Once upon a time, there was a pop star named Madonna. (She was mostly a pop star back then. The baby snatching didn’t come until much later.) Anyway, she was giving an interview, and in response to some question (I dunno what it was) she said something to the effect of, “Yeah, Weird Al will probably do ‘Like A Surgeon.’”
Weird Al heard the interview, though, “well, okay,” and a funny song (iTunes, Amazon MP3) was born.
Flash-forward to 2001, when The Onion runs this article on one Brian Warner, aka Marilyn Manson: Marilyn Manson Now Going Door-To-Door Trying To Shock People
“Look at me, suburban dung,” Manson told Wesley. “Does this shock you?”
When Wesley replied no, he said Manson became “petulant.” Recalled Wesley: “He started stamping his feet and shaking his fists, saying, ‘What do you mean no? Aren’t your uptight, puritanical sensibilities offended? Don’t you want to censor me so you don’t have to confront the ugly truth I represent?’”
Flash-forward again to 2009, and Mr. Warner has distilled that article in song form with his new single: Arma-g*****n-motherf***in-geddon (iTunes, Amazon MP3).
The tune is actually kinda catchy, but the lyrics make no real sense at all. He’s trying to be shocking and edgy, but he never quite gets beyond sad. Unless he’s using self-parody as a way of preventing Weird Al from covering his songs, in which case he’s more clever than you and I.
Matt Riffle