"Word Crimes" by Weird Al—Review

Finally, pop music that is grammatically correct.

Weird Al's 2014 "Word Crimes" is a parody of Robin Thicke's controversial "Blurred Lines". He cleverly criticizes 'grammar police' and their victims through innuendos and hyperbole.

“Most of the errors Yankovic addresses are objective rules, such as "less" versus "fewer" and writing with num63r5 1n5tead 0f 13tt3r5.”

My dad, whose time at Cal Poly overlapped with Yankovic's, introduced me to Weird Al when I was a child. I saw "Yoda" and "The Saga Begins", parodies of "Lola" and "American Pie" respectively, years before I saw Star Wars thanks to my nerdy father. Last year he took me and my brother to a Weird Al concert, and I got to hear my favorite grammar-themed song live and in-person.

"Weird Al" Yankovic, a self-confessed grammar nerd, is famous for his parodies of popular music. His themes most often do one of two things: self depreciate or satirize pop culture. "Word Crimes" accomplishes the former, as he uses hyperbole to make fun of his own tendency to react strongly to grammar and spelling errors.

The music video is full of Easter eggs and hidden gems such as a jab at Prince (an inside joke with his most dedicated fans), dancing animated punctuation marks (a reference to the controversial dancers in the source material), and a couple of intentional errors to catch any 'grammar police' imposters (watch the music video below and see if you can catch them).

Most of the errors Yankovic addresses are objective rules, such as "less" versus "fewer" and writing with num63r5 1n5tead 0f 13tt3r5. He also takes a stance on the more subjective issue of the Oxford comma. Personally, I am a fan of the Oxford comma, though I am willing to allow authors to decide this for themselves. (But I will cause "drama", as Yankovic threatens, if a writer is inconsistent about it—don't try me.)

I would never dare tell Weird Al how to write lyrics—his main goal is comedy and he could certainly do better than a copyeditor for comedy advice—but, I must say, there could be even more grammar rules. There are so many neglected grammar rules left out, but I suppose the song had to end sometime. (He has produced songs over ten minutes before, just saying.)

So just in case Weird Al ever reads student blogs looking for ideas to rewrite six-year-old songs, I decided to write my own verse, a rewrite of Verse 2. Here is my attempt:

If you write immigrate,

You might mean emigration.

Don't make a comma splice,

If you can't say something nice.

Fix with a semicolon. (There, their, they're)

Sentences can't start with "me". (There, their, they're)

Show you deserve your degree. (There, their, they're)

On second thought, Weird Al can be in charge of the song writing—his songs are fabulous and songwriting turns out to be much harder than it looks—and I will focus my grammar energy on non-lyrical writing and editing. Weird Al's sharp wit, harsh roasts, and clever lyrics in "Word Crimes" once again prove why his parodies are unparalleled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc