The world of showbiz can often be cutthroat and cynical, short on compassion and long on callous cruelty. That’s why it’s so amazing to see there’s at least one artist who’s dedicated to remaining thoughtful and considerate against all the odds: Weird Al has journeyed to the Realm Of The Dead to ask Otis Redding for permission to parody “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay!”
This is so considerate! Weird Al has proven once again that he’s a genuine class act.
According to sources close to Weird Al, the beloved parody artist recently got the idea to write a novelty version of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” called “(Knittin’ Up) Some Socks For My Bae,” whose lyrics would describe Al’s increasingly convoluted attempts to knit a pair of socks for his girlfriend. Even though Al has no legal obligation to get permission from the artists he parodies to cover their songs, he nevertheless decided to cross the shadowy veil that separates the world of the living from he world of the dead and to wander among the shades and wraiths of the afterlife to track down Otis Redding and get his blessing.
It’s safe to say that if more people were like Weird Al the world would be a better place!
Weird Al is beloved even in the afterlife, and most of the lost souls he encountered wandering the barren riverbanks of the River Styx asked him to sign the copies of Running With Scissors and Bad Hair Day that they had carried with them from the land of the living into the realm of the dead. But unfortunately, not everyone who Weird Al encountered in the Land Of Shadows was excited to see him. You don’t make a career parodying popular songs without making a few enemies. Several times throughout his quest to in the Realm Of The Dead, Weird Al found himself getting chased by the vengeful ghost of Doug Fieger, the late lead singer of the Knack. Fieger remains eternally wrathful toward Weird Al because he thinks “My Bologna,” Weird Al’s parody of the Knack’s 1979 single “My Sharona,” is far superior to the original song and completely upstaged the band. Several times during Weird Al’s adventure in the underworld, he heard Fieger’s ghost shrieking his name as he stalked the banks of the Styx with his lethal scythe.
Things got particularly dicey when Fieger cornered Weird Al at the edge of the Canyon Of Sorrow, where lost souls are swallowed forever by the void. But just as Weird Al was about to fall into the vast chasm, he was rescued by the ghost of the Coolio, who had sworn an oath of eternal loyalty to Weird Al in 1996 when Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise,” a parody of Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise,” moved the rapper to tears. After a long, grueling battle for the fate of Weird Al’s soul, Coolio defeated Doug Fieger and threw his spectral form into the Canyon Of Sorrow, where it was subsumed into the void. All memories of Doug Fieger and his song “My Sharona” have now been obliterated from the minds of all the living and the dead, and Weird Al has survived to sing another day!
Finally, after a long and harrowing search, Weird Al located Otis Redding beneath a desiccated tree, rehearsing new music with the band he formed in the afterlife with Marvin Gaye, Zhou Enlai, and his former Upsetters bandmate Little Richard. Otis Redding immediately recognized Weird Al because Al’s 1992 song “Yoda” is his favorite song of all time. Otis Redding was unaware of the song “Lola” by the Kinks, which “Yoda” parodies, and he also doesn’t know what Star Wars is. He just loves the song “Yoda” by Weird Al and thinks that Yoda sounds like a cool guy to hang out with. When Weird Al explained to Otis Redding that he wanted to record a parody of “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay,” Otis was so honored by Weird Al’s request that he invited Weird Al to sit in with his band to perform the song. Weird Al temporarily took over accordion duty from Zhou Enlai, who was more than happy to sit back and play tambourine while he watched the master at work.
After spending over 50 eternities working on the lyrics together, Weird Al and Otis Redding had co-written the first verse and chorus of the new parody song:
My girlfriend’s got some chilly feet
She needs socks to make her outfit complete
So I went down to my local JoAnn’s
Bought up some yarn and drew up some plans
Now I’m knitting up some socks for my bae
Putting my crafting skills on full display
The stitch I’m using’s known as the stockinette
In just a few days my bae will be rockin’ it
Eventually the band had to stop rehearsing because Otis Redding was becoming emotional and kept getting choked up while he sang, but the important thing is that now Weird Al can return to the Real Of The Living with Otis Redding’s green light to parody “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.” It just goes to show that being kind and showing a bit of common courtesy really can get you a long way in show business. We can’t wait to hear “(Knittin’ Up) Some Socks For My Bae” once Weird Al has finally completed his brand new masterpiece!
