Don't Download This Song
Encyclopedia
"Don't Download This Song" is the first single from "Weird Al" Yankovic
's 12th studio album Straight Outta Lynwood
. The song was released exclusively on August 21, 2006 as a digital download. It is a style parody of "We Are the World
", "Voices That Care
", "Hands Across America
", "Heal the World
" and other similar charity songs. The song "describes the perils of online music file-sharing" in a tongue-in-cheek
manner. To further the sarcasm, the song is freely available for streaming
and download (legally) in "DRM
-free" MPEG fileformat at Weird Al's Myspace
page, as well as his YouTube
channel.
Funny side note: Due to Youtube's dispute with the german GEMA
, this song is blocked for german users, even on "Weird Al" Yakovic`s official Youtube channel.
and copyright infringement of music. Among these are lawsuits against "a grandma" (presumably Gertrude Walton, who was sued for copyright infringement six months after dying) and a "7-year-old girl" (presumably a reference to Tanya Andersen's daughter sued at age 10 for alleged copyright infringements made at the age of 7), as well as Lars Ulrich
's strong stance against copyright infringement of music in the days of Napster
. The song also challenges the RIAA's claim that file sharing prevents the artists from profiting from their work, as the song argues that they are still very financially successful via their recording contracts: ("Don't take away money from artists just like me/How else can I afford another solid-gold Humvee
?"). Mention is also made of Tommy Chong
's time spent in prison. The song is one of Weird Al's three overtly political songs, with "I'll Sue Ya" (also on Straight Outta Lynwood) and "Party in the CIA" being the two others (though "Christmas At Ground Zero
" and "Canadian Idiot
" can also be interpreted politically).
Yankovic's own views on filesharing are less clear-cut:
Yankovic's intention was to leave the listener with no clear understanding of Yankovic's own views on the matter, "all by design".
The music video
, animated by Bill Plympton
, premiered August 22, 2006 on Yahoo! Music
. It depicts the vision of the capture, trial, imprisonment, attempted execution, escape, and burning of a young boy who burns a CD on his computer. The boy's death, where he stands on top of a tower just before it explodes, parodies the film White Heat
, where Cody Jarrett
, played by James Cagney
, dies in a similar fashion. Various people, from policemen to criminals to even sharks and dogs, are then seen celebrating throughout the ending chorus. But at the end, it turns out the boy is just imagining what would happen if he downloaded the song, and goes back to playing his guitar. As the song progresses, the video quality decreases from color to grayscale to dark grayscale to yellowed.
On MTV's MTV Music
site where this music video is available, they have censored the names of the file sharing programs in the song, such as Limewire or KaZaA
. Weird Al explained that MTV contacted him and told him they would not air his video if the references to the filesharing programs were not in some way removed, so he "made the creative decision to bleep them out as obnoxiously as possible, so that there would be no mistake I was being censored."
"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...
's 12th studio album 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...
. The song was released exclusively on August 21, 2006 as a digital download. It is a style parody of "We Are the World
We Are the World
"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World...
", "Voices That Care
Voices That Care
"Voices That Care" is a 1991 song written by David Foster, Linda Thompson and Peter Cetera and recorded by a supergroup of popular musicians, entertainers and athletes. The single and supporting documentary music video were intended to help boost the morale of U.S...
", "Hands Across America
Hands Across America
Hands Across America was a benefit event and publicity campaign staged on Sunday May 25, 1986 in which approximately 6.5 million people held hands in a human chain for fifteen minutes along a path across the continental United States...
", "Heal the World
Heal the World
"Heal the World" is a song from Michael Jackson's hit album, Dangerous, released in 1991. The music video features children living in countries suffering from unrest, especially Burundi. It is also one of only a handful of Michael Jackson's videos not to feature Jackson himself, the others being...
" and other similar charity songs. The song "describes the perils of online music file-sharing" in a tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
manner. To further the sarcasm, the song is freely available for streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
and download (legally) in "DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
-free" MPEG fileformat at Weird Al's Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page, as well as his YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel.
Funny side note: Due to Youtube's dispute with the german GEMA
Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte
Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte is a performance rights organization from Germany. It is the only such institution in Germany and a member of BIEM and CISAC...
, this song is blocked for german users, even on "Weird Al" Yakovic`s official Youtube channel.
Background
"Don't Download This Song" references several court cases related to the RIAARecording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
and copyright infringement of music. Among these are lawsuits against "a grandma" (presumably Gertrude Walton, who was sued for copyright infringement six months after dying) and a "7-year-old girl" (presumably a reference to Tanya Andersen's daughter sued at age 10 for alleged copyright infringements made at the age of 7), as well as Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich is a Danish drummer, and one of the founding members of the American thrash metal band Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper-middle class family. A tennis player in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age sixteen to pursue his training; though rather...
's strong stance against copyright infringement of music in the days of Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
. The song also challenges the RIAA's claim that file sharing prevents the artists from profiting from their work, as the song argues that they are still very financially successful via their recording contracts: ("Don't take away money from artists just like me/How else can I afford another solid-gold Humvee
Hummer H2
The Hummer H2 is an SUV and SUT that was marketed by General Motors under the Hummer brand. It is a large truck , while longer, heavier , and taller with room for six passengers , seven passengers in some models. The rearmost part of the H2 SUV was modified to a pickup truck bed for the 2005 H2 SUT...
?"). Mention is also made of Tommy Chong
Tommy Chong
Tommy Chong is a Canadian-American comedian, actor, writer, director, activist, and musician who is well known for his stereotypical portrayals of hippie-era stoners...
's time spent in prison. The song is one of Weird Al's three overtly political songs, with "I'll Sue Ya" (also on Straight Outta Lynwood) and "Party in the CIA" being the two others (though "Christmas At Ground Zero
Christmas At Ground Zero
"Christmas at Ground Zero" is an original song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is done in the style of The Ronettes' numerous 1960s-era Christmas carols, with bells and a saxophone section, and is one of Yankovic's darkest songs, alongside "The Night Santa Went Crazy" .The expression "ground zero" was...
" and "Canadian Idiot
Canadian Idiot
"Canadian Idiot" is a 2006 song and single by "Weird Al" Yankovic from his album Straight Outta Lynwood. It is a parody of Green Day's "American Idiot". The song is mostly a sarcastic parody of the stereotypical American view of the Canadian way of life...
" can also be interpreted politically).
Yankovic's own views on filesharing are less clear-cut:
I have very mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I’m concerned that the rampant downloading of my copyright-protected material over the Internet is severely eating into my album sales and having a decidedly adverse effect on my career. On the other hand, I can get all the Metallica
MetallicaMetallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
songs I want for FREE! WOW!!!!!
—"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Ask Al" Q&As for July 5, 2003
Yankovic's intention was to leave the listener with no clear understanding of Yankovic's own views on the matter, "all by design".
Music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, animated by Bill Plympton
Bill Plympton
William "Bill" Calvin Plympton is an American animator, former cartoonist, director, screenwriter and producer best known for his 1987 Academy Award-nominated animated short Your Face. and his series of shorts Guard Dog, Guide Dog, Hot Dog and Horn Dog.- Biography :Bill Plympton was born in...
, premiered August 22, 2006 on Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
. It depicts the vision of the capture, trial, imprisonment, attempted execution, escape, and burning of a young boy who burns a CD on his computer. The boy's death, where he stands on top of a tower just before it explodes, parodies the film White Heat
White Heat
White Heat may refer to:In film:* White Heat , a British film directed by Thomas Bentley* White Heat , an American film* White Heat, a 1949 film starring James CagneyIn music:...
, where Cody Jarrett
Cody Jarrett
Cody Jarrett is the American filmmaker of Frog-g-g!. Lived in Tampa Bay, Florida. Relocated to Los Angeles, California to do Andrew Dice Clay's 1990 film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, released by 20th Century Fox. Cody is also a singer songwriter and has played in many rock bands such as Teen...
, played by James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, dies in a similar fashion. Various people, from policemen to criminals to even sharks and dogs, are then seen celebrating throughout the ending chorus. But at the end, it turns out the boy is just imagining what would happen if he downloaded the song, and goes back to playing his guitar. As the song progresses, the video quality decreases from color to grayscale to dark grayscale to yellowed.
On MTV's MTV Music
MTV Music
MTV Music is a video/music sharing website launched on October 28, 2008 by MTV. The website offers a large collection of music videos that date back to the early 1980s...
site where this music video is available, they have censored the names of the file sharing programs in the song, such as Limewire or KaZaA
Kazaa
Kazaa Media Desktop started as a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks...
. Weird Al explained that MTV contacted him and told him they would not air his video if the references to the filesharing programs were not in some way removed, so he "made the creative decision to bleep them out as obnoxiously as possible, so that there would be no mistake I was being censored."
See also
- List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic
External links
- alyankovicVEVO, "Weird Al Yankovic - Don't Download This Song", YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, October 2, 2009. The music video at Yankovic's official YouTube VevoVevoVevo is a music video website. It is a joint venture among Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media with EMI licensing its content to the group without taking an ownership stake. The service was launched officially on December 8, 2009...
website. - Listen to the Song and Send E-Cards
- CNET Download Music
- Weird Al Wiki Page