'Weird Al' Yankovic, 'Craigslist' -- Video Premiere
- Posted on Jun 15th 2009 11:00AM by Dan Reilly
- Comments (33)
If you're wondering what Doors singer Jim Morrison has to do with Craigslist in "Weird Al" Yankovic's new video, the answer is nothing. "I thought it would be anachronistically weird to have me as Jim Morrison screaming about Craigslist," Yankovic tells Spinner. "That just seemed so completely wrong that I thought I had to do it."These days, many of Yankovic's parodies are Internet-themed and the online marketplace was a natural target. "It's a big part of my life personally and it's a very big part of pop culture," he says. "Craigslist is certainly one of the major portals and it was very inspirational to me." Though he's never bought or sold anything on the site personally, Yankovic spent plenty of time browsing it to find inspiration for his lyrics. "My research involved going through all the categories and finding some of the more bizarre entries and posts," he says. "There's the missed connections, the random obscure items, people who just want to rant about something. I tried to get a feeling of the whole Craigslist experience into the song."
The material eventually ended up in this hilariously bizarre video directed by Liam Lynch, whose credits include the Tenacious D movie, which Al calls "great" and "underrated," and Sarah Silverman's 'Jesus Is Magic.' "We had a miniscule budget but we thought we could do it like those cheesy '80s videos the Doors put out with a lot of random stock footage and art house effects," Yankovic says. "We literally shot it in Liam's garage, me in front of a green screen and put it together. We didn't have it in the budget to go into the desert and hire Native Americans to dance with us." The biggest hardship, it seems, was getting into the outfit. "I actually had to go on a bit of a diet to put on those leather pants," Yankovic says. "I wanted to drop a little weight to look like Jim Morrison at age 24, and I'm a little older so it's not as easy for me."
The only real downside to the song's debut would be the possible association to the infamous "Craigslist Killer," who is accused of murdering a woman he met through the site. "I would call that unfortunate timing," Yankovic says. "I obviously wrote and did the song before that all happened and wasn't too pleased to see that be part of the equation. That's kind of a negative." Luckily, the song still retains its absurdly funny charm.





Reader Comments(1 of 2)
lestatkattat 6-15-2009
Excellent Song/Video. I'm a big Doors fan, so this was great. Nice style paredy blending "When The Music's Over" and the "Light My Fire" Keyboard Solo.......
vertigocreativeat 6-15-2009
Thanks Al! Loved it. You know, The Doors' style always makes me feel dirty, like I need a shower... and so does Craigslist! So I guess the song works.
katthestrangeat 6-15-2009
Wow... someone put my MP3 player in a blender.
banaman8at 6-15-2009
You know, I just wasn't very impressed with this. I'm sure the next song will be better.
boneheadpat 6-15-2009
wow bummer - yeah i'm a HUGE Al fan - but the Doors / Craigslist combo just didn't make sense to me - want a funny Craigslist Parody - watch this one (SERIOUSLY)
"I Kissed a Girl (Off of Craigslist)" -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS_Yf0Se5ho
csherman528at 6-17-2009
that was so so bad.
RYANat 6-17-2009
Al is the man,love the stuff he does even if some hate it.....You know I heard both of his parents died a year or two ago...car wreck?Something like that so Im glad to see him still trying to be funny.....The Doors are great and this is a really good song in a wierd way....I dig this.
DDTat 6-23-2009
carbon monoxide poisoning at home, i think
vetchkingat 6-17-2009
Weird Al has been funny in the past. This was a bad idea from the start.
To make fun using a average rock song is one thing but, to use " When The Musics Over "
" When The Musics Over " is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. It is a masterpiece. It is a true work of art. It should be regarded as sacred and not touched.
Bad call. Maybe Al should ruin the music from the movie "My Fair Lady".
He can dress up like Henry Higgins and sing:
" I could have Jacked off allnight! "
hugbug123at 6-18-2009
kewl
hugbug123at 6-18-2009
funny al!
clroughtat 6-18-2009
Werid Al was funny & is still funny.I like him & all
what he does & has done.
sindfetishat 6-18-2009
That was great...If you don't get it you have no sense of humor....or are under 25 years old. Puts the whole internet phenome into perspective...I'm just not sure about the Styrofoam Penis though, and a whole trash can full of them? I don't know... sounds like Michael Jacksons garage sale.
Ralphat 6-22-2009
Styrofoam PEANUTS....those little packing things they ship stuff in. Not penis. Although I could see your confusion.
Joyceat 6-22-2009
That's Styrofoam PEANUTS, dude! Clean out your ears!
aerobabsat 6-23-2009
I kinda think he was kidding, guys. At least, I *hope* so!
minders08at 6-18-2009
funny!!!!
trublues66at 6-18-2009
nasty nasty
marahnathaat 6-18-2009
Brings back a lot of memories from my youth. I loved Jim Morrison, had his posters all over the place. How sad we see these people as bigger than life but their problems seemed bigger too. We lost Brian Jones, Janis, Morrison and Hendrix seemingly around the same time. It's too bad Weird Al wasn't around then to remind us all not to take things so seriously, particularly ourselves.
veu1955674at 6-19-2009
I love this guy. No matter how lousy things have been going (and they've been going pretty darn lousy), he always makes me laugh. Thanks, Weird Al. I needed that.