This Is The Life
Encyclopedia
"This Is the Life" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is the theme song to the gangster comedy movie Johnny Dangerously
. The song is about the perks and spoils of organized crime
.
Although it is done in the style of ragtime, it has an electric guitar
solo, and a section with a hip-hop beat. The song was later re-released on Yankovic's successful third album, Dare to Be Stupid.
The promo single only contains "This Is the Life".
movies, with Yankovic playing the role of a gangster himself. However, various specific things have been parodied:
Johnny Dangerously
Johnny Dangerously is a 1984 comedy spoof of 1930s' crime/gangster movies. It was directed by Amy Heckerling; its four screenwriters included Bernie Kukoff and Jeff Harris, both of whom previously created the hit TV series Diff'rent Strokes...
. The song is about the perks and spoils of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
.
Although it is done in the style of ragtime, it has an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
solo, and a section with a hip-hop beat. The song was later re-released on Yankovic's successful third album, Dare to Be Stupid.
Track listing
The following tracks are on the single:- "This Is the Life" – 3:02
- "Buy Me a Condo" – 3:52
The promo single only contains "This Is the Life".
Music video
The video itself is a spoof of 1930's style GangsterGangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
movies, with Yankovic playing the role of a gangster himself. However, various specific things have been parodied:
- At the beginning a man is stopped at a gun check and removes a Tommy gunTommy GunTommy Gun may refer to:*Thompson submachine gun or Tommy gun, a submachine gun*"Tommy Gun" , a song by The Clash...
he had in his suit. - Yankovic appears bathing in a bathtub of Perrier.
- Yankovic throws his fedora like a frisbeeFrisbeeA flying disc is a disc-shaped glider that is generally plastic and roughly in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating....
and it lands on a coat hook on the other side of the room. - Throughout the video, Al uses money as everyday things, and even uses a dollar bill to light a cigarCigarA cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
. - The original video was interspersed with video clips from the movie Johnny DangerouslyJohnny DangerouslyJohnny Dangerously is a 1984 comedy spoof of 1930s' crime/gangster movies. It was directed by Amy Heckerling; its four screenwriters included Bernie Kukoff and Jeff Harris, both of whom previously created the hit TV series Diff'rent Strokes...
. Another version of the video released on The Compleat AlThe Compleat AlThe Compleat Al is a mockumentary about the life of "Weird Al" Yankovic, from his birth to 1985. It was partially written by Yankovic and directed by Jay Levey. It premiered August 7, 1985, on the Showtime network. The title of the film is a parody of the 1982 documentary The Compleat...
in 1985 did not have the clips, but instead, was spliced with stock footage. - For legal reasons, "This Is the Life" was not featured on home video releases of the film until the DVD was released in 2002.