Weird Al's "Bad Hair Day": Good on Any Day!

I have been a fan of Weird Al's music since I was a kid, thanks to my brother. "Bad Hair Day" was probably one of our family's first CDs, and my brother and I listened to it a lot. As a young adult, I still enjoy Weird Al and his newer music, but "Bad Hair Day" is still one of my favorite albums.

Amish Paradise
The album starts off with this classic parody of Coolio's "Gangsta Paradise." While we all know about the controversy surrounding its conception (due to some miscommunication, according to Al), it is still a memorable and hilarious song. With interesting references to the Bible ("a local boy kicked me in the butt last week/ I just smiled at him, and I turned the other cheek") and Gilligan's Island, you can't help but sing along. The song really shows Al's talent at making parodies.

Everything You Know is Wrong
While Weird Al is known for his parodies, most of his albums are filled with original music. This song, while not one of my favorites, has its funny moments. The last verse, for example, is about how the character dies from a nasty papercut and Saint Peter makes him "get the room next to the noisy ice machine for all eternity." Even though I think there are better songs on the album, it is a catchy tune.

Cavity Search
Who has nightmares about the dentist? Plenty of people do, and Weird Al sings about it in this parody of U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me." The character sings about having to go the dentist, not looking forward to the procedures he will have to endure. After he requests the dentist to "numb me/ drill me/ floss me/ bill me" the dentist says he wants him to come in the next week after seeing something on his X-ray! The song ends with the sounds of a typical dentist waiting room: muzak and drilling in the background. At least it doesn't end with screaming!

Callin' In Sick
This is another of Al's original songs. This is also one I'm not a huge fan of, but who doesn't imagine wanting to call in sick in order to goof off at home?

The Alternative Polka
I love Al's polkas, where he takes a bunch of popular songs and puts them together into one, polka-fied. It's pretty funny hearing him sing Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do" and Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know" - with the latter, it almost sounds like he sings the lyric as "It's not fair to deny me of the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me." With songs from R.E.M., Foo Fighters, and Green Day, it's definitely a sampling of early 90s music. With an accordion!

Since You've Been Gone
This is a beautiful a cappella song about a man who misses his girlfriend/wife, comparing the pain of her leaving to "getting tetanus shots everyday." It's a funny original piece that ends with him revealing it's almost as bad as "when you were still here." It's short but memorable.

Gump
I'm sure you all remember the movie "Forrest Gump" with Tom Hanks. Well, Al took the song "Lump" by the Presidents of the United States of America (yes, there is a band with that name) and tells the story of Forrest Gump in a hilarious song. There's funny lyrics, like "Gump was a big celebrity/ He told JFK that he really had to pee." And it ends abruptly with a classic Forrest Gump line: "And that's all I have to say about that." If you haven't seen the movie in a long time, you'll probably start remembering it with this song. And if you haven't seen the movie, maybe it will make you want to see it.

I'm So Sick of You
This may be one of my least favorite songs on the album, but there is one lyric that makes it worth it, because it's supposed to rhyme: "You don't have an ounce of class / you're just one big pain in the neck."

Syndicated, Inc.
I didn't realize this was a parody of a song until I looked in the album notes, but the original song is called "Misery" by Soul Asylum. The parody is about TV shows, syndicated ones like Oprah and Regis and Kathie Lee (years before it became Regis and Kelly). It's not a bad song, but it's not as memorable as some of Al's other songs.

I Remember Larry
Weird Al sings about a guy named Larry, who was always making pranks and jokes (pretty extreme ones too). For example Larry made "brownies with the Ex-lax inside" and "cut my car in half." Throughout the song, Al sings it like it's no big deal. So near the end he mentions his payback joke of putting Larry "in a big plastic bag" in the forest. It's a catchy tune and a pretty funny story.

Phony Calls
TLC was big in the 90s, and one of their hits was "Waterfalls." So Weird Al made a parody about prank calling. His song is a warning against prank calling, saying "he won't be laughin' when they're tracin' his line/ one day the phone police will be there at his door." One of my favorite parts of the song is a clip from the Simpsons, one of Bart's classic calls to Moe's Tavern. It's one of those songs I think the parody is as good, if not better, than the actual song. Nothing against TLC though!

The Night Santa Went Crazy
Although Amish Paradise is a pretty good song, this one is probably my favorite on the album. Just don't let your kids listen to it if they like Santa! It's the story of Santa Claus and his violent breakdown, how he goes on a murderous rampage around the North Pole (grinding "up poor Rudolph/ into reindeer sausage.") It's a violent tale, yes, but it's so funny at the same time. It ends with Santa going to jail and Mrs. Claus "negotiating the movie rights." How funny would it be if they had a movie based on this song?

Overall, while I'm not sure if it is my absolute favorite Weird Al album, it does have it's classic songs. It's one of the albums that got me into Weird Al in the first place, so it will have a special place on my CD shelf (and iTunes library). The album will also bring you back to the music of the early 1990s, and perhaps make you go listen to the real versions of some of these songs (and rent "Forrest Gump" too). I highly recommend this album to anyone who wants a good laugh with some good music!

If you would like to purchase this album, you can order it from the following websites:

http://weirdal.com/music.htm
http://www.apple.com/itunes/overview/
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.bestbuy.com
http://www.walmart.com