Editing Running with Scissors (album) (section)

==Production==
===Recording===
In June 1997, Yankovic entered the studio to begin the first of the ''Running with Scissors'' sessions, which Yankovic produced himself.<ref name="recordingdates"/> Recording with Yankovic were [[Jon Schwartz (drummer)|Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz]] on drums, [[Steve Jay]] on bass, and [[Jim West (guitarist)|Jim West]] on guitar.<ref name="rwsliner">{{cite AV media notes |title=Running with Scissors |others=[["Weird Al" Yankovic]] |year=1999 |type=CD liner notes |publisher=[[Volcano Entertainment]] |id=61422 32118-2}}</ref> The album was recorded in six sessions. The first session started on June 29, 1997, in which Yankovic recorded the theme song to his television show, ''[[The Weird Al Show]]''. The second session, which occurred on October 7, 1998, produced the original song "Germs", and eight days later, on October 15, Yankovic started the third session and recorded three more originals, "Albuquerque", "My Baby's in Love with Eddie Vedder", and "Truck Drivin' Song". The next day, the fourth session resulted in the song "Your Horoscope for Today". On April 19 of the following year, Yankovic recorded four parodies during the fifth session, "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi", "Jerry Springer", "It's All About the Pentiums", and "Grapefruit Diet". The album's sixth and final session occurred on April 20, and resulted in "The Saga Begins", and the album's polka medley, "Polka Power!"<ref name="recordingdates">{{cite web |url=http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/recording-dates/ |title=Recording Dates |access-date=June 26, 2010 |last=Yankovic |first=Alfred M. |author-link="Weird Al" Yankovic |date=December 2007 |work=The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref>

===Originals===
[[File:Trent Reznor Lollapalooza 1991.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.8|''Running with Scissors'' contains several style parodies, such as "Germs", which is a pastiche of industrial rock band [[Nine Inch Nails]]' sound.]]
The album includes "The Weird Al Show Theme", which is the theme song to Yankovic's short-lived television series.<ref name="rwsliner"/> "Germs" is a style parody of [[industrial rock]] band [[Nine Inch Nails]] that tells of the narrator's [[germophobia]].<ref name="rwsliner"/><ref name=ninsp/> "Your Horoscope for Today" is a style parody of [[third wave ska]], which features [[Reel Big Fish]] members [[Tavis Werts]] on trumpet and Dan Regan on trombone, and has lyrics about ridiculous horoscopes. Yankovic attributes the lyrics' inspiration to the satirical newspaper ''[[The Onion]]''.<ref name="rwsliner"/><ref name=ska/><ref name="setlist">{{cite news |title=Set List: 'Weird Al' Yankovic |first=Nathan |last=Rabin |author-link=Nathan Rabin |url=https://www.avclub.com/weird-al-yankovic-1798226810 |newspaper=[[The A.V. Club]] |publisher=[[The Onion|The Onion, Inc]] |location=Chicago |date=June 29, 2011 |access-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701100237/http://www.avclub.com/articles/weird-al-yankovic,58244/ |archive-date=July 1, 2011 |url-status=live |df=mdy}}</ref> After [[Ophiuchus (astrology)|Ophiuchus]] was touted by some papers as the "13th zodiac sign", Yankovic released new lyrics on his [[Twitter]] for the sign.<ref>{{cite web |last=Yankovic |first=Alfred M. |url=https://twitter.com/alyankovic/status/25949204199247872 |title=Ophiuchus |publisher=[[Twitter]] |access-date=May 6, 2013 |date=January 14, 2011}}</ref> In January 2023 an animated music video was released for the song to promote ''The Illustrated Al'' graphic novel.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yankovic |first1=Alfred M. |title="Weird Al" Yankovic {{en dash}} Your Horoscope for Today (Official Music Video) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPvyrWYutDQ |publisher=[[YouTube]] |access-date=January 23, 2023 |date=January 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Brathwaite |first1=Lester Fabian |title='Weird Al' Yankovic songs get animated in graphic novel The Illustrated Al: Watch new music video |url=https://ew.com/music/weird-al-yankovic-graphic-novel-the-illustrated-al-music-video/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=January 23, 2023 |date=January 19, 2023}}</ref>

"[[Albuquerque (song)|Albuquerque]]", an eleven-minute "hard-driving rock narrative",<ref name=setlist/> is a style parody of [[the Rugburns]], particularly the song "Dick's Automotive", and tells the fictional life of Yankovic and his various adventures in the town of [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]].<ref name="rwsliner"/><ref name=setlist/><ref name=alsp1>{{cite web |last=Yankovic |first=Alfred M. |title='Ask Al' Q&As for June 28, 2006 |url=http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#062806 |access-date=May 2, 2013 |work=The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site |date=June 28, 2006}}</ref> Yankovic originally wrote the song to "annoy people for 12 minutes".<ref name=setlist/> He felt that it would be an "odyssey" for fans to successfully sit through it, and so it was placed at the album's end.<ref name=setlist/> Instead, to Yankovic's surprise, the song has become a fan favorite.<ref name=setlist/> "My Baby's in Love with Eddie Vedder" is a style parody of [[zydeco]] about a man's frustration that his girlfriend is obsessed with [[Eddie Vedder]], the lead singer for the [[grunge]] band [[Pearl Jam]].<ref name="rwsliner"/><ref name=zydeco/><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Album |publisher=thepentiums.com |date=November 28, 1999 |url=http://www.thepentiums.com/album.html |access-date=January 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304194101/http://www.thepentiums.com/album.html |archive-date=March 4, 2000}}</ref> "Truck Drivin' Song", a detailed account of a truck driver working while simultaneously worrying about their clothing and makeup, is a style parody of [[truck-driving country]].<ref name="rwsliner"/><ref name=august1999/> While writing the song, Yankovic listened to [[C.W. McCall]] for inspiration.<ref name=august1999/>

===Parodies and polka===
The first parody recorded for the album was "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi", a parody of [[the Offspring]]'s 1998 single "[[Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)]]", about a hip rabbi."<ref name="rwsliner"/> In order to accurately write the song, Yankovic consulted several of his Jewish friends as well as several English-to-[[Yiddish]] dictionaries. The song's opening line – "Veren zol fun dir a blintsa" – is a Yiddish curse that roughly means "May you turn into a [[blintz]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#0999 |title='Ask Al' Q&As for September, 1999 |access-date=June 27, 2010 |last=Yankovic |first=Alfred M. |author-link="Weird Al" Yankovic |date=September 1999 |work=The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref> Originally, Yankovic had wanted voice actress [[Mary Kay Bergman]] to sing the song as her ''[[South Park]]'' character [[Gerald and Sheila Broflovski|Sheila Broflovski]]. However, due to legal restrictions, she was only able to say a few lines in the finished product.<ref name=ska/> Yankovic then approached actress [[Fran Drescher]] to lend her voice to the song, but this was also unsuccessful. Finally, Yankovic was able to get actress [[Tress MacNeille]] – who had been featured in his 1983 parody "[[Ricky ("Weird Al" Yankovic song)|Ricky]]" – to appear in the song.<ref name=august1999>{{cite web |url=http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#0899 |title='Ask Al' Q&As for August, 1999 |access-date=June 27, 2010 |last=Yankovic |first=Alfred M. |author-link="Weird Al" Yankovic |date=August 1999 |work=The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref>

[[File:Yankovic-TheSagaBegins.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.75|Yankovic performing "[[The Saga Begins]]"]]

The second parody recorded for the album was "Jerry Springer", a parody of [[Barenaked Ladies]] 1998 hit "[[One Week (song)|One Week]]". The song is about ''[[The Jerry Springer Show]]'', hosted by the eponymous [[Jerry Springer]].<ref name="rwsliner"/> In preparation for the song, Yankovic watched "a couple shows" until he understood the "basic formula" for how the episodes unfolded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#1099 |title='Ask Al' Q&As for October, 1999 |access-date=June 27, 2010 |last=Yankovic |first=Alfred M. |author-link="Weird Al" Yankovic |date=October 1999 |work=The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref> Originally, there were plans to shoot a video, and Springer was asked if he wanted to be in it. Springer was initially interested, but after hearing the song, he declined because he believed it was too "negative" towards his show.<ref name=ninsp/> The third parody recorded for the album was "It's All About the Pentiums", a parody of the rock remix of the track "[[It's All About the Benjamins]]" by [[Sean Combs|Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs]].<ref name="rwsliner"/> Yankovic spoke to Combs personally on the phone to make sure that the parody would not emulate the [[Amish Paradise#Coolio's response|1996 Coolio incident]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Behind the Scenes |publisher=thepentiums.com |date=November 28, 1999 |url=http://www.thepentiums.com/behind.html |access-date=January 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000229042458/http://www.thepentiums.com/behind.html |archive-date=February 29, 2000}}</ref> Due to time constraints, Yankovic was forced to write the song a few days before the entire album was slated to be mastered, as Yankovic had still been waiting for Combs' approval. By the time Combs responded to him, Yankovic was recording the last session for the album. To give him time to write the lyrics, Yankovic's band recorded the music first. Yankovic noted that "we were mixing the last few songs on the album by the time I finished writing the lyrics to 'Pentiums', and I wound up recording the lead vocals just a couple days before the album had to be mastered."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#111505 |title='Ask Al' Q&As for August, 1999 |access-date=November 15, 2005 |last=Yankovic |first=Alfred M. |author-link="Weird Al" Yankovic |date=November 15, 2005 |work=The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref> The fourth parody recorded for the album was "Grapefruit Diet", a pastiche of "[[Zoot Suit Riot (song)|Zoot Suit Riot]]" by the [[Cherry Poppin' Daddies]] about an [[obese]] man going on such a [[Grapefruit diet|diet]].<ref name="rwsliner"/> The song's writer, [[Steve Perry (Oregon musician)|Steve Perry]], called the opportunity to be parodied "an honor" but noted that "Why Weird Al is such an icon is a mystery to me though".<ref>{{cite web |last=Junior |first=Chris |title=Back in the Flow |url=http://www.medleyville.us/2008/06/back_in_the_flow.html |publisher=Medleyville |access-date=May 5, 2013 |date=June 9, 2008 |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110204052/https://medleyville.us/2008/06/back_in_the_flow.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The final parody recorded for the album was "The Saga Begins", which recounts the plot of ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace]]'' from the point of view of [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]] to the tune of the 1971 single "[[American Pie (song)|American Pie]]" by [[Don McLean]].<ref name="rwsliner"/> Yankovic, who often bases his albums around significant moments in [[popular culture|pop culture]], felt that the album should have a song centered on the release of ''The Phantom Menace''.<ref name=prettyflystarwars/><ref name=forceinterview/> Yankovic first considered writing his parody of "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" about the film and calling it "Pretty Fly for a Jedi", but he quickly dismissed this idea; he wanted to parody a classic song to commemorate how important the new movie was considered.<ref name=prettyflystarwars>{{cite web |last=vanHorn |first=Teri |title='Weird Al' Yankovic Throws 'Pie' At New 'Star Wars' Film On New LP |url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/515506/06251999/yankovic_weird_al.jhtml |work=[[VH1]] |publisher=[[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]] |access-date=May 5, 2013 |date=June 25, 1999 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205004933/http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/515506/06251999/yankovic_weird_al.jhtml |archive-date=February 5, 2012}}</ref> Yankovic then chose to write a parody of "American Pie" about the film. Because Yankovic wanted the song to be topical, he began writing the lyrics in December 1998, many months before the film was released, gleaning all of the information about the movie's plot entirely from Internet [[spoiler (media)|spoiler]]s. The song was completed two months before ''The Phantom Menace'' was released to theaters; Yankovic had approached [[Lucasfilm]] about the prospect of an advanced screening to ensure that his lyrics were accurate, but the company declined. However, Yankovic later went to a charity screening, whose tickets cost [[US$]]500 each. As a result, Yankovic only had to change one line; "He's probably gonna marry her someday" was originally "I hear he's gonna marry her someday".<ref name=forceinterview/> A video which Yankovic later jokingly dubbed "''Star Wars'' [[MTV Unplugged|Unplugged]]" was filmed for the song, after ''The Phantom Menace'' premiered in theaters.<ref name=prettyflystarwars/><ref name=forceinterview>{{cite web |title=Interview with 'Weird Al' Yankovic – Parody Artist and Star Wars Super-Fan |url=http://www.theforce.net/jedicouncil/interview/weirdal.asp |publisher=TheForce.net |access-date=May 4, 2013}}</ref>

Much like Yankovic's previous albums, ''Running with Scissors'' features a [[polka]] [[medley (music)|medley]] of then-current hit songs called "[[List of "Weird Al" Yankovic polka medleys#"Polka Power!"|Polka Power!]]". The song was later released as a promotional single in Germany, where Yankovic's recording label felt a polka song might have more success.<ref>{{cite web |title=Polka Power! |url=http://www.weirdal.com/rare79.htm|work=The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site |access-date=May 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214062117/http://www.weirdal.com/rare79.htm |archive-date=February 14, 2012}}</ref> This was the second time that one of Yankovic's polka medleys was released as a single; in 1985, [[Scotti Brothers Records]] released "[[List of "Weird Al" Yankovic polka medleys#"Hooked on Polkas"|Hooked on Polkas]]", from the album ''[[Dare to Be Stupid]]'', in Japan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hooked On Polkas |url=http://www.weirdal.com/rare8.htm |work=The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site |access-date=May 5, 2013 |archive-date=June 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620053231/http://www.weirdal.com/rare8.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>