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January 16, 2008
A Man, A Plan, Bob Dylan, Weird Al, Panama

If you're not familiar with Bob Dylan's famous film clip for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (they sure didn't call them "videos" back in 1965), YouTube has it here:

You Tube: Bob Dylan — Subterranean Homesick Blues

And Wikipedia has some fascinating background on it here:

Wikipedia: Subterranean Homesick Blues

Very cool.  But the purpose of this post is to share my discovery of Weird Al Yankovic's take on the song, called, "Bob", with lyrics made entirely from palindromes (!!!):

You Tube: Weird Al Yankovic — Bob

Wow... This is why Weird Al Yankovic is a freaking genius.  Normally the use of palindromes in a song is lost because the listener doesn't have a way to visualize the lyrics.  Yankovic looks to Dylan's flip cars for the solution.  Also note how he's got all the detail in there, even down to the shadowy Allen Ginsberg character.

Comedy skit idea: Record company producers are negotiating with Bob Dylan about producing a modern remix of "Subterranean Homesick Blues", replacing the flip cards with a PowerPoint presentation.  Hilarity ensues.


Speaking of palindromes in songs, here is They Might Be Giant's wonderful performance of "I Palindrome I" on Letterman in 1992:

They Might Be Giants: I Palindrome I

I think it's great how John Linnell is not only able to use a word-level palindrome for the bridge, but he's able to sing it so well, getting out that awkward set of words and phrasing and also diving right into the third verse without catching a breath.

Posted by DonTillman at January 16, 2008 08:26 AM
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