Running with Scissors (album)

Untitled

Running With Scissors is the tenth album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, that was released on June 29 1999

Track listing

1. "The Saga Begins" (Don McLean, Yankovic) – 5:27
   • Parody of "American Pie" by Don McLean
   • Recaps the entire plot of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which Al had pieced together prior to its theatrical release from articles, interviews, and tabloids. Al attended a special showing for $500 prior to nationwide release to ensure the accuracy of the lyrics.
2. "My Baby's in Love with Eddie Vedder" (Yankovic) – 3:25
   • Polka song involving narrator's woes of having a girlfriend who's obsessed with said singer/songwriter of the band Pearl Jam
3. "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" (B. Holland, Yankovic) – 3:02
   • Parody of the song "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by The Offspring. Some people were not sure which song was played by who considering they were both comedic songs and Weird Al sounded so much like Offspring lead singer Dexter Holland.
4. "The Weird Al Show Theme" (Yankovic) – 1:14
   • Theme song to Al's CBS morning show. Show is currently being released in all its 13-episode glory in DVD format on August 15, 2006.
5. "Jerry Springer" (E. Robertson, Yankovic) – 2:46
   • Parody of "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies detailing the completely inane titles, events, and overall goings-on of the Jerry Springer Show.
6. "Germs" (Yankovic) – 4:38
   • Style-Parody of Nine Inch Nails with elements mostly pulled from "Closer" from their album The Downward Spiral. Elements include muddy guitar mixes, electronic drums/beats, and an outro with a distorted piano. Song details the narrator's fear of germs and all that it entails.
7. "Polka Power!" (Yankovic) – 4:21
   • A polka medley featuring:
     • "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls
     • "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger
     • "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" by Pras Michel w/ Ol' Dirty Bastard & Mya
     • "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys
     • "Walkin' On the Sun" by Smash Mouth
     • "Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys
     • "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba
     • "Ray of Light" by Madonna
     • "Push" by matchbox twenty
     • "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind
     • "The Dope Show" by Marilyn Manson
     • "MMMBop" by Hanson
     • "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground
     • "Closing Time" by Semisonic
8. "Your Horoscope for Today" (Yankovic) – 3:59
   • Style-parody of third-wave ska bands such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Slackers, and Reel Big Fish. Lyrics mock the content of horoscopes, predicting humorous, unpleasant outcomes. Pisces is the only horoscope featuring anything even remotely positive. The song actually features members of Reel Big Fish providing the horns.
9. "It's All About the Pentiums" (Deric Angelettie, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Sean Jacobs, Kimberly Jones, Lau, Christopher Wallace, Jason Phillips, David Styles) – 3:34
   • Parody of "It's All About the Benjamins" by Puff Daddy. A computer geek proclaiming his technological superiority over others.
10. "Truck Drivin' Song" (Yankovic) – 2:27
    • Style-parody of Johnny Cash and C.W. McCall. Lyrics detail the account of a truck-driver doing what he does best while at the same time cross-dressing and worrying about its accompanying concerns.
11. "Grapefruit Diet" (Steve Perry, Yankovic) – 3:30
    • Parody of "Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies.
12. "Albuquerque" (Yankovic) – 11:23
    • Style-parody of "Dick's Automotive" by the Rugburns.

Easter Egg

Running With Scissors is the first of "Weird Al" Yankovic's albums to boast multimedia content. When the CD is placed in a CD-ROM drive, one can browse through the files, and play a Quicktime Movie file, which contains 14 minutes worth of footage from the Disney Channel concert special "Weird Al" Yankovic: (There's No) Going Home.

Personnel

• "Weird Al" Yankovic - accordion, keyboards, vocals, background vocals
• Kim Bullard - keyboards
• Tom Evans - saxophone
• Steve Jay - bass, background vocals
• Thomas "Snake" Johnson - tuba
• Warren Luening - trumpet
• Joel Peskin - clarinet
• Dan Regan - trombone
• Bill Reichenbach Jr. - trombone
• Marty Rifkin - pedal steel
• Tom Sauber - fiddle
• Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz - percussion, drums, background vocals
• Lee Thornberg - trombone, trumpet
• Rubén Valtierra - keyboards
• Tavis Werts - trumpet
• Jim West - banjo, guitar, background vocals

Production

• Producer: "Weird Al" Yankovic
• Engineers: Tony Papa, Richie Wise
• Assistant engineer: Jeff Moses
• Mixing: Tony Papa, Richie Wise
• Mastering: Bernie Grundman
• Art direction: Doug Haverty
• Design: Doug Haverty
• Photography: Johnny Buzzerio

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1999	The Billboard 200	16
1999	Top Canadian Albums	16
1999	Top Internet Albums	3