From a torrid romance with ’80s-era Madonna to being assassinated on stage by the Pablo Escobar drug cartel, The Roku Channel’s just-released Daniel Radcliffe-starring “Weird Al” Yankovic biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is full of surprises. Yankovic has another up his sleeve today with the release of the snappy, horn-tinged new song “Now You Know,” a hilariously matter-of-fact summation of the film that runs over its end credits.
As if to reinforce the fantasy that the decidedly untrue events of the film are, in fact, real, Yankovic baldly asserts, “If you still don’t believe it, well, no skin off my back / just don’t call me a liar, because shut up, you weren’t there / this movie is now canon / every word is true, I swear.”
From the moment the movie’s first trailer was released in late August, fans knew they were in for a very meta experience. At the beginning of Weird, a young Yankovic is forbidden by his parents from pursuing his accordion-fueled polka music dreams, setting him on a rebellious path toward becoming the best-selling pop parodist of all time. Later, he descends into alcohol- and drug-driven depravity as he becomes a worldwide phenomenon.
Yankovic himself appears briefly in Weird as a record company executive, as does Will Forte, who suffers the indignity of Radcliffe putting out a lit cigarette on his hand.
“Now You Know” can be found on Legacy Recordings’ original soundtrack for the film, which is also out today. It also includes five contemporary re-records of Yankovic classics “My Bologna,” “I Love Rocky Road,” “Another One Rides the Bus,” “Like a Surgeon,” and “Amish Paradise,” plus score by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson (Cobra Kai).
Yankovic wrapped his Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour last week in New York, but will make up a handful of shows in February that were postponed due to COVID-19.
