, Friday, 22 July 2022 22:40 (two years ago) link
We Did Not Start The Fire
― flamboyant goon tie included, Friday, 22 July 2022 22:45 (two years ago) link
xp I didn't know! (or maybe once knew, but forgot)
― A Hurricane of Jacarandas (morrisp), Friday, 22 July 2022 23:01 (two years ago) link
Billy Joel should be killed
"But sir, that's not--"
― Vinnie, Friday, 22 July 2022 23:10 (two years ago) link
“This Song’s Just Six Words Long is fine, but the real crime is the shitty drum machine snare that doesn’t sound anything like the big 80s gated drums that you hear on the George Harrison recording.”
― Mr. Snrub, Saturday, 23 July 2022 14:09 (two years ago) link
But
― Mark G, Saturday, 23 July 2022 14:17 (two years ago) link
It's gonna take money
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 22 July 2022 22:06 (yesterday) link
Thought of this thread today when I overheard “burning up his fuse out HERE A-lone”
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 23 July 2022 20:04 (two years ago) link
the original, James Ray version!
You know, I never knew the Harrison version was a cover until the original was used in Last Night in Soho
― jaymc, Saturday, 23 July 2022 20:21 (two years ago) link
oh really? still haven't seen that.
― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Saturday, 23 July 2022 21:33 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Sunday, 24 July 2022 00:01 (two years ago) link
SANta moniCA bouleVARD
As a kid, I used to sing about a "couple of bards"
― Vinnie, Sunday, 24 July 2022 00:40 (two years ago) link
It had to be six words, because the original song title is six words long. You can't joke about a song being seven words long when the song title is six words long. "Got My Mind Set On You" - "This Song's Just Six Words Long" - you read those two titles back to back, you have the punchline already. The joke has landed before you even hear the song.
― aegis philbin (crüt), Sunday, 24 July 2022 01:13 (two years ago) link
It's not titled This Song's Just Six Syllables Long. If that were the title, that would be a real conundrum. He sings "this song's just six words long." I think where everybody is getting confused is that Al sings "apostrophe s" as "uzz", which, while not accepted as standard in Al's birthplace of Lynwood, California, is plentiful in his mother's native Kentucky.
― peace, man, Sunday, 24 July 2022 02:03 (two years ago) link
The Santa Monica Boulevard thing is kind of cool
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Sunday, 24 July 2022 05:52 (two years ago) link
And also the next line is "I sometimes cry", not "and sometimes Y".
I remember knowing that "Got My Mind" was a cover, which prompted me to pop open Google Books and see if contemporary reviews pointed it out. Which drew me to this issue of Billboard from July 1962 that actually mentions the original song, in a little boxout about James Ray's album:https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mhcEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PT21&dq=%22james%20ray%22%20%22got%20my%20mind%20set%20on%20you%22&pg=PT21#v=onepage&q=%22james%20ray%22%20%22got%20my%20mind%20set%20on%20you%22&f=false
It gets four stars. "Ray enjoyed action a few months back with a single, "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody", and here's his first LP, including that hit side, plus a number of other creditable performances. These include tunes of varying backgrounds - "St. James Infirmary," Come Rain or Come Shine," and a fine, down-home effort, "The Old Man and the Mule." A solid rocker, "I've Got My Mind Set on You," can also grab good play. Producer and conductor of the date is Hutch David and he's done a good job."
So, it's a solid rocker. And according to Billboard it's actually eight words long, because it's "I Have Got My Mind Set On You". The top stereo LP that week was the soundtrack to West Side Story, and at #10 was also West Side Story, but a recording of the original cast. The rest of the chart is dominated with soundtracks. I'm surprised that Joan Baez and Peter, Paul, and Mary coexisted with Chubby Checker, Dave Brubeck, and Roy Orbison, but they did.
― Ashley Pomeroy, Sunday, 24 July 2022 19:23 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Monday, 25 July 2022 00:01 (two years ago) link
I didn’t vote, but this song pisses me off, and the George Harrison record pisses me off too. First of all, the original non-hit tune is 10x better than Harrison’s pointless cover. And then Yankovic, a guy who fashions himself as a nerd, can’t even count to 7. This whole whole episode is embarrassing for all concerned.
― Josefa, Monday, 25 July 2022 00:31 (two years ago) link
You guys are all wrong. The song is just Five words long.
― F'kin Magnetometers, how do they work? (President Keyes), Monday, 25 July 2022 01:13 (two years ago) link
https://ibb.co/xjQQVj9
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Monday, 25 July 2022 01:44 (two years ago) link
This is really all George Harrison’s fault for leaving out a whole verse of the song, which threw the door wide open for the master parodist Yankovitz to pounce
― Josefa, Monday, 25 July 2022 02:04 (two years ago) link
As the poster who brought this up in the first place, I have this to say:
This song is just Yanni/Laurel
― your marshmallows may vary (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 25 July 2022 02:24 (two years ago) link
the people have spoken. Billy Joel is being located
― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Monday, 25 July 2022 02:32 (two years ago) link
It's "couple o' vargs" like the shithead from burzum.
― billstevejim, Monday, 25 July 2022 20:54 (two years ago) link
Since George's definitive version is a cover, this means (I think) all but one of the parodies on Even Worse were of cover versions.
Guessing Bad/Fat entailed an expensive royalty payout? The others were La Bamba, I Think We're Alone Now, and Mony Mony.
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 16:22 (two years ago) link
a big check for Tommy James
― aegis philbin (crüt), Tuesday, 26 July 2022 16:49 (two years ago) link
has anybody checked on Billy Joel
― the manwich horror (Neanderthal), Thursday, 1 June 2023 17:06 (one year ago) link
this shit still bothers me I really think Weird Al should not have made this song
― frogbs, Thursday, 1 June 2023 17:16 (one year ago) link
stain on his legacy
― INDEPENDENTS DAY BY STEVEN SPILBERG (President Keyes), Thursday, 1 June 2023 17:20 (one year ago) link
Guessing Bad/Fat entailed an expensive royalty payout?I thought Al’s thing was to approach the artist for their blessing as a courtesy, but not to pay royalties (as his parodies qualify as fair use).
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Thursday, 1 June 2023 17:57 (one year ago) link
He needs permission from the artist so he can get credited (and collect the royalties from) for his new lyrics.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Thursday, 1 June 2023 18:41 (one year ago) link
Like as an ASCAP/BMI thing?
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Thursday, 1 June 2023 19:04 (one year ago) link
Sounds like he works out a royalty arrangement with the artist so he won't get sued
― INDEPENDENTS DAY BY STEVEN SPILBERG (President Keyes), Thursday, 1 June 2023 19:31 (one year ago) link
Part of his agreement with a songwriter whose work he is parodying would involve coming up with a share split, which might not be a split at all (100% to the original writers) if they don't want to give up anything, and he still wants to record his version.
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 1 June 2023 20:12 (one year ago) link
"I gotta fill time" is funny u guys are nuts
― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Thursday, 1 June 2023 20:53 (one year ago) link
this is the only thing that makes me actually like that godawful song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOIVBdb0G4A
― frogbs, Thursday, 1 June 2023 21:28 (one year ago) link
wait ... what is a godawful song?
― budo jeru, Thursday, 1 June 2023 21:34 (one year ago) link