Close but No Cigar (song)
Encyclopedia
"Close But No Cigar" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic
, released on his album Straight Outta Lynwood
. A style parody of the band Cake
, the song recounts the narrator's relationships with three attractive and near-ideal women, each of which ends when he perceives a minor flaw in her character or appearance. He dumps each one for her slight imperfection with the catchphrase, "close, but no cigar." The narrator never explains why he himself might deserve or personally equal the standards of which he applies to them.
A music video was released on Straight Outta Lynwoods DualDisc
, created by The Ren and Stimpy Show
creator John Kricfalusi
& Katie Rice.
", but who always incorrectly used the word infer in place of imply; Janet, with a "body hotter than a habanero", but who owned a copy of Joe Dirt
on DVD; and Julie, a "world famous billionaire
bikini supermodel
astrophysicist
" who had an earlobe that was "...just a little tiny bit too big". Every time the narrator leaves one of the women, he contrasts their relationship with an activity that presumably doesn't need complete accuracy: horseshoes
, hand grenade
s, and government work. Yankovic was inspired to write the song based on a friend of his, who displayed similar tendencies when dating others and generally breaking off the relationship after finding nitpicks that other people would commonly overlook.
The song is muscially a style parody of Cake
. Yankovic and Cake's lead singer, John McCrea, are close friends, and Yankovic thought it would be "fun" to create a song in "distinct style". Cake typically uses the vibraslap
, electric country guitar, a single trumpet, and syncopated, almost spoken, lyrics. Yankovic borrows much of the music from a selection of Cake's songs, mostly from the album Comfort Eagle
:
directed this video for Weird Al. Cigarettes the Cat from John's cartoon Weekend Pussy Hunt
played a big role in the video, similar to how John's character Jimmy the Idiot Boy played a major role in the music video John made for Björk's song "I Miss You
." Katie Rice lent a hand by drawing and animating the girls and the cats in the crowd sequence. Kricfalusi, an animation historian, included a sequence that includes some caricatures of both Tweety Bird and Mickey Mouse
. Kricfalusi included his signature gross out humor in sequences featuring a female's nude buttocks
in a bathtub, Charlize Theron
transforming into "a big, fat slobbering pig" and blowing up, Cigarettes eating Julie's face and, concluding the video, Cigarettes urinating in a very unclean urinal.
The video features Cigarettes seeing Jillian in her window; abeit her being still naked. He falls in love with her so much that he grabs out a squirrel's intestines to make a necklace. However, he is annoyed by how she uses "infer" instead of "imply". As he shouts the chorus, Jillian shrinks and gets eaten by Cigarettes. He then finds Janet and falls in love with her. He goes crazy for her that he starts stabbing Tweety Bird and Mickey Mouse
. However, he quickly dumps and eats her after learning "she actually owned a copy of Joe Dirt
on DVD". He now quickly finds Julie and is head over heels for her. Suddenly, Cigarettes finds her big earlobe and shouts the chorus at her. She doesn't shrink however, but Cigarettes winds up eating her face. The video ends with Cigarettes urinating in a very unclean urinal.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
, released on his album Straight Outta Lynwood
Straight Outta Lynwood
Straight Outta Lynwood is the 12th studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It was released on September 26, 2006 in the U.S. by Volcano, on September 30, 2006 in Australia, on October 3 in Canada, on October 6, 2006 in New Zealand, November 13, 2006 in the United Kingdom, and November 24, 2006 in...
. A style parody of the band Cake
Cake (band)
Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and...
, the song recounts the narrator's relationships with three attractive and near-ideal women, each of which ends when he perceives a minor flaw in her character or appearance. He dumps each one for her slight imperfection with the catchphrase, "close, but no cigar." The narrator never explains why he himself might deserve or personally equal the standards of which he applies to them.
A music video was released on Straight Outta Lynwoods DualDisc
DualDisc
DualDisc was a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and later under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America...
, created by The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren & Stimpy Show, often simply referred to as Ren & Stimpy, is an American animated television series, created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on the titular characters: Ren Höek, a psychotic chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a good-natured, dimwitted cat...
creator John Kricfalusi
John Kricfalusi
Michael John Kricfalusi , better known as John K., is a Canadian animator. He is creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, its adults-only spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", The Ripping Friends animated series, and Weekend Pussy Hunt, which was billed as "the world's first interactive web-based...
& Katie Rice.
Song
The song's lyrics describe three women: Jillian, who was "sweeter than aspartameAspartame
Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009 it...
", but who always incorrectly used the word infer in place of imply; Janet, with a "body hotter than a habanero", but who owned a copy of Joe Dirt
Joe Dirt
Joe Dirt is a 2001 American comedy film starring David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Brian Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Jaime Pressly, Erik Per Sullivan, Adam Beach and Kid Rock. The film was written by Spade and Fred Wolf.-Plot:...
on DVD; and Julie, a "world famous billionaire
Billionaire
A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...
bikini supermodel
Supermodel
The term supermodel refers to a highly-paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in haute couture and commercial modeling. The term became prominent in the popular culture of the 1980s. Supermodels usually work for top fashion designers and labels...
astrophysicist
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
" who had an earlobe that was "...just a little tiny bit too big". Every time the narrator leaves one of the women, he contrasts their relationship with an activity that presumably doesn't need complete accuracy: horseshoes
Horseshoes
Horseshoes is an outdoor game played between two people using four horseshoes and two throwing targets set in a sandbox area. The game is played by the players alternating turns tossing horseshoes at stakes in the ground, which are traditionally placed 40 feet apart...
, hand grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s, and government work. Yankovic was inspired to write the song based on a friend of his, who displayed similar tendencies when dating others and generally breaking off the relationship after finding nitpicks that other people would commonly overlook.
The song is muscially a style parody of Cake
Cake (band)
Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and...
. Yankovic and Cake's lead singer, John McCrea, are close friends, and Yankovic thought it would be "fun" to create a song in "distinct style". Cake typically uses the vibraslap
Vibraslap
A vibraslap is a percussion instrument consisting of a piece of stiff wire connecting a wood ball to a hollow box of wood with metal “teeth” inside. The percussionist holds the metal wire in one hand and strikes the ball...
, electric country guitar, a single trumpet, and syncopated, almost spoken, lyrics. Yankovic borrows much of the music from a selection of Cake's songs, mostly from the album Comfort Eagle
Comfort Eagle
Comfort Eagle is the fourth studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 24 July 2001. Comfort Eagle was Cake's first release on Columbia Records....
:
- "Short Skirt/Long JacketShort Skirt/Long Jacket"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" is the first single by American alternative rock band Cake from their 2001 album Comfort Eagle.-Music video:The associated music vox pop video is composed entirely of people listening to the song on headphones and their reactions...
" contributed the end chorus (most notably the backing "Nah Nah Nah" part). The lyrical theme for "Close But No Cigar" is also very similar. - "Opera Singer" contributed the guitar part.
- "Love You Madly" contributed the bass line and the backing trumpet solo.
- The song ends with unaccompanied horn and guitar as in "Sheep Go to HeavenSheep Go to HeavenSheep Go to Heaven is a single by American alternative rock band Cake from their 1998 album Prolonging the Magic.-Track listing:-Title:...
" from Prolonging the MagicProlonging the MagicProlonging the Magic is the third studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 6 October 1998. It was recorded after the departure of guitarist Greg Brown and features a rotating lineup of musicians to replace him. One of them, Xan McCurdy, became his full-time replacement.The album was...
.
Music video
John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi
Michael John Kricfalusi , better known as John K., is a Canadian animator. He is creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, its adults-only spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", The Ripping Friends animated series, and Weekend Pussy Hunt, which was billed as "the world's first interactive web-based...
directed this video for Weird Al. Cigarettes the Cat from John's cartoon Weekend Pussy Hunt
Weekend Pussy Hunt
Weekend Pussy Hunt was an internet-only film noir cartoon series created by John Kricfalusi, starring Dirty Dog and Cigarettes The Cat. The series was initially developed for MSN, which billed it as "the world's first interactive web-based cartoon" and slated it for release in 1997, however MSN...
played a big role in the video, similar to how John's character Jimmy the Idiot Boy played a major role in the music video John made for Björk's song "I Miss You
I Miss You (Björk song)
"I Miss You" is a song by Björk, the sixth and final single release from her 1995 album Post. It is amongst her least-well performing singles in the UK, but it hit #1 on the U.S...
." Katie Rice lent a hand by drawing and animating the girls and the cats in the crowd sequence. Kricfalusi, an animation historian, included a sequence that includes some caricatures of both Tweety Bird and Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
. Kricfalusi included his signature gross out humor in sequences featuring a female's nude buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
in a bathtub, Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
transforming into "a big, fat slobbering pig" and blowing up, Cigarettes eating Julie's face and, concluding the video, Cigarettes urinating in a very unclean urinal.
The video features Cigarettes seeing Jillian in her window; abeit her being still naked. He falls in love with her so much that he grabs out a squirrel's intestines to make a necklace. However, he is annoyed by how she uses "infer" instead of "imply". As he shouts the chorus, Jillian shrinks and gets eaten by Cigarettes. He then finds Janet and falls in love with her. He goes crazy for her that he starts stabbing Tweety Bird and Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
. However, he quickly dumps and eats her after learning "she actually owned a copy of Joe Dirt
Joe Dirt
Joe Dirt is a 2001 American comedy film starring David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Brian Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Jaime Pressly, Erik Per Sullivan, Adam Beach and Kid Rock. The film was written by Spade and Fred Wolf.-Plot:...
on DVD". He now quickly finds Julie and is head over heels for her. Suddenly, Cigarettes finds her big earlobe and shouts the chorus at her. She doesn't shrink however, but Cigarettes winds up eating her face. The video ends with Cigarettes urinating in a very unclean urinal.