The Saga Begins

"The Saga Begins"
Singleby"Weird Al" Yankovic
from the albumRunning with Scissors
A-side	"It's All About the Pentiums"
Released	June 24, 1999
Recorded	April 20, 1999
Genre	Comedy rock,folk rock
Length	5:27
Label	Volcano
Songwriter(s)	Don McLean,"Weird Al" Yankovic
Producer(s)	"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovicsingles chronology
"The Night Santa Went Crazy" (1996) "The Saga Begins" (1999) "It's All About the Pentiums" (1999)
Audio sample
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Music video
”The Saga Begins”onYouTube

"The Saga Begins"is aparodysong by"Weird Al" Yankovic.It parodies "American Pie"byDon McLean,with lyrics that humorously summarize the plot of the filmStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menacethrough the point of view ofObi-Wan Kenobi,one of the film's protagonists.

The song's title, not mentioned in the lyrics, derives from ataglinethat appeared inteaser trailersand thefilm posterforThe Phantom Menace:"Everysagahas abeginning"."The Saga Begins "was released as a single from the 1999 albumRunning with Scissors,and later appearing on the compilation albumThe Saga Begins.

History

Set to the tune ofDon McLean's "American Pie","The Saga Begins "recounts the plot ofStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,fromObi-Wan Kenobi's point of view. Yankovic gathered most of the information he needed to write the song fromInternetspoilers.Lucasfilmdeclined 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 [sic] andStar 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's] face. "This is the secondStar Warssong Weird Al has created, with the first being 1985's "Yoda",a parody of"Lola"byThe Kinks.

Music video

The video begins in the desert on the planetTatooine.Yankovic, dressed likeObi-Wan Kenobi,the protagonist ofEpisode I,walks until he comes acrossDarth Sidiousplaying the piano. Yankovic usesthe Forceto get aresonator guitar,and in the second verse he reappears performing in aMos Eisleycantina 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.

• SomeStar Warscharacters can be seen, such asQueen Padmé Amidala,Qui-Gon Jinn,Mace Windu,andYoda.
• The upper half of the pianist's face is always covered by the hood of the robe that he is wearing much like theSithLordDarth Sidious.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.

Yankovic performing the song inAuckland,New Zealandon March 10, 2007

In 1999, the music video was included as a bonus feature on Yankovic's first concert DVD,"Weird Al" Yankovic Live!An Easter Egg on the DVD is Yankovic's running commentary on the music video, accessible by pressing the "audio" button twice on your remote control.

In 2011, the entire video was released as a bonus feature in aStar Warsspoofs compilation for the 2011Blu-raybox set release of the saga.

Production

The music video was filmed over two days in 1999. Yankovic described the shoot as one of the most difficult of his career. Yankovic wanted to keep it simple, as they could not use scenes from the film, the song was more than five minutes long, and they had a small budget. The concept Yankovic settled on was "MTV Unpluggedin theStar Wars Cantina."

Day one was when they filmed the desert scenes. The desert scenes were filmed in theMojave DesertoutsideBaker, California.Temperatures reached 120F (49C) and several crew members passed out fromheat exhaustion.Several scenes could only be filmed in one take, as there would be footprints in the sand for a second take. To film the final scene, they did not have time to use acamera dolly,so they got the shot by strapping Yankovic to a crane and spinning him around 50 feet in the air.

The second day was when they filmed the cantina scenes. It was a much more comfortable shoot, as it was in an air conditioned studio. It did have its perils, however, as several cast members playing aliens had anallergic reactionto the special effects make-up and developed arash.Yankovic kept the budget down by getting several friends and family members to play various roles, such as his second cousin Tammy as Queen Amidala, and aTower Recordsclerk he knew as Mace Windu. Yankvoic purposely avoided using recognizableStar Warsaliens so as to avoid any copyright troubles with Lucasfilm, but he made an exception for a silhouette of Yoda. He also obtained Lucasfilm's permission to use a promotional photo ofJake Lloyd.

Live version

Al and his band usually perform "The Saga Begins" and Al's earlier Star Wars parody, "Yoda"as an encore. It is usually preceded by a cover ofJohann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"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"as the encore.

When performing the song live in concert, Al is frequently joined by anhonor guardofStormtroopersthat he recruits from the local chapter of the501st Legion.Of working with the 501st Legion, Al says, "Every single one of those Stormtroopers acted like I was doing them the biggest favor in the world by letting them perform on stage with me, when in fact the exact opposite was true."

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 onRadio Disneyand later released onRadio 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

Chart (2010)	Peak position
USComedy Digital Tracks(Billboard)	20

External links

• "Weird Al" Yankovic - The Saga Begins- Official music video on YouTube