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Tear Jerker / "Weird Al" Yankovic

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Yes, even this comedy musician is not immune to creating songs that can (unintentionally) move one to tears — even if they were intended to be humorous.


  • "Skipper Dan", amid the theater and Disney references, is the completely miserable tale of a man forced to give up his dream of being a great actor just to make ends meet. And each line is more depressing than the next, especially the way he near-tearfully says "What have I done with my life?" on the bridge.
    • Not to mention the music video. We see Dan's daily routine preparing for his job whilst flashing back to his past, playing Romeo in his high school play, graduating from Juilliard, getting a standing ovation for his role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and signing autographs at the stagedoor, and daydreaming about being on the Reservoir Dogs poster, as well as a vision of his grandfather's spirit looking at him ashamedly. When he mentions "laughing at my own jokes, but I'm crying inside," we see him laughing along with his tourists, then resting his head against one hand and closing his eyes with a crushed expression. The kicker comes near the end of the video as we see Dan and the actress who previously appeared in the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof scene mime shooting themselves in the head, proving that this situation can happen to anyone, not just Dan. The video ends with Dan posing for photographs whilst holding an empty smile and a borderline Kubrick stare before cutting to black.
  • Not only is the tune for "You Don't Love Me Anymore" genuinely sad, but it's about his girlfriend's attempts to murder him. The lyrics are intended to be humorous, but occasional lyrics like "you're still the light of my life" and "my scars are all healing but my heart never will" implying the singer still loves the subject of the song can bring tears to one's eyes. The way the synthesized strings swell at the end, after he's been left for dead in a drainage ditch, sounds as if he's ascending to heaven as he still pines for this woman who despises him. Just make sure you turn off your CD player once it's over...
  • "One More Minute" is a song about a man describing all kinds of painful things he'd rather do than spend one more minute with his ex, who is now seeing someone else; it's obvious, though, that all the painful things he's describing are how he feels seeing her with someone else and the only thing in the world he wants is to have just one more minute with her. Al has said in interviews that he wrote the song after a recent break up from a long time girlfriend. He said it is his most darkest song he ever wrote. If the lyrics are anything to go by, he was in a very dark place.
    I'd rather rip out my intestines with a fork than watch you going out with other men...
    • The end of the video is particularly sad, with Al hanging his head down as the overhead light casts the shape of a heart behind him.
  • The Darker and Edgier version of "The Night Santa Went Crazy" ends with Santa's brains blown out on the pavement — considerably darker than Al's usual fare, and especially hard-hitting for anyone who heard the version where Santa goes to prison.
    • Additionally, the Extra Gory version points out that children will no longer get any Christmas presents, and the elves (who get jobs with the Postal Service in the regular version) are forced to file for unemployment.
  • "The Saga Begins" is surprisingly poignant for a parody, especially if you're a Star Wars fan, as it recounts the plot of The Phantom Menace with very few jokes and significantly more reverence than, say, "Yoda" does for The Empire Strikes Back. This could be why the liner notes refer to it as a "lyrical adaptation of 'American Pie'" instead of a "parody." Al himself said that "American Pie" was his favorite song ever, so it's clear he holds reverence for both source materials.
  • "I Lost On Jeopardy," if taken at face value. Bombing on a nationally popular show intended to prove one's intellect, inadvertently "proving" that they're a moron, is a scary thought for anyone who's insecure about their own intelligence or has a fear of failure. Moreso in the video, where poor Al sings into the camera with a look of increasing worry while sweating profusely. Don Pardo's "The Reason You Suck" Speech on the bridge, read in his cheery announcer voice, is soul crushing.
    Don Pardo: "That's right, Al. You lost! And let me tell you what you didn't win! A 20-volume set of the Encyclopedia Internationals, a case of Turtle wax, and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, The San Francisco Treat. But that's not all! You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people, and you brought shame and disgrace for your family name for generations to come! You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game! You're a complete loser!"
  • The borderline bitter criticism of paparazzi news in "TMZ" is considered by some fans as, while hilarious, even more depressing than the song it's parodying. In addition to the more typical jokes about the news source in question trying to sensationalize banal human behavior, it also calls out the outright psychologically abusive things they do, like stalking and body-shaming. Bill Plympton's music video illustrates this by having a starlet be haunted by an embarrassing photo of her butt taken without her consent. Near the end, she's hit with a sea of cameras taking more embarrassing photos of her and just stares blankly ahead, as if accepting her fate. Thankfully, The Dog Bites Back at the end.
  • While it's intended as Black Comedy, anyone who visits a barely responsive friend or family member in the hospital might have a hard time listening to "Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung", particularly the end where Mr. Frump dies.
  • "eBay", from Poodle Hat is surprisingly melancholy. Yeah, most of that's the melody, but the singer comes off as a compulsive shopper, who knows he's buying absolute crap but he can't stop himself.
    Don't know why, the kind of stuff you'd throw away (the way I do) I'll buy on eBay.
  • Sadly, in real life Al's parents both died in 2004 from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Al would go on to tour explicitly to try and distract himself from "sobbing all the time."

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