"Fat" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic

"Weird Al" Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

. It is a parody of "Bad" by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

. It is the second parody Yankovic did of a Jackson song, the first being "Eat It

Eat It

"Eat It" is a hit single by parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of the song "Beat It" by pop star Michael Jackson. The single reached #1 in Australia, and it was his highest-charting U.S. single on the Billboard Hot 100 at #12 until "White & Nerdy" peaked at #9 in October 2006...

", a parody of Jackson's "Beat It

Beat It

"Beat It" is a song written and performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones . It is the third single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Eddie Van Halen was hired to add the song's distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but was prevented by his...

". "Fat" is the first song on Yankovic's Even Worse

Even Worse

Even Worse is the fifth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1988. The album was the fifth produced by former The McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer...

album.

The video won a Grammy for "Best Concept Music Video" in 1988.

Concert version

When performing in concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

, Yankovic wears a fat suit and a mask that makes his face appear fat. Though he has undergone laser vision correction surgery

LASIK

LASIK or Lasik , commonly referred to simply as laser eye surgery, is a type of refractive surgery for correcting myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism...

, he wears glasses for this song, which are needed to hold the mask on. Since he no longer needs to use actual glasses, the lenses on the mask were made from clear plastic.

Track listing

The following tracks are on the single:

1. "Fat" – 3:55
2. "You Make Me" – 3:04

The promo single only contains "Fat".

Music video

The video for "Fat" parodies various elements of the "Bad" video by Jackson; Yankovic was able to get permission to use the same subway set from "Bad" from Michael Jackson for the video. Here is a list depicting some parody elements:

• The lighting in Jackson's video is much darker. Yankovic filmed his parody video with much brighter lighting, and it appears as though it was filmed in the daytime.
• The video begins with a non-musical black-and-white scene, as in the original, but it is much shorter. It starts at the subway station with one gang of obese men (led by Lou B. Washington, who soon after joined the cast of Al's film UHF
  UHF (film)
  UHF is a 1989 American comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Barty, Anthony Geary, Emo Philips and Trinidad Silva, in whose memory the film is dedicated.The title refers to Ultra High Frequency...
  
  ) criticizing Al for not eating much unhealthy food lately. They try to get Al to eat a slice of pizza, a hamburger and a Ding Dong
  Ding Dong
  A Ding Dong is a chocolate cake that is sold by Hostess Brands. It is round with a flat top and bottom, about three inches in diameter and a little more than an inch high, similar in shape to a hockey puck. A white creamy filling is injected into the center, and a thin coating of chocolate glaze...
  
  , which they pull out of their pockets. The original video showed Jackson coming back from high school and his old street friends bugging him about going to school and becoming soft.
• The lines "Are you fat, or what?" and "You ain't fat, you ain't nothing!" mimic lines in the original, only using the word "fat" instead of "bad".
• In the beginning the dancers can be seen goofing off. Two of them miss a high five
  High five
  The high five is a celebratory hand gesture that occurs when two people simultaneously raise one hand, about head high, and push, slide or slap the flat of their palm and hand against the palm and flat hand of their partner...
  
  , while another can be seen waving and mouthing the words "Hi Mom" over and over again, and is pulled away from the camera by another of the dancers by his nose. As a whole the group looks disorganized and fidgety, as a parody of the precise choreography in Michael Jackson's video.
• Yankovic has six dancers. The original video has Jackson with at least twenty dancers.
• The six dancers with Yankovic in the video are obese instead of skinny. They are also dressed similarly to the dancers in "Bad." In order to get the dancers Yankovic simply advertised for "very fat dancers" in a trade journal, and his hunch that such people might exist was soon proven right. Yankovic stated in the liner notes for Permanent Record: Al in the Box
  Permanent Record: Al in the Box
  Permanent Record: Al in the Box is a four disc compilation boxed set of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It features his favorite songs from his first eight studio albums, plus alternate versions of "My Bologna", "Happy Birthday", "UHF", and the previously unavailable new single, "Headline News"...
  
  that one of the dancers was actually a pizza delivery man who delivered pizzas to the casting office (he was put in the video because he had the "perfect physique", according to Yankovic).
• Instead of a troupe of dancers sliding along the ground, the beginning of "Fat" shows Yankovic getting fatter and fatter.
• Yankovic's black outfit is similar to Jackson's, but the buckle and zipper ornamentation is exaggerated.
• Yankovic does Jackson's famous "crotch-grab", but with humorous sound effects added, such as a "boing" and a cowbell.
• When Yankovic tries to jump over the turnstiles on the first bridge of the song, he can't get over. Jackson, by contrast, easily jumps on then off.
• In one musical interlude, Yankovic jumps on a dancer and crushes him while Jackson merely jumps on his shoulder.
• In the middle-end, the dancers and Yankovic moving in a line close together trying to go fast and slightly succeeding in doing so, while in "Bad", the dancers are doing the same thing but slower and easier.
• In "Bad", Jackson moves in a circle while the camera follows him. In "Fat", Yankovic does the same thing, but for much longer. Eventually, Yankovic moves too fast, and begins to fly. He grabs a hold of the tripod to not fly away, but loses his grip and flies off with a startled cry.
• When Yankovic flings his arms around, sound effects are heard. This is direct reference to the noises heard when Jackson flings his arms. Yankovic acts confused testing out the sound effect movements, and moves other parts of his body, making other sound effects. Al's dancers also appear confused.
• In "Bad", Jackson and his dancers scream loudly for no reason at random times. Yankovic parodies this by having a scene where he and his dancers scream "Ho!" every now and then. One of the dancers hands Yankovic a gardening hoe
  Hoe (tool)
  A hoe is an ancient and versatile agricultural tool used to move small amounts of soil. Common goals include weed control by agitating the surface of the soil around plants, piling soil around the base of plants , creating narrow furrows and shallow trenches for planting seeds and bulbs, to chop...
  
  , and Yankovic comments on it by saying "Hoe!" This also occurs when the song is performed live, though, occasionally, a man in a Santa Claus
  Santa Claus
  Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
  
   suit comes on stage and is belly-bumped (or, as seen on "Weird Al" Yankovic Live!, punched in the face) by Al. In the Straight Outta Lynwood
  Straight Outta Lynwood
  Straight Outta Lynwood is the 12th studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It was released on September 26, 2006 in the U.S. by Volcano, on September 30, 2006 in Australia, on October 3 in Canada, on October 6, 2006 in New Zealand, November 13, 2006 in the United Kingdom, and November 24, 2006 in...
  
   tour, in keeping with the "gangsta" theme of the latest album, the man dressed as Santa was replaced by a man dressed as a promiscuous woman. Al points at the visitor and shouts "Ho!"
• The camera follows Yankovic and the other dancers as they run through the station, when Yankovic is handed the gardening tool. After a brief pause, he and the others realize the camera is still moving, and they start to run again, moving even faster to try to get into the camera's viewpoint (now yelling "Ho!" to get the camera to slow down). Eventually they disappear off-camera. Upon returning to where they left off it's discovered that they are now catching their breath from the running that Jackson and his troupe are able to do easily. Yankovic leans against a pillar and tilts it.
• When Yankovic runs up the steps and removes the air vent cover, he spins and flourishes excessively in a parody of Jackson's dancing advance towards the vent. Also, the wind in this video is much stronger. Several dancers get blown away, and Yankovic holds up a small pinwheel-type fan, and stays standing as his dancers are blown out of sight. A chicken is seen passing by the camera.
• Instead of dancers dancing near the end, we see the dancers bumping into each other. In this scene, the word "FAT" is spray painted on the wall instead of "BAD".
• At one point near the end, Jackson whoops three times in a row. The third time, Yankovic holds up a speech bubble containing the word, "Woo!" instead of actually singing it, satirizing the voice synchronization of Michael Jackson's video, in which several scenes are seen with Jackson mouthing words that are not heard.
• The wanted poster near the end is different. Instead of, "Wanted for sacrilege
  Sacrilege
  Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object. In a less proper sense, any transgression against the virtue of religion would be a sacrilege. It can come in the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things...
  
  ", with the word "BAD" below, it states, "Wanted for gluttony
  Gluttony
  Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, intoxicants or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste...
  
  ", with the word "FAT" underneath.
• The man in the roller skates walks very slowly and with much difficulty, while in "Bad", one of the dancers is seen doing a version of the moon walk where he is not moving at all.
• When Jackson and his group run up the stairs nearing the end one of the dancers does a continuous amount of backflips, in "Fat" one of Al's dancers tries to do a single cartwheel
  Cartwheel (gymnastics)
  In gymnastics, a cartwheel is a sideways rotary movement performed by bringing the hands to the ground while the body inverts and the legs travel over the body, coming down to a standing position.-Terminology:...
  
   and barely makes it. (Although he celebrates as though this is a great success.)
• In "Bad", Jackson screams at the end of the video. In "Fat", Yankovic screams for a reason: his fingers are caught in a mousetrap that seemingly came out of nowhere. The same sound effect is used for the trap as from earlier, when Yankovic was waving his arms around.
• Finally, at the very end, Yankovic says "Who's fat?", while Jackson says "Who's bad?" The video stops with a close up shot of Yankovic holding his fist. In "Bad", it stops with Jackson a foot away from the screen, although on the full version of the video, he sings a bit longer, as the parts are in the original song, while the parts are not in "Fat". Finally, his friends give in the argument.

Chart positions

Chart (1988)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	11
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	80
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	99

See also

• "Eat It
  Eat It
  "Eat It" is a hit single by parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of the song "Beat It" by pop star Michael Jackson. The single reached #1 in Australia, and it was his highest-charting U.S. single on the Billboard Hot 100 at #12 until "White & Nerdy" peaked at #9 in October 2006...
  
  " another Michael Jackson parody by "Weird Al" (Released in 1984).
• List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic
• List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic

External links

• "Weird Al" Wiki Page