Serious Like Weird Al (pt.4)

Another piece of evidence as I build a case for why Weird Al Yankovic should be hailed as one of the most skillful songwriters of this generation. Take a look at these lyrics – notice anything unusual?

Bob by Weird Al Yankovic

I, man, am regal - a German am I

Never odd or even if I had a hi-fi

Madam, I'm Adam, too hot to hoot

No lemons, no melon, too bad I hid a boot

Lisa Bonet ate no basil, Warsaw was raw

Was it a car or a cat I saw?

Rise to vote, sir, do geese see God?

"Do nine men interpret?" "Nine men," I nod

Rats live on no evil star.

Won't lovers revolt now? Race fast, safe car

Pa's a sap, Ma is as selfless as I am

May a moody baby doom a yam?

Ah, Satan sees Natasha. No devil lived on

Lonely Tylenol not a banana baton

No "x" in "Nixon", O, stone, be not so

O Geronimo, no minor ego

"Naomi," I moan, "A Toyota's a Toyota"

A dog, a panic in a pagoda

Oh no! Don Ho! Nurse, I spy gypsies - run!

Senile felines, now I see bees I won

UFO tofu. We panic in a pew

Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo

God! A red nugget! A fat egg under a dog!

Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog

Spot it? That's right. Every single line is a palindrome - or two (i.e. reads the same backwards as well as forward). Even the title is a palidrome. Pretty clever huh? But that's not enough for our dread champion. The song actually rhymes as well and, as a pastiche of Subterranean Homesick Blues, the lyrics also make sense - in a Dylanesque psychedelic stream of conscience kind of way.

Add a simple video that also parodies Dylan's groundbreaking video and you have a work of art.

(sorry about the dumb advert first...)

Part 1 (White & Nerdy)

Part 2 (Jerry Springer/One Week)

Part 3 (The Saga Begins/American Pie & Ode To A Superhero/Piano Man)