Talk:Mandatory Fun

Leaked info
I don't really know how to edit the source of the article, but 'Foil' is a parody of Royals by Lorde. Source: I'm listening to the album :P 2605:6000:EC47:D600:2587:32E0:CBD:65DB (talk) 17:47, 12 July 2014 (UTC)


 * We require that the content be verifyable by legal means. Since the album is not out but clearly leaked, we have to wait till Tuesday to add any of this information. --M ASEM (t) 18:14, 12 July 2014 (UTC)
 * At this point the physical CDs have shipped early to some customers, so I may just be bold and cite the liner notes to avoid two days of revert scuffles. jhsounds (talk) 19:48, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

Parody vs. Pastiche
Pastiche is the proper term for a "style parody." And it is the term Yankovic most often uses for his originals which imitate a certain style. Anyone have a problem with me altering all the "style parody" wording to the correct term? Jasendorf (talk) 13:52, 15 July 2014 (UTC)
 * That sounds like quite a big job, the phrase 'Style Parody' is used on lots of "Weird Al" related pages on Wikipedia, not just this one. You will need to be consistent by using only 'Pastiche' throughout the encyclopedia's pages on Al if you decide to go ahead. Good luck :) --Jonie148 (talk) 14:01, 15 July 2014 (UTC)
 * I just don't know if that's as clear as "style parody", to me the term pastiche suggests a collage or hodge podge of different works by an artist as opposed to a single hommage. Which may describe some style parodies by Al, but not others. Walterego (talk) 08:15, 23 July 2014 (UTC)

Background, 3rd paragraph
The paragraph mentions him getting permission from Pharrell to parody 3 songs. The third was Pharrell's "Happy", it's incorrectly stated right now as Iggy Azalea's "Fancy". 99.107.199.30 (talk) 00:18, 16 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Thank you, that was my bad on the song inclusion. --M ASEM (t) 00:45, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

Those pictures?
Seriously, how are those relevant at all? I don't need a picture of Iggy Azalea to know that Al asked her to parody a song. What's the point? Trying to pad out the text? And yet there's not even a single picture of Al here. I would remove them. Nohomersryan (talk) 01:53, 16 July 2014 (UTC)


 * At least with Azalea and Williams, they personally are talked about (more than they were just target parodies) about getting permission, so they are appropriate. As to photos of Al, he's indicated he will tour, and I would not be surprised if we would see him in free images in that military uniform or one of his "Tacky" outfits (and potentially others). We have him on the cover, of course, and if we had more images of Yankovic that tie to the album better, including them would make more sense, but right now, these images seem fine. --M ASEM (t) 01:58, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

I'd like to bring this issue up again before going on an editing rampage. I know that everyone has a different writing style, but the pictures, while relevant, do not fit within the article. I don't write an article on a village church and insert pictures of random stain glass windows from a church in Kenya or pictures of similar gravestones because they are similar, because it makes the article look like it was written by a five yr old. The same as this article should not have pictures of random propaganda from Vietnam in it.The pictures of the artists are pointless and do not add to the article as they do not depict weird Al meeting the artists, but just pictures of the artists at random points in times. I'm sorry for the rant, and this is only my opinion. HamishDS (talk) 23:44, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

Mission Statement
The song "Mission Statement" emulates the style of Crosby, Stills & Nash, with the lyrics citing a series of corporate buzzwords and executive jargon. Zaleski noted that the song imitates the band's layered harmonies and incorporates elements of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes".

I don't know about any other editors here, but I also heard a bit of "Carry On" in the beginning of the song as well. Anyone else think this should be added? -User:DanTD (talk) 18:12, 20 July 2014 (UTC)
 * If there's an outside source making this observation, we can go ahead and add it. Otherwise it could be considered original research. jhsounds (talk) 18:19, 20 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Oh, and to clarify: sourced observations would be appropriate within the article prose, not the track listing. Otherwise it would conflate critical analysis with what the liner notes actually say. jhsounds (talk) 21:14, 25 July 2014 (UTC)

ABC World News (7/21)
Al's going to be on a segment of ABC World News Tonight tonight (7/21), as teased by this twitter image:, which is a quote I definitely feel we need to add but would like more context to expand. --M ASEM (t) 20:02, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Recommending for GA
I would suggest we can likely push this as a GA at this point - it's clearly on the way to an FA but I think we'd like to see what possible Grammy noms it gets by the end of the year to see if it gets that recognition then, and we'll likely need a proof read.

In part, if we can get this to GA, then there is a clear DYK we can offer: "...that Mandatory Fun is Weird Al Yankovic's first Billboard 200 #1 hit from his 32-year career?" (or soemthing to that degree).

I can lead the GA but this should be a conom with at least Jhsounds whos done an excellent job keeping the information sorted. --M ASEM (t) 20:18, 9 August 2014 (UTC)
 * You can go ahead with the nomination process yourself if you like. I'm mainly concerned with giving the article a thorough once-over when I get some free time. jhsounds (talk) 21:16, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

Composition section
I might as well clarify this: the "Composition" section is supposed to be a general description of the album's structure. Splitting each song into it's own paragraph as a track-by-track breakdown is pointless, especially since five of the songs already have their own articles. Please also see Manual of Style, which points out that short paragraphs are discouraged. Thanks. jhsounds (talk) 21:52, 9 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Agreed; we also have the same approach on the videos section grouping them into a few paragraphs instead of breaking out each one. --M ASEM (t) 22:03, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

Jackson Park Express
As it stands, the comment either way is probably technically original research; but I think the song owes at least as much to Harry Chapin as to Cat Stevens. - Smerdis of Tlön - killing the human spirit since 2003! 03:05, 10 August 2014 (UTC)
 * The problem is that Yankovic himself specifically mentions Cat Stevens, and only Cat Stevens, connected to that track. Perhaps he absently worked in a Chapin influence, but that would need either him acknowledging that, or a secondary source mentioning the connection to Chapin even if it was unintentional by Yankovic. --M ASEM (t) 03:08, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

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