Update: "Weird Al" Yankovic now says the "Gaga Saga" resulted from miscommunication and that he will be able to put his parody of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" on his next album.
"After putting my Lady Gaga parody on YouTube this morning -- and announcing that it wouldn’t be on my next album because Gaga didn’t approve it -- there was a huge outpouring of disappointment from the internet," he blogged late Wednesday. "Apparently the fact that she didn't approve it was news to Lady Gaga herself! Gaga's manager has now admitted that he never forwarded my parody to Gaga -- she had no idea at all. Even though we assumed that Gaga herself was the one making the decision (because, well, that’s what we were told), he apparently made the decision completely on his own."
"Weird Al" Yankovic is calling it the "Gaga Saga," but it sounds like it might have been more like "The Meat Dress Mix-Up."
Yankovic's blog post about his frustrating attempt to gain Lady Gaga's approval of a parody version of her song "Born This Way" created something of a furor online Wednesday. But new reports indicate the nerd skirmish over "Perform This Way" -- Yankovic's send-up of Gaga's over-the-top style and stage presence -- has ended on peaceful terms.
ArtsBeat, citing Yankovic's manager Jay Levey, says "permission had been given for 'Perform This Way' to appear on Mr. Yankovic's new album." (You can hear the song now in the video above.)
The story of Yankovic's dealings with Gaga's camp is pretty fascinating, in a frustrating kind of way.
Yankovic said his pitch to Gaga's manager was this: "The basic concept is that I, as a Lady Gaga doppelganger of sorts, describe the incredibly extravagant ways in which I perform on stage. Meat dresses and giant eggs would most likely be referenced, but also much more ridiculous made-up examples of bizarre wardrobe and stage production. As with all my parodies, it would be respectful of the artist, while having a bit of fun with her larger-than-life image."
Yankovic, who took the unusual step of writing and recordeding the song before gaining Gaga's approval, said he wasn't given any idea what kind of problem the current queen of pop had with his parody.
However, it would surprising, not to mention ironic, that Gaga would deny a form of creative expression from a cool weirdo like Yankovic about a song that is all about celebrating cool weirdos and how they express themselves.
In her defense, sources speaking to TMZ say Lady Gaga is a "Weird Al" fan and hasn't heard the track yet.
Perhaps TMZ's sources are right and there's a mix-up about Gaga's feelings regarding the song. And maybe Yankovic will be able to move forward with his grand plan for the song, which he envisioned as the lead single on his upcoming album. Proceeds from the song's sales, Yankovic blogged, were intended to go to the Human Rights Campaign as an "act of good karma" for parodying what he considered to be a human rights anthem.
No matter what, the true loss here isn't the hiccup in the release of a new "Weird Al" record (please come soon, please!), or the possible loss of donations to charity. It's the potential loss of what might have been an epic music video.
"Man, I wish you all could have had a chance to see the video we were going to do for this thing," Yankovic blogged. "It was going to be beyond awesome, and disturbing on many levels. Oh well."
Join us, and the Onion's A.V. Club, in gently weeping for what might have been.
SEE ALSO:- Weird Al: Forefather of the YouTube Spoof
