Weird Al parodies Pharrell's 'Happy' with 'Tacky'
The rise of YouTube means that anyone can share their own parodies of songs like "Wrecking Ball" or "Gangnam Style" — but the undisputed king of the genre is "Weird Al" Yankovic, who has been churning out parodies of top pop hits for more than 30 years. The singer's latest album, Mandatory Fun, is on the way, and his first music video is vintage Yankovic: "Tacky," a parody of Pharrell's inescapable "Happy."
Clad in clashing colors and patterns, Yankovic and a series of comedians including Jack Black, Aisha Tyler, and Eric Stonestreet lip-sync the song. "Wear my Ed Hardy shirt with fluorescent orange pants. Got my new resume — it's printed in Comic Sans," sings Yankovic. "Think it's fun threatening waiters with a bad Yelp review. If you think that's just fine, then you're probably tacky too."
Mandatory Fun — which also includes parodies of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," Lorde's "Royals," and Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive — comes out tomorrow. --Scott Meslow
The Week
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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