Update: Lady Gaga has given her permission for Weird Al Yankovic’s parody “Perform This Way” to appear on his new album. In this ArtsBeat interview, Weird Al Yankovic talks about the Lady Gaga saga and how his song parodies have mutually benefited him and the artists he satirizes.
In his three-decade-long career as a pop-music parodist, Weird Al Yankovic has been given permission by artists from Don McLean to Michael Jackson to lampoon their work, but it looks like Lady Gaga is one of the few to tell him to beat it. On Wednesday, Mr. Yankovic posted a lengthy account on his blog, in tones alternately stunned and self-deprecating, of how he had planned to include a parody of Lady Gaga’s hit single “Born This Way” on his new album, but the target of his satiric affection turned him down.
Mr. Yankovic wrote in his post that he was initially wary of poking fun at “Born This Way,” which he describes as “an earnest human rights anthem.” But when a really good idea “popped into my head,” he couldn’t resist it. He said he thought that by offering to donate his proceeds from the parody to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, he’d alleviate any bad karma. (Shows what he knows.)
In a message to Lady Gaga’s manager, Mr. Yankovic laid out his concept for his parody song, called “Perform This Way”:
I, as a Lady Gaga doppelganger of sorts, describe the incredibly extravagant ways in which I perform on stage. Meat dresses and giant eggs would most likely be referenced, but also much more ridiculous made-up examples of bizarre wardrobe and stage production. As with all my parodies, it would be respectful of the artist, while having a bit of fun with her larger-than-life image.
Mr. Yankovic said Lady Gaga’s representatives responded by saying they would have to hear the song before they could approve it. In the midst of an Australian tour, Mr. Yankovic said he cranked out the lyrics to the entire song (sample couplet: “I might be wearin’ Swiss cheese or maybe covered with bees/It doesn’t mean I’m crazy – I perform this way”) but was again told by Lady Gaga’s camp that she needed to hear his completed track before weighing in on it. (Mr. Yankovic wrote on his blog, “hopefully she is familiar with her own song.”)
Nonetheless, Mr. Yankovic said he completed his Australian tour and canceled a family vacation to work on the song, which he said he finished on April 11 and submitted to Lady Gaga’s team.
Then they rejected it. Mr. Yankovic’s printed reaction: “*silent scream*”
On his blog, Mr. Yankovic wrote that his song parodies are legally permitted under fair-use interpretations of the law, but it is his personal policy “to get the consent of the original artist before including my parodies on any album, so of course I will respect Gaga’s wishes.”
Even so, he wrote: “I’m especially confused as to why she waited until I actually recorded the song (at her insistence!) before saying no. It’s not like there were any surprises in the finished song that she couldn’t have foreseen by, you know, READING THE LYRICS.”
Press representatives for Lady Gaga did not immediately reply to a request for comment.