Weird Al’s polkas as pop-music cram course
December 12th, 2006 | by Brian |I just burned a CD of Weird Al’s nine polkas, from 1984 to 2006. See, next Sunday, my short-form improv class will finish with a performance. 45 minutes, 6 or 7 games. One of them is “Jukebox,” where we sing a bit of a song that’s somewhat related to a topic suggested by an audience member. Since I’ve been listening to indie-rock (Luna, Belle & Sebastian, Magnetic Fields, The Postal Service) for the past six years or so, I needed to get brain in gear for well-known pop songs.
Weird Al’s polkas do the trick as a crash course in popular songs of an era. He crams a dozen or so songs into a three to four minute polka medley. What’s great is he keeps the lyrics the same, but sings the songs with such positive enthusiasm that he simply mocks all of them.
For example, 1986’s “Polka Party!” ends with a joyously repeated “I’m gonna keep my baby” Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach.” Then, 1992’s “Polka Your Eyes Out” ends with a chorus of “Ice Ice Baby” sung in the same style as the Madonna refrain. Both times the tonality is incongrous with the emotional context of the original song, but for different reasons. Nonetheless, they are both funny, and make great driving music.
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