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Skipperdan

Song: Skipper Dan

Running Time: 4:01

Year: 2009

Album: Alpocalypse, Internet Leaks

Style Parody of:' Weezer ('Pork and Beans, Pinkerton era Weezer)  and Fountains of Wayne (Stacy's Mom, Radiation Vibe, Denise, Sink to the Bottom)

Genre: Alternative rock

Guitar tuning: E flat

Lyrics: Lyrics

Video: Yes

Watch
Vevo

Download/Listen: Shockhound.com

Forum: Forum Discussion Page

Trivia[]

  • This song is about the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.
    • Al claims to have gotten the idea for the song while riding the attraction with his family. During the ride, the skipper briefly brought up his failed acting career, which gave Al the idea to turn that concept into a song.
  • A canteen belonging to Skipper Dan was added to the unload area of the Disneyland version of the attraction in 2021.
    • The Skipper Canteen, a Jungle Cruise themed restaurant at Magic Kingdom, added a "Skipper Dan's Dan Dan Noodles" item to its menu in 2022.
  • The jokes referenced in the bridge, explained:
    • "Bengal tigers can jump over twenty feet": Followed by the reassurance that luckily, the one the boat is passing is only four feet away.
    • "That's an African bull elephant": Followed by a description of its distinctive features. Then, in case anyone on the boat has a short memory, the skipper points out a second one, repeating the same spiel word for word.
    • "There it is, the back side of water": This is the punchline of probably the most famous joke on the ride. The boat first travels past a waterfall, then around a loop past some other scenery. As the boat returns, it passes behind the same waterfall, with the skipper excitedly playing up the significance of getting to see such a rare sight.
  • The video was animated by Divya Srinivasan who is best known for her collaborations with They Might Be Giants, whom Al is a well-known fan of. 
  • Unlike any of the songs he made, this is considered to be Weird Al's most serious song (as well as TMZ and You Don't Love Me Anymore).
  • In the second verse, Skipper Dan says "Don't bother tryin' to IMDB me." however, there is an IMDB page for the song. You can find it here.
  • One lyric, “Just like they’ve done for the last 50 years” was not technically true for either version of the attraction when the song was written, the Disneyland version (which is the one the song seems to be based on) was 54 years old and the Magic Kingdom version was 38 respectively, however when rounding the age of the Disneyland version down you get 50 years.
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