| Running with Scissors |
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| Studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic |
| Released | June 29, 1999 |
| Recorded | 1997-1999 |
| Genre | Comedy, parody, folk rock, zydeco, punk rock, alternative rock, Rock, industrial rock, polka, Ska, nerdcore, rap rock, neo-swing, pop rock |
| Length | 49:44 |
| Label | Volcano |
| Producer | "Weird Al" Yankovic |
| Professional reviews |
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| "Weird Al" Yankovic chronology |
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| Singles from Running with Scissors |
- "The Saga Begins"
Released: June 24, 1999 - "It's All About the Pentiums"
Released: August 4, 1999 - "Polka Power!"
Released: September 26, 1999 - "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi"
Released: November 22, 1999 |
Running with Scissors is the tenth album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 29, 1999.
[edit] Details
Running with Scissors is the first of "Weird Al" Yankovic's albums to boast multimedia content. When the CD is placed in a CD-ROM drive, one can browse through the files and play a QuickTime Movie file containing 14 minutes of footage from the Disney Channel concert special "Weird Al" Yankovic: (There's No) Going Home. This was not included on CDs released in New Zealand.
The lyric sheet for this album, under the credit for the song "Intergalactic" by Beastie Boys misspells the name Horovitz as Horowitz.
[edit] Cover art
Yankovic often includes the number 27 somewhere in his songs, videos, album art, and memorabilia. For example, he wears a 27 on the cover of this album, and 27 photos are included in the photo gallery on the "Weird Al" Yankovic Live! DVD. This motif began as several coincidental appearances of the number, but Yankovic began intentionally using it after the original incidents were pointed out to him.
The CD booklet contains the lyrics to all the songs on the album. However, due to the extended length of the closing song "Albuquerque", not all of the lyrics fit on the final panel of the booklet. Instead of continuing with the lyrics at the end of the booklet, there is an apology from Al stating that there was no way he could have fit the rest of the song's lyrics on it, and he "should have used a smaller font or a bigger piece of paper or something."
This is the first cover featuring Al's "new" look (longer hair, no moustache, and no glasses) after he had LASIK eye surgery to correct his vision.
[edit] Refused Parodies
Yankovic had two parody ideas that were refused. They include:
[edit] Track listing
| Track | Title | Length | (Style) Parody of | Description |
| 1 | "The Saga Begins" (Don McLean, Yankovic) | 5:27 | "American Pie" by Don McLean | Pokes fun at the plot of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from the point of view of Obi-Wan Kenobi. |
| 2 | "My Baby's in Love with Eddie Vedder" (Yankovic) | 3:25 | Style parody of Zydeco | The woes of having a girlfriend who's obsessed with the singer/songwriter of the band Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder. |
| 3 | "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" (D. Holland, Yankovic) | 3:02 | "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by The Offspring. | About a hip rabbi. |
| 4 | "The Weird Al Show Theme" (Yankovic) | 1:14 | Original | Theme song to Al's 1997 CBS morning show, The Weird Al Show. |
| 5 | "Jerry Springer" (E. Robertson, Yankovic) | 2:46 | "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies | About The Jerry Springer Show and its completely inane titles, events, and absurdities. |
| 6 | "Germs" (Yankovic) | 4:38 | Style parody of Nine Inch Nails, most closely resembling "Terrible Lie". | Details of the narrator's fear of germs. |
| 7 | "Polka Power!" | 4:21 | Polka Medley | A polka medley featuring: |
| 8 | "Your Horoscope for Today" (Yankovic) | 3:59 | Style-parody of third-wave ska. | A song mocking horoscopes, predicting humorous, unpleasant outcomes. The song features Tavis Werts on trumpet, and Dan Regan on trombone (A former and current member respectively of the third-wave ska band Reel Big Fish). |
| 9 | "It's All About the Pentiums" (Deric Angelettie, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Sean Jacobs, Kimberly Jones, Lau, Christopher Wallace, Jason Phillips, David Styles) | 3:34 | "It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)" by Puff Daddy. | An early example of a nerdcore hip-hop song about a computer geek proclaiming his technological superiority over others. |
| 10 | "Truck Drivin' Song" (Yankovic) | 2:27 | Original | A detailed account of a truck-driver doing what he does best while at the same time cross-dressing and worrying about its accompanying concerns. Said to be inspired by the Lumberjack Song from Monty Python's Flying Circus.[citation needed] |
| 11 | "Grapefruit Diet" (Steve Perry, Yankovic) | 3:30 | "Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies. | About an overweight person's experiences on a radical new diet consisting of only grapefruits. |
| 12 | "Albuquerque" (Yankovic) | 11:23 | Style parody of The Rugburns | Sounds very much like "Dick's Automotive" by the Rugburns. Similar to "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie, the song follows a longwinded and tangential storyline, with occasional chorus breaks, just to convey a simple point. Also contains a bit based on a Monty Python sketch, the Cheese Shop Sketch. |
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1999 | The Billboard 200 | 16 |
| 1999 | Top Canadian Albums | 16 |
| 1999 | Top Internet Albums | 3 |
