Amish Paradise

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"Amish Paradise"
Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic
from the album Bad Hair Day
B-side
ReleasedMarch 12, 1996
RecordedJanuary 15, 1996, in Houston, Texas
Genre
Length3:20
LabelScotti Brothers
Songwriter(s)
Lyricist(s)
"Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology
"Headline News"
(1994) 		"Amish Paradise"
(1996) 		"Gump"
(1996)
Music video
"Amish Paradise" on YouTube

"Amish Paradise"[1] is a 1996 single by satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of the hip hop song "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio featuring L.V. (which itself is a reworking of the Stevie Wonder song "Pastime Paradise"). Featured on the album Bad Hair Day, it turns the original "Gangsta's Paradise", in which the narrator laments his dangerous way of life, on its head by presenting an Amish man praising his relatively plain and uncomplicated existence.

Track listing[edit]

  1. "Amish Paradise" – 3:20
  2. "Everything You Know Is Wrong" – 3:46
  3. "The Night Santa Went Crazy" (extra gory version) – 3:59
  4. "Dare to Be Stupid" (instrumental) – 3:25

Coolio's response[edit]

Yankovic sought permission from Coolio before making "Amish Paradise", offering a percentage of the revenues. Yankovic was given rights to use the song by the record company (non-exclusive rights holders) and producer Doug Rasheed, but not by Coolio himself, who declined when presented with Weird Al's offer and subsequently decried the release.[2][3][4][5]

Yankovic later stated on VH1's Behind the Music that he had written a sincere letter of apology to Coolio, which was never returned, and that Coolio never complained when he received his royalty check from proceeds of the song. A series of photos taken at the XM Satellite Radio booth at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show suggests that Yankovic and Coolio had made amends.[6] Coolio stated in a 2014 interview that the decision to refuse the parody at the time was "stupid" and he wished that someone on his management had stopped him, and then considered the final parody to be "funny".[7]

During an interview with Sean Evans on Hot Ones in 2016, Coolio further expressed regret for how he initially responded to "Amish Paradise". "In hindsight, it was stupid of me to say something about [Yankovic] doing a parody of 'Gangsta's Paradise'," he said. "I mean, he did Michael Jackson, he did Prince. You know, people who were definitely more talented than I am. I think Prince did say something... but he wasn't very vocal about it like I was. And it just made me look dumb... It was one of the dumb things I did. And I'm willing to admit I did something stupid."[8]

Music video[edit]

Yankovic directed the music video for "Amish Paradise" himself, as he has done for many of his music videos since 1986.[9] The music video for "Amish Paradise" closely mirrors the "Gangsta's Paradise" music video, although several concepts are parodied. The video also features Florence Henderson as the Michelle Pfeiffer character from Dangerous Minds in the original video.[10] Yankovic said in 2022 that recording the Buster Keaton gag with the falling house frame was the scariest stunt he had ever done.[11]

Chart performance[edit]

Chart (1996) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 53
US Cash Box Top 100 [13] 50

Rerecording[edit]

In 2022, for the film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Yankovic rerecorded the track, as well as four others. In the film, Yankovic's fictional father reveals that he was raised Amish, and Yankovic finds a lyric sheet written by his father called "Amish Paradise" and decides to perform the song.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Weird" Al Yankovic Amish paradise song and video, retrieved 2022-05-02
  2. ^ Mc Keon, Connor (December 19, 2011). "Gangsta's Parodist: Revisiting "Weird Al" vs. Coolio". Vulture magazine. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  3. ^ Nunn, Christina (March 7, 2021). "Coolio Deeply Regrets Rejecting an Offer From 'Weird Al' Yankovic: 'That Was 1 of the Dumbest Things I Did in My Career'". Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  4. ^ "Why Did 'Weird Al' Yankovic and Coolio Have Beef? (Don't post)". 30 September 2022.
  5. ^ "'He put some magic on that track': The story of Gangsta's Paradise, Coolio's biggest hit". The Irish Times.
  6. ^ "Weird and COOLIO?!". Yank Blog. January 8, 2006. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  7. ^ Ozzi, Dan (April 28, 2014). "After All These Years, Coolio Still Lets His Nuts Hang". Vice. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  8. ^ Coolio Talks Hip-Hop Cooking and "Gangsta's Paradise" Folklore While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones, retrieved 2020-01-20
  9. ^ "Video Facts". weirdal.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  10. ^ Reese, Doug (30 March 1996). "Directing Is Yankovic's "Paradise"". Billboard. p. 144. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  11. ^ GQ. ""Weird Al" Yankovic Breaks Down His Most Iconic Tracks". YouTube. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  12. ^ [Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2002]
  13. ^ "Top 100 1996-05-18". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
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