(By Gerry Wang)

Song of the Week: Special Edition

     We've all been waiting for this. Weird Al Yankovic has finally made a new song about Star Wars. You may have heard his previous song, "Yoda," a hilarious take on EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Now, Weird Al is back w/ a brand spanking new song about THE PHANTOM MENACE. Watch out, the whole song recounts the entire plot. Spoilers for those people that have been stuck in Antarctica that haven't seen the movie yet.

     If you don't know who Weird Al is, he's a musician that specializes in parodies of other songs, borrowing their tunes exactly and changing the lyrics. Michael Jackson's "Beat It" became "Eat It," Coolio's "Gangster's Paradise" became "Amish Paradise," Weird Al's last big hit. "The Saga Begins" is set to Don McLean's "American Pie." Of course, I don't know how the hell the original sounds, but who cares. This song's appeal comes from morphing THE PHANTOM MENACE into a ballad. Funny, creative, and ingenious.

     Oh yeah, visit www.sagabegins.com for the official site for this song. You can watch a streaming version of the video, which will air July 7th on MTV on Total Request Live. You can also find some more background on the making of the song and the video.

     I must apologize for not being able to link you guys to my site. I no longer have it. =( But e-mail me, or post a message if you have AOL and I can fwd the song to you. Oh yeah, I must also apologize for breaking the uniformity of Rice World's infrastructure. You see, www.sagabegins.com parodies Starwars.com as well, and I wanted to maintain the atmosphere of spoof-ism. Oh yeah, plus the picture woulda looked funny since it was black.

The Saga Begins

A long long time ago
in a galaxy far away
Naboo was under an attack
And I thought me and Qui-Gon Jinn
Could talk the Federation into
Maybe cutting them a little slack
But their response, it didn't thrill us
They locked the doors and tried to kill us
We escaped from that gas
Then met Jar Jar and Boss Nass
We took a bongo from the scene
And we went to Theed to see the queen
We all wound up on Tatooine
That's where we found this boy...

Oh my my, this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry
And he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin' "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"
"Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"

Did you know this junkyard slave
Isn't even old enough to shave
But he can use the Force they say
Ahh, do you see him hitting on the queen
Though he's just nine and she's fourteen
Yeah, he's probably gonna marry her someday
Well, I know he built C-3PO
And I've heard how fast his pod can go
And we were broke, it's true
So we made a wager or two
He was a prepubescent flyin' ace
And the minute Jabba started off that race
Well, I know who would win first place
Oh yes, it was our boy

We started singin'... My my, this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry
And he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin' "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"
"Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"

Now we finally got to Coruscant
The Jedi Council we knew would want
To see how good the boy could be
So we took him there and we told the tale
How his midi-chlorians were off the scale
And he might fulfill that prophecy
Oh, the Council was impressed, of course
Could he bring balance to the Force?
They interviewed the kid
Oh, training they forbid
Because Yoda sensed in him much fear
And Qui-Gon said, "Now listen here
Just stick it in your pointy ear
I still will teach this boy"

He was singin'... My my, this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry
And he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin' "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"
"Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"

We caught a ride back to Naboo
'Cause Queen Amidala wanted to
I frankly would've liked to stay
We all fought in that epic war
And it wasn't long at all before
Little Hotshot flew his plane and saved the day
And in the end some Gungans died
Some ships blew up and some pilots fried
A lot of folks were croakin'
The battle droids were broken
And the Jedi I admire most
Met up with Darth Maul and now he's toast
Well, I'm still here and he's a ghost
I guess I'll train this boy

And I was singin'... My my, this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry
And he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin' "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"
"Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"
We were singin'... My my, this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry
And he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin' "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"

Lyrical adaption of 'American Pie' by Don McLean
Music Corporation of America, Inc./Benny Bird Music (BMI)
(Administered by Copyright Management, Inc.)
New lyrics by Al Yankovic
With Special Thanks to George Lucas