Lasagna (song)
| "Lasagna" | |||||||
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| Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic | |||||||
| from the album Even Worse | |||||||
| B-side | "Velvet Elvis" | ||||||
| Released | May 27, 1988 | ||||||
| Format | 7", 3" | ||||||
| Recorded | February 19, 1988 | ||||||
| Genre | Comedy, Latin | ||||||
| Length | 2:45 | ||||||
| Label | Scotti Brothers | ||||||
| Producer | Rick Derringer | ||||||
| "Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology | |||||||
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"Lasagna" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "La Bamba", a traditional song popularized by Ritchie Valens and Los Lobos.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
The following tracks are on the single:
- "Lasagna" – 2:45
- "Velvet Elvis" – 4:27
The promo single only contains "Lasagna".
[edit] Writing and release
When Yankovic began writing the song, he claimed:
| “ | "My original thought for this was to record the entire song in Italian.
I was actually going through Italian phrase books and dictionaries until I realized that the humor would be lost on 99% of the audience, so I decided to do the whole thing in English but with kind of a bad Italian accent."[1] |
” |
Under U.S. law, Yankovic can parody any song he wants as long as he pays royalties to use the original music. However, as a personal rule, he asks for permission anyway in order to maintain good relations with the industry. This particular song is an exception to that rule. Although the song is a parody of the Los Lobos cover version, "Lasagna" marked Yankovic's first parody that did not require either permission from an artist or a payment of royalties, since the song "La Bamba" is a traditional folk song that is not attributed to any specific writer.[2]
The single was released exclusively in Japan as a mini 3" CD single.[2][3]
[edit] Music video
There is no full-length music video for this single, though a shortened music video segment was shown in 1997 as a part of The Weird Al Show.
- The video features a stereotypical Italian family, including an elderly woman, two children, a rather large man for "Cousin Luigi" and Yankovic (sans glasses) as the father.
- When the line "A-don't you get any on ya, you sloppy pig" is sung, the elderly woman at the dinner table drops the lasagna into Luigi's lap.
- After "Have-a more ravioli" is sung, two children catch ravioli in their mouth.
- Near the end, lasagna is falling out of Luigi's mouth.
- The elderly woman and one of the children fight over the lasagna near the end.
- At the end, the family does a dance. First they simply wave from side to side with their hands on each other's shoulders while still seated. Then, they stand up from their chairs, which move off-screen, as does the table. Yankovic takes his plate of lasagna off the table. They all do a can can-type dance as confetti and balloons fall from the ceiling, and at the cheering section at the end, the others gather around Yankovic as he holds out his plate proudly.
[edit] Italian dishes mentioned in "Lasagna"
Yankovic names many Italian dishes in "Lasagna", including:
[edit] Trivia
The liner notes of "The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic" incorrectly identify "Lasagna" as an original song by "Weird Al" Yankovic, rather than a parody.
This song plays on a radio in a cave scene in the live-action Yogi Bear movie.
[edit] References
- ^ "Permanent Record Booklet: "Lasagna"". Al Yankovic. 2007-01-09. http://php.indiana.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/al.booklet. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
- ^ a b ""Lasagna" Single". Al Yankovic. 2007-01-09. http://www.allthingsyank.com/singles/lasagna.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
- ^ ""Lasagna" 3" CD Single". Al Yankovic. 2007-01-09. http://www.weirdal.com/rare7.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
