Craigslist

Album: Internet Leaks (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Parodying the psychedelic-rock style of the Doors, Yankovic sings about the variety of postings that can be found on Craigslist, an online classified advertising service that was big in 2009. After he got the idea for the parody, he reached out to Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek to play on the track. Yankovic told AV Club the story of how the song came together:

    "That was obviously my Doors homage. It used to be a three-ringed notebook, and now it's folders on my laptop, but I keep lists of things, and I keep lists of bands and artists that I think would be fun to at one point do a pastiche of. I also have a list of topics that I think would be kind of fun to tackle. Sometimes, I'll sit and look at both columns, and I'll draw a line from column A to column B, and see if anything feels like an amusing juxtaposition. And as soon as my eye went from Doors to 'Craigslist,' immediately, I thought that there was something there. That just seemed so wrong, so anachronistic that it struck me as funny. And that was really all I had.

    I wanted to do a song in the style of The Doors about Craigslist, and my first thought was, 'Let's see if Ray Manzarek will do this.' And we contacted Ray Manzarek and he agreed to it, and based on that, I didn't even have a concept, I was like, 'Eh, let's do a song about Craigslist,' and he said, 'Okay, I'll play on it.' I think about a week later he was like, 'Ehh…maybe you should send me some lyrics or something.' He wound up being fine with it of course, and we had a great session, and man, what an honor, I mean, such a legendary guy, and we had a blast in the studio."
  • This first appeared on Yankovic's 2009 EP, Internet Leaks, which served as an experiment in releasing music via the internet. Two years later, all of the tracks on the EP were re-released on the album Alpocalypse.
  • Around the time this song came out in 2009, Craigslist was making headlines after medical student Philip Markoff, dubbed the Craigslist Killer (a title also given to Michael John Anderson a couple years earlier), was arrested for murdering a woman he met through the service. Al admitted the release of his tune was "unfortunate timing."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine"

Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine"They're Playing My Song

"How much does it cost? I'll buy it?" Another songwriter told Jonathan to change these lyrics. Good thing he ignored this advice.