Eat It

"Eat It"
Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic
from the album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
B-side "That Boy Could Dance"
Released February 28, 1984
Format 7", 12"
Recorded December 13, 1983
Genre
Length 3:19
Label Scotti Brothers
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Rick Derringer
"Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology
"I Love Rocky Road"
(1983)		 "Eat It"
(1984)		 "King of Suede"
(1984)
Alternative covers
British single cover
Japanese single cover
"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D track listing
  1. "Eat It"
  2. "Midnight Star"
  3. "The Brady Bunch"
  4. "Buy Me a Condo"
  5. "I Lost on Jeopardy"
  6. "Polkas on 45"
  7. "Mr. Popeil"
  8. "King of Suede"
  9. "That Boy Could Dance"
  10. "Theme from Rocky XIII (The Rye or the Kaiser)"
  11. "Nature Trail to Hell"

"Eat It" is a 1984 song by comedy music artist "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a spoof of "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. The track was both a commercial and critical success, earning Yankovic a Grammy Award. It peaked at #12 in the United States, and reached #1 in Australia. The famous guitar solo, originally performed by Eddie Van Halen, was reproduced by Yankovic's producer, Rick Derringer.

According to Yankovic, when he presented his lyrics to Jackson for review, he did not know what kind of reaction he would get. Jackson allegedly thought it was amusing, and agreed to allow the parody.[1] On October 19, 1989, the RIAA certified "Eat It" as a gold single.[2]

Content

The song is about a parent's exasperating quest to get their picky child to eat.

Reception

The single reached number 1 in Australia, and it was his highest-charting US single on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 12 until "White & Nerdy" peaked at number 9 in October 2006.[3] "Eat It" earned Yankovic a 1984 Grammy Award in the Best Comedy Recording category.[4] "Eat It" also outranked "Beat It" in overall highest position on the Australian Aria Charts, with its highest rank being number 1, while "Beat It"'s highest is third. The RIAA certified "Eat It" as a gold single on October 19, 1989.[2]

Track listing

1984 release

  1. "Eat It" – 3:19
  2. "That Boy Could Dance" – 3:32

1985/1993 re-release

  1. "Eat It" – 3:19
  2. "I Lost on Jeopardy" – 3:26

Music video

The video for "Eat It" is styled as a shot-for-shot remake of Jackson's video for "Beat It", but with elements being parodied in various silly ways and Yankovic dressed as the latter. The video also features a few of the same dancers from Jackson's video and Yankovic mimicking the dance moves from the original video in a clumsy manner.[5]

Jackson received royalties from Yankovic due to the strong similarities.[6]

Chart history

Chart (1984-1985) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 1
Canada RPM Top Singles 5
Irish Singles Chart[7] 18
New Zealand Singles Chart[8] 6
UK Singles Chart 36
US Billboard Hot 100 12

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Musical mimicry...and then some: Weird Al Yankovic's video antics come to life on stage". The Windsor Star. March 23, 1995. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Gold & Platinum - 'Weird Al' Yankovic". RIAA. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  3. ↑ Eat It's Highest Ranking on the Billboard 100
  4. ↑ "Nerds Rejoice: 'Weird Al' Talks Grammy Noms". Rolling Stone. February 8, 2007. Archived from the original on February 11, 2007.
  5. ↑ Russell, Lisa (April 16, 1984). "A Playful Poke at Beat It Has Made Weird Al Yankovic the Pooh-Bah of Put-Ons". People. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  6. ↑ Campbell 1995, p. 154.
  7. ↑ "Search" Archived June 3, 2009, at WebCite. Irish Charts. In the "Search by Artist" field, put in Weird Al Yankocic. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Werid Al Yankovic - Eat It". New Zealand Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 18, 2014.

Eat It Official Video on YouTube

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