Dan

edit: crap, didn't even see the gaga thread. mods can move this if they deem necessary.

http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/the-gaga-saga/

tl;dr version of the story:
Al adds that he would have donated all profits from the song and video to the Human Rights Campaign, and apparently made this known to Lady Gaga's crew.

http://youtu.be/fUxXKfQkswE
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fUxXKfQkswE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

statcat

she seems so full of herself, it's kind of embarrassing really. Even the queen of bitches Madonna let Al parody her song, lame.

dsa_shea

I would rather listen to Weird Al's version than her crappy version.

Numanoid

She's (sic) pathetic.

nando820

I don't like her one bit one bit

foofighters7

He is a bastard(Gaga) and I hope his adam's apple explodes on stage.

Dan

http://www.tmz.com/2011/04/20/weird-...form-this-way/

The plot thickens!

Flashback

Damn even FedEx can get it to 'her' within 24 hours much less an email.

This is fun .....................

Lady Gaga has heard the accusations that her new singles sound like old Madonna songs, and she's not taking kindly to them.

In a new interview with NME, the popstar has hit out against those saying her smash hit "Born This Way" is a ripoff of Madonna's "Express Yourself."

"That's retarded," she said about the accusations (via Oh No They Didn't). "If you put the songs next to each other, side by side, the only similarities are the chord progression. It's the same one that's been in disco music for the last 50 years. Just because I'm the first f**king artist in 25 years to think of putting it on Top 40 radio, it doesn't mean I'm a plagiarist, it means I'm f**king smart. Sorry."

She's also getting criticism, this time from religious groups, over her new song, "Judas," told from the point of view from Mary Magdelene.

"I feel like honestly that God sent me those lyrics and that melody," Gaga shot back, getting emotional. "When you feel a message to give to the world and people are shooting arrows through it ... there's no way for something that pure to be wrong."

The conservative Catholic League disagreed, though they've also lashed out at her music video, which hasn't even come out yet.

"This is a stunt... Lady Gaga tries to continue to shock Catholics and Christians in general: she dresses as a nun... she swallows the rosary. She has now morphed into a caricature of herself," Catholic League President Bill Donohue said in a statement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0...n_851527.html\

covenant

Oh noes....how dare she!

Meh, She's in good company. Prince, Jimmy Page and Paul McCartney have all refused Weird Al.

In related news, I finally figured out what this sticker stands for:

orangecrush

Seems possible the manager lied to Al and never gave it to her to listen to. I don't see why Lady Gaga wouldn't let Al parody her. She doesn't seem to take herself that seriously.

Supermallet

I don't see how anyone could say no to Weird Al in this day and age. I remember seeing an interview with Dave Grohl where he said he knew Nirvana had made it when Weird Al asked to parody "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Getting a Weird Al parody is practically an honor at this point.

orangecrush

One of the things I like about Weird Al is that he bothers to get permission.

Dan

Not just that, he gets permission before wasting his time writing/recording a parody. This Lady Gaga situation seems to be the only time he went out on a limb for an artist. Hell, he even sent the lyrics and that wasn't good enough for Gaga or, maybe more appropriately, her manager to give approval.

Boba Fett

He should ask Madonna for permission since "Born This Way" is a rip-off if "Express Yourself"

[email protected]

He has to. I'm not an attorney, but if I remember the copyright laws correctly, anyone can cover a song without permission. But if you make a substantial change to it (especially lyrically), you need permission from the original songwriter(s)/copyright holder.

DonnachaOne

Evidently. Parody is covered by fair use, but Yankovic always asks for permission out of respect.

DRG

The one thing I noticed while listening to this song... it's one of the few of his I can think of where the song itself is actually mocking the original artist. Usually he uses the music but makes the lyrics about some unrelated topic (food, tv shows, movies, etc.) but this song is all about making fun of Gaga. I wonder if this had something to do with why she declined. Off the top of my head, the only other ones I can think of where he actually made fun of the artist in the lyrics is "Smells Like Nirvana" and "Achy Breaky Song", and even those were really more about those songs themselves and not as much about the artist.

I'm not saying it's a good reason to turn him down, but it could be a factor in her decision.

Numanoid

*cough*

statcat

but Jimmy has done parodies of people's songs all the time. The least he could of done was let Al do one.

nando820

McCartney refused Al? he sucks :P

Boba Fett

I think McCartney and Prince refused him well before he was a household name.

SterlingBen

I am a huge Al fan but this one just isn't that good. I would have preferred he do one of her other songs or just relegated her to a polka.

covenant

no:

"Eat it" debuted the same year as all those Purple Rain hits, 1984.

and:

cungar

I sense a MAJOR Lady Gaga backlash with this upcoming album media onslaught. Mainly because she's been overhyped for the last 3 years and she has nowhere near the talent to sustain it.

By the way I think the Weird Al song is brilliant.

cungar

I had the same reaction. He's basically calling her a hyped up poser. Which she is.