Yesterday, “Weird Al” Yankovic spoofed Pharrell and his big Arby’s hat with the hilariously on-point “Tacky”. Now, he’s turned his attention to another unsuspecting pop victim: Robin Thicke.
On “Word Crimes”, the “Weird” one parodies Thicke’s (in)famous hit “Blurred Lines”. Gone is the sexist skew and cheesiness of the original — instead, Al flips the song into a lesson about grammar. Yes, seriously, he calls people out for their gross misuse of English, singing: “You learn the definition / of nouns and prepositions / Literacy’s your mission / And that’s why I think it’s a good time / To learn some grammar / Did I stammer? / Work on that grammar.”
The accompanying visual for “Word Crimes” reads like a cross between a lyric video and a fancy English tutorial, full of animated periods and exclamation points. I don’t particularly like “Blurred Lines” (and I’m #sorrryImnotsorry about Thicke’s recent mega sales flop, Paula), but more than anything else, I AM A GRAMMAR NERD. Thus, “Weird Al” wins, hands down.
“Word Crimes” appears on Yankovic’s upcoming 14th studio album, Mandatory Fun, due out July 15th via RCA.
