Yankovic had three main parody ideas that were refused. They include:
A parody of The Offspring's hit "Come Out and Play" entitled Laundry Day. Yankovic approached The Offspring about recording a parody of their first big hit. They, however, were unimpressed by the song, stating that it was "silly" (The Offspring later allowed Yankovic to record a parody of "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)", interstingly enough, on his next album).
A parody of The Beatles's hit "Free as a Bird" entitled Gee I'm a Nerd. Yankovic asked Paul McCartney, a supporter of Yankovic's work, if he could have permission to write and record a parody of "Free as a Bird". McCartney was all for the idea, but due to the fact that "Free as a Bird" was written by John Lennon, McCartney turned the decision over to Yoko Ono, who denied permission, because it was "too early".
A parody of U2's song "Numb" entitled Green Eggs and Ham. Yankovic reportedly got permission from U2 to record the song, but permission was denied by the Dr. Seuss estate because the song had "No educational value". Yankovic later settled on a parody of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" (See "Cavity Search" for more information).
Track listing
Track
Title
Length
(Style) Parody of
Description
1
"Amish Paradise" (A. Ivey, Jr., L. Sanders, D. Rasheed, S. Wonder, Yankovic)
About a family's devotion to syndicated television.
10
"I Remember Larry" (Yankovic)
3:56
Style parody of The Monkees, the melody also bears some similarity to "See the Constellation" by They Might Be Giants
About a cruel neighborhood prankster (possibly a bully) named Larry (who preformed such cruel gags as poisoning Al's lawn with toxic waste, to chopping Al's car in half), and how much the singer misses him after his death, until it is revealed that Al was the one who murdered him. Contains a backmasked message at 3:10, "Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands."
Modeled on Soul Asylum's "Black Gold". Beginning is very close to the beginning to "Mama, I'm Coming Home" by Ozzy Osbourne
A Christmas-themed song about Santa Claus finally snapping and embarking on a killing spree.
Notes
This album was the last one to feature Yankovic's old look (before his LASIK eye surgery), as well as the last to be released under the Scotti Bros. label, before his move to Volcano Records.
"Bad Hair Day" was originally going to be released in 1995, but was later bumped back to 1996 due to production delays.
During the faded ending of "Phony Calls", the very last lines go: "Don't go making phony calls/please stick to the seven digit numbers you're used to/I know that you think it's funny driving folks right up the wall/But you're just a pain in the ass" This was ovbiously added as an easter egg. This "hidden message" is also noticable due to the fact that Yankovic is a very clean musician, hardly ever using curse words in his songs.
The Alternative Polka was originally going to have an interploration of the Weezer song Buddy Holly between "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "My Friends". However, the song's writer, Rivers Cuomo, decided against the idea at the last minute, forcing Yankovic to edit the song out of the medley. Weezer, however, was thanked in the liner notes since the layout had been prepared beforehand. Weezer later allowed Al to include their hit "Beverly Hills" in the polka medley from Straight Outta Lynwood.
On some copies of this album, the copyright is 1994, 1995, and/or 1996.
