Gump (song)

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"Gump"
Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic
from the album Bad Hair Day
B-side "Spy Hard (Theme from the Motion Picture Spy Hard)", "Since You've Been Gone"
Released May 7, 1996
Format CD, cassette
Recorded January 3, 1996 at Santa Monica Sound Recorders, Santa Monica, California[1]
Genre Comedy, Alternative rock, Post-grunge
Length 2:10
Label Scotti Brothers
Producer(s) "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology

"Amish Paradise"
(1996)		 "Gump"
(1996)		 "Spy Hard"
(1996)

Alternative cover
Promo CD single cover
Bad Hair Day track listing
  1. "Amish Paradise"
  2. "Everything You Know Is Wrong"
  3. "Cavity Search
  4. "Callin' in Sick"
  5. "The Alternative Polka"
  6. "Since You've Been Gone"
  7. "Gump"
  8. "I'm So Sick of You"
  9. "Syndicated Inc."
  10. "I Remember Larry"
  11. "Phony Calls"
  12. "The Night Santa Went Crazy"

"Gump" is a song by American musical parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "Lump" by The Presidents of the United States of America and also parodies the 1994 movie Forrest Gump. It is one of several Yankovic songs describing the events of a movie, such as "Jurassic Park" and "The Saga Begins."

The cover for the single is itself a parody of the Presidents of the United States of America's logo. This is one of Yankovic's shortest album parodies, second only to his remade version of "My Bologna". In the video for this song, Yankovic dons a bald cap.

Track listing

The following tracks are on the single:

  1. "Gump" - 2:10
  2. "Spy Hard" - 2:49
  3. "Since You've Been Gone" - 1:22
  4. "Since You've Been Gone (Karaoke Version)" - 1:22
  5. "Callin' in Sick (Instrumental)" - 3:40
  6. "Spy Hard (Instrumental)" - 2:49
  7. "Spy Hard (Orchestral Mix)" - 2:49

The promo single only contains "Gump". The cassette single only contains "Gump" and "Spy Hard".

Production

The song was recorded on January 3, 1996 at Santa Monica Sound Recorders, in Santa Monica, California. Before "Gump" was officially released, Yankovic played a rough version of the song for the Presidents of the United States of America on their tour bus. This marks the first time that Al was able to "see a band's reaction when they heard their parody for the first time."[1]

Music video

The music video for "Gump" is a double parody of both the movie Forrest Gump and the Presidents of the United States of America's music video for "Lump". The single's cover art is directly taken from the video shoot.

  • The video begins with a feather blowing through the air, much like the beginning of the original movie.
  • Andy Comeau appears as the titular character, Forrest Gump.[2]
  • Yankovic appears as Chris Ballew, complete with bald head.
  • John "Bermuda" Schwartz appears as Jason Finn, and Steve Jay appears as Dave Dederer. Yankovic has stated that originally his guitarist, Jim West, was supposed to play the part of Dederer, but his hair was too long. Jay later filled in.[3]
  • Throughout the video Forrest offers different people chocolates. He first offers Gladys Ormphby (Ruth Buzzi's Laugh-In character) some chocolates and she hits him with her purse. The second offer is to large, strong man Henry Reichenbach which results in Gump being spun around by his head. He then offers Pat Boone some chocolates. Boone greedily devours most of the box.[2]
  • The instruments used in the song are over-simplified as a parody of the Presidents of the United States of America's actual instruments (a basitar, or 2 stringed guitar for bass, and a guitbass, which is a 3 stringed guitar). Al uses a one stringed bass in the video, while the guitarist uses a two stringed "guitar".
  • During the lyrics "He's kind of square", Yankovic makes a square with his hand that appears on screen in dotted lines. This is a reference to Pulp Fiction, a film made the same year as Forrest Gump.
  • In the instrumential break of the song, it shows Forest running (A parody of the scene where Forest runs all around the country) across the street, in a horse race, and outer space. As he runs in the street again, he suddenly bumps into a pole and falls down to the ground, as the song says, "Run...stop!"
  • As mentioned before, half of the music video is also a parody of the "Lump" music video: Instead of singing in a bog/marsh, Al and his band are dancing in the water fountain in the middle of the park. The silhouette scene in the Lump music video is also parodied, with Al and his band making hand shadows against the background.
  • At 1:04, during the silhouette scenes, Yankovic can be seen bending his guitar. This is similar to the videos for "Smells Like Nirvana" and "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*."
  • Gump is digitally edited into existing footage tapping John F. Kennedy on the shoulder, standing behind Richard Nixon and waving to the camera, and roasting hot dogs at an atomic bomb drop, just like the movie which edited Gump into several newsreels so he appeared to be interacting with historical figures.
  • The song ends with, "And that's all I have to say about that", which is the way Forrest Gump often ends his stories. Afterwards The Presidents Of the United States of America followed Weird Al's example and ended performances of "Lump" with that quote and they still continue to do so.

Chart positions

Chart (1996) Peak
Position
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 2

See also

  • List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic
  • List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Yankovic, Alfred (2013), "Gump", 'Weird Al' Yankovic Official Limited Edition Trading Cards (Volcano Records) (58) 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 www.weirdal.com "Video Facts"
  3. ↑ Ask Al: Sept/Oct 1996

External links

"Weird Al" Yankovic
Studio albums
EPs
Compilations
Singles
Videography
Related articles
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