"The Saga Begins" is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

song by

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

. It parodies " American Pie" by

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

, with lyrics that humorously summarize the plot of the film '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' through the point of view of

Obi-Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Within the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinn ...

, one of the film's protagonists. The song's title, not mentioned in the lyrics, derives from a

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

that appeared in

teaser trailer A teaser (or more specifically teaser trailer) is a mini- trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release move or television show advertisement. Short in length, te ...

s and the

film poster A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...

for ''The Phantom Menace'': "Every ''saga'' has a ''beginning''". "The Saga Begins" was released as a single from the 1999 album '' Running with Scissors'', and later appearing on the compilation album ''The Saga Begins''.

History

Set to the tune of

's " American Pie", "The Saga Begins" recounts the plot of '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'', from

's point of view. Yankovic gathered most of the information he needed to write the song from

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

spoilers.TheForce.Net - Jedi Council - Interviews , Weird Al Yankovic
/ref>

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

declined a request for an advance screening, and Yankovic paid to attend a charity fundraiser pre-screening. He had done such an accurate job with the storyline that he made only minor alterations after the pre-screening. McLean approved of the song and, according to Yankovic, also has said that his children played it so much that "he'd start thinking about Jedis and ''Star Wars'', and it would mess him up" in concert. According to Yankovic's website, Lucasfilm's official response to the song was, "You should've seen the smile on (

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

') face." This is the second ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' song Weird Al has created, with the first being 1980's "

Yoda Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' universe, first appearing in the 1980 film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until ...

", a parody of "

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

" by

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

Music video

The video begins in the desert on the planet

Tatooine Tatooine () is a fictional desert planet that appears in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It is a beige-colored, desolate world orbiting a pair of binary stars, and inhabited by human settlers and a variety of other life forms. The planet was first ...

. Yankovic, dressed like

, the protagonist of ''Episode I'', walks until he comes across

Darth Sidious Sheev Palpatine, also known by his Sith name Darth Sidious, is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Initially credited as the Emperor in the original trilogy films, ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) ...

playing the piano. Yankovic uses

the Force The Force is a metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the '' Star Wars'' fictional universe. "Force-sensitive" characters use the Force throughout the franchise. Heroes like the Jedi seek to "become one with the Force", matching their personal wi ...

to get a

resonator guitar A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator gui ...

, and in the second verse he reappears performing in a

Mos Eisley Mos Eisley is a spaceport town in the fictional ''Star Wars'' universe. Located on the planet Tatooine, it first appeared in the 1977 film ''Star Wars'', described by the character Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Alec Guinness) as a "wretched hive of s ...

cantina leading a band also dressed as Jedi. In the last verse, he returns to the desert; and in the last chorus, numerous "Obi-Wan" clones sing as a group. *Some ''Star Wars'' characters can be seen, such as Queen Padmé Amidala (played by Al's cousin, Tammy),

Qui-Gon Jinn Qui-Gon Jinn () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, played by Liam Neeson. He is a main character in the prequel film trilogy, serving as the protagonist of ''The Phantom Menace'' (1999). He appears briefly as a Force ghost ...

Mace Windu Mace Windu is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Windu was portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel trilogy. Jackson reprised the role in the 2008 animated film '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and with voice only in the 20 ...

, and

. *The upper half of the pianist's face is always covered by the hood of the robe that he is wearing much like the Sith Lord

. When asked why, Yankovic stated that, "They didn't want to scare small children," a reference to the playful teasing of Yankovic's pianist, Rubén Valtierra, commonly used in his live shows. In 2011, the entire video was released as a bonus feature in a ''Star Wars'' spoofs compilation for the 2011

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

box set release of the saga.

Live version

Al and his band usually perform "The Saga Begins" and Al's earlier Star Wars parody, "

" as an encore. It is usually preceded by a cover of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's "

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. Schol ...

" by Al's keyboardist, Rubén Valtierra. During the 2007-2008 Straight Outta Lynwood Tour, the two were moved to the middle, and Al and his band performed "

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

" as the encore.

Response from Don McLean

McLean gave Yankovic permission to release the parody, although he did not make a cameo appearance in its music video, despite popular rumor. McLean himself praised the parody, even admitting to almost singing Yankovic's lyrics during his own live performances because his children played the song so often.

Radio edit

The song was played frequently on

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

and later released on ''Radio Disney Jams Volume 2''. Radio Disney took issue with his line "Did you see him hitting on the queen?" and removed it (so that the song skipped slightly). Yankovic, who usually does not like to change lyrics to suit the needs of others, provided Radio Disney with an updated version, having changed the words to "Did you see him talking to the queen?" He said that the alternate lyrics were preferable to the bad edit.

Charts

References

External links

"Weird Al" Yankovic - The Saga Begins
- Official music video on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Saga Begins, The "Weird Al" Yankovic songs 1999 singles Music of Star Wars Music videos directed by "Weird Al" Yankovic Songs with lyrics by "Weird Al" Yankovic American folk rock songs Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 1999 songs pt:The Saga Begins