Trivia / Bad Hair Day

• Approval of God
  • The Presidents of the United States of America loved "Gump" to such an extent that they swapped out the last line of "Lump" ("Is this Lump outta my head?") for the last line of "Gump" ("And that's all I have to say about that") in live performances. They even had Al direct the video for their song "Mixed Up S.O.B." years later.
  • Coolio originally hated "Amish Paradise" for belittling the gangland drama he was trying to bring attention to and because he hadn't personally given Al consent. However, the two held no ill will towards one another and, after giving it a second thought, Coolio admitted that he overreacted and enjoyed the song.
• Creator Backlash: Though he still plays the song in concert, Al has said that had he known Coolio had initially rejected his permission request for "Amish Paradise", he never would've recorded it.
• Dummied Out: The credits mention Weezer in the "Special Thanks" section although Al was forced to cut the "Buddy Holly" snippet from "The Alternative Polka" (see What Could Have Been below). According to Al, the liner notes had already been printed by the time they were forced to remove the song, and it was too late to change them.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Al had his hair braided for the album cover which was "excruciatingly painful" in his own words.
• Executive Meddling: Essentially the cause of Coolio's beef with Weird Al. Up until "Amish Paradise", Al occasionally relied on studio heads to request permission from celebrities (although he is not legally required to do so). His producer got permission from Coolio's producer but not Coolio. Al has since gone directly to the artist for permission.
• One-Take Wonder: The By Wall That Is Holey gag in the "Amish Paradise" had to be done in only one take, as any mistakes made could have resulted in Al accidentally getting fatally injured.
• Similarly Named Works: Two other artists have recorded songs entitled "Everything You Know Is Wrong": Chumbawamba and Black Grape.
• Technology Marches On: The song "Phony Calls" is about the old pastime of prank phone calls, a practice which has been practically killed for the amateur by caller ID and star-69.
• What Could Have Been:
  • As per usual, Al had a number of parody ideas for the album that were tossed out when the artists refused to grant permission:
    • A parody of "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring, titled "Laundry Day". Presumably Al was inspired by the original song's opening line, "Gotta keep 'em separated". The Offspring denied him permission, deeming the parody idea "too stupid".
    • A parody of "Free as a Bird", the then-recent "reunion" single by The Beatles, entitled "Gee I'm a Nerd". It was never recorded due to Yoko Ono feeling uncomfortable with the idea.
    • A Green Eggs and Ham-themed parody of "Numb" by U2. In a variation of the above two situations, the band said yes to the parody, but the Seuss estate said no. Since the band didn't say no, Al decided to parody their theme song to Batman Forever, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me", instead.
    • A parody of "I'll Be There for You" by the Rembrandts. Al intended to write the parody around the then-popular sitcom Home Improvement, and got permission by the Rembrandts to do so, but the parody still went unrecorded. Why? Well, "I'll Be There for You" is, of course, much better known as the theme song to Friends, and that series' producers didn't want the song to be overexposed.
    • Though Beck's "Loser" ended up being the first song featured in "The Alternative Polka", it was originally slated for a parody, titled "Schmoozer". Beck denied Al permission for the parody because he was too afraid of it potentially ruining his chances of being taken seriously as a recording artist, something Beck expressed regret for many years later.
  • "The Alternative Polka" was originally supposed to feature the chorus of Weezer's "Buddy Holly" after "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", but Rivers Cuomo's manager contacted Al at the last minute and requested that it be taken out. Al uploaded the removed snippet on YouTube many years later. They would "make up" ten years later when Weezer allowed Al to use the chorus of "Beverly Hills" in "Polkarama!" from Straight Outta Lynwood, and even more so in 2019 when Al played Rivers in Weezer's "Africa" video.

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