Eat It
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| “Eat It” | |||||
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| Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic from the album In 3-D |
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| B-side | "That Boy Could Dance" | ||||
| Released | February 28, 1984 | ||||
| Format | 7", 12" | ||||
| Recorded | December 13, 1983 | ||||
| Genre | Comedy | ||||
| Length | 3:19 | ||||
| Label | Scotti Brothers | ||||
| Producer | "Weird Al" Yankovic | ||||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | ||||
| "Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology | |||||
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| "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D track listing | |||||
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This article is about the "Weird Al" Yankovic song. For the Humble Pie album, see Eat It (Humble Pie album).
"Eat It" is a hit single by parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of the song "Beat It" by pop artist Michael Jackson. The single reached #1 in Australia, and it was his highest-charting US single on the Hot 100 at #12 until the October 21, 2006 issue of Billboard Magazine, when "White & Nerdy" peaked at #9.[1] "Eat It" earned Yankovic a 1984 Grammy Award in the Best Comedy Recording category.[2]
According to Yankovic, when he presented his lyrics to Jackson for permission for the parody, he didn't know what kind of reaction he'd get. Jackson allegedly thought it was amusing, and agreed to allow the parody.[3]
On October 19, 1989, the RIAA certified "Eat It" gold single.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] 1984 release
The following tracks are on the single:
- "Eat It" – 3:19
- "That Boy Could Dance" – 3:32
The promo single only contains "Eat It".
[edit] 1985/1993 re-release
- "Eat It" – 3:19
- "I Lost on Jeopardy" – 3:26
[edit] Music video
The video for "Eat It" is remarkable in that it is a shot-for-shot remake of Jackson's video for "Beat It", except that in Yankovic's version, elements are parodied in various silly ways (Like the gang members fighting over a rubber chicken, etc.).[5] The following is a comprehensive list of the parodied elements in the "Eat It" video, as compared to "Beat It":
- The Music video was different before the song started playing. In "Beat It", a gangster takes a sip of his coffee. Another gangster taps him and he gets up. In "Eat It", a gangster takes a sip of his coffee. The gangster walks by and taps him like in Beat It, except the gangster sitting down does a spit-take and then gets up (implying that the gangster isn't that tough at all).
- Not a joke, but notable: The diner's doors are in a completely different location in "Eat It" than they were in "Beat It", due to Yankovic reconstructing the sets rather than using the originals. In "Beat It", the two gang members walk out the exit. In "Eat It", they just disappear off-screen to the right, because the doors simply aren't there.
- The gang members at the beginning of the video make different noises after clicking their fingers (in the original, the sounds are animal-like howls; in "Eat It", Yankovic has them reference The Three Stooges by making "woob woob woob" noises; one of many trademarks of Curly Howard, who was a long-time member).
- After the first gang member comes out of the manhole, the second one (being fat) gets stuck as he tries to climb out.
- A gang member, played by bassist Steve Jay, grabs his girlfriend's hair and literally pulls her head off and then kisses her, as opposed to just pulling her head back and doing so as in the original video.
- The gang leader in the white jacket has a large yellow smiley face on the back, with "Have A Nice Day" embroidered beneath it, instead of a dragon in the original. Also, toward the end he is replaced by a black gang leader with the same clothes.
- As the gang with the white-jacket leader walks, various things happen to their trousers. The first long shot of them reveals that they're only wearing boxers. Later, they are seen adjusting their flies on longer pants, suggesting that they'd forgotten to put their pants on for the earlier scene and were just putting them on now.
- Instead of a person, as in the Jackson video, an alien, played by drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz peers through the blinds.
- A picture (of Dr. Demento) behind Yankovic falls off the wall not long after he sits up. The room is also littered with half-eaten foodstuffs such as pizzas and doughnuts.
- In the original video, the second gang rode in the back of a pick-up truck. In "Eat It", the gang is waiting for a bus that never seems to arrive.
- As the gang with the white-coat leader walks to where the meet is to be, the other gang is still waiting for the bus. In the original video, these were parallel scenes of the two gangs walking down separate alleys - here, the second alley is empty. Off camera, the second gang somehow manages to get to the fight scene on time anyway.
- Guitarist Jim West is seen in one of the gangs playing a guitar. He later plays so fast that his guitar explodes (literally going up in smoke). However, on the recording, Yankovic's producer Rick Derringer actually plays the guitar solo.
- The white-coat leader is seen being pushed into the scene by another member, as though being wheeled on. The original video had the leader riding on a fork lift.
- The gang leaders do not tie their hands up in rope, but rather hold a rubber chicken. Instead of switchblade knives, they have a switchblade fork and spoon.
- Yankovic gives the gang leaders something to eat before they burst into dance.
- When one of the gangs appears from a large garage door, one of the doors does not completely open. The gang crawls under it.
- Throughout the video, Yankovic imitates Jackson's dancing. Yankovic's dancing is purposely much less coordinated than Jackson's:
- When Yankovic dances out of his bedroom, he takes a bite out of a banana.
- In the diner, Yankovic pushes the doors open just like Jackson does, but knocks someone over in the process. Yankovic also flails his arms wildly as he dances uncoordinatedly down the aisle, knocking over chairs as he goes, and hurls himself bodily through a gap in the counter top, instead of neatly sliding through as Jackson did.
- During the pool hall scene, Yankovic fogs up the camera lens with his breath during a zoom-in shot to exaggerate Jackson's similar facial expressions.
- When Yankovic is dancing among some boxes, he drops far more abruptly than Michael Jackson did.
- One of the gang leaders elbows Yankovic as they dance.
- The caucasian gang leader is played by the same actor that was in the "Beat It" video.
- At the end of the video, Yankovic drops two antacids in a glass of water, referencing a stomach ache from overeating.
- Also at the end of the video, Yankovic is depicted with bulging yellow eyes, in reference to the ending sequence of Michael Jackson's "Thriller".
- While Eddie Van Halen did the guitar solo for Michael Jackson's "Beat It", the solo in "Eat It" was done by Al's then-producer Rick Derringer.[6] The solo ended a second or two earlier than the original, so the sound of the guitar exploding was incorporated at the solo's end.
[edit] Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Billboard Hot 100 (US) | No. 12 |
| 1984 | ARIA Charts (Australia) | No. 1 |
| 1984 | Official UK Singles chart | No. 36 |
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- "Fat" another Michael Jackson parody by "Weird Al" (Released in 1988).
- "Eat It" Music Video
- List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic
