"Gump" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

musical parodist

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...

. It is a parody of " Lump" by

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

group The Presidents of the United States of America and also parodies the 1994 movie ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson ...

''. It is one of a handful of Yankovic songs describing the events of a movie, such as "

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

" and "

The Saga Begins "The Saga Begins" is a parody song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It parodies " American Pie" by Don McLean, with lyrics that humorously summarize the plot of the film ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' through the point of view of Obi-Wan ...

" and currently the only one parodied from a then-recent song. The cover for the single is itself a parody of the Presidents of the United States of America's debut album cover. This is one of Yankovic's shortest album parodies, second only to his remade version of "

My Bologna "My Bologna" is the debut single by American musical parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic, originally released in December 1979. It is a parody of the Knack's hit song "My Sharona". Yankovic originally wrote the lyrics while he attended California ...

" (a parody of

The Knack The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, " My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979. History Founding (1977–1978) Singer Doug Fieger was a native of Oak Park, Michigan, a ...

's "

My Sharona "My Sharona" () is the debut single by the Knack. The song was written by Berton Averre and Doug Fieger, and it was released in 1979 from their debut album, '' Get the Knack''. It reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart, ...

"). In the video for this song, Yankovic dons a

bald cap A bald cap is a wig-like cap simulating the appearance of a bald or partially bald head. As part of an actor's make-up, it is often used to make a person appear older.Delamar, p. 239. Bald caps are a versatile medium. They form the basis of many ...

. The Presidents of the United States of America themselves praised the parody and has since often referred to the "Weird Al" song during live performances. Comedian

Brian Posehn Brian Edmund Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's ''Mr. Show with ...

recorded a skit for his 2020

comedy metal Comedy rock is rock music that is comedic in nature. Oftentimes it is mixed with satire or irony.V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul'' (Backbeat Books, 3rd Edition. ...

album ''Grandpa Metal'' called "My Phone Call with Weird Al", featuring Yankovic, in which Posehn seeks Yankovic's permission to record a parody called "Trump" about the then-current

POTUS The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, and gets infuriated when Yankovic informs him of the band who wrote the original hit to which Posehn responds "and Sinbad did a genie movie that not even Sinbad remembers".

Track listing

# "Gump" – 2:10 # " Spy Hard" – 2:49 # "Since You've Been Gone" – 1:22 # "Since You've Been Gone" (Karaoke Version) – 1:22 # "Callin' in Sick" (Instrumental) – 3:40 # "Spy Hard" (Instrumental) – 2:49 # "Spy Hard" (Orchestral Mix) – 2:49

Production

The song was recorded on January 3, 1996 at Santa Monica Sound Recorders, in Santa Monica, California. Before "Gump" was officially released, Yankovic played a rough version of the song for the Presidents of the United States of America on their tour bus. This marks the first time that Al was able to "see a band's reaction when they heard their parody for the first time." PUSA frontman

Chris Ballew Christopher Ballew (born May 28, 1965) is an American musician best known as the lead singer and bassist of the alternative rock group the Presidents of the United States of America. He also performs and records as a children's artist under th ...

said he first heard Yankovic was doing his song on television, and later became friends with the parodist. Yankovic even directed a music video for the band's song " Mixed Up S.O.B." in 2008, and has joined them on stage a few times.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for "Gump" is a double parody of both the movie ''Forrest Gump'' and the Presidents of the United States of America's music video for "Lump". The single's cover art is directly taken from the video shoot. * The video begins with a feather blowing through the air, much like the beginning of the original movie. *

Andy Comeau Andy Comeau (born October 19, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Theodore "Teddy" Huffstodt on the Showtime series '' Huff'' (2004-2006). He was also featured in the fourth season of the series ''House'' as Dr. Travis Brenna ...

appears as the titular character, Forrest Gump. * Yankovic appears as

, complete with bald head. * Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz appears as

Jason Finn Jason Finn (born October 27, 1967) is an American musician, best known as the former drummer and singer for The Presidents of the United States of America. He was previously the drummer of Love Battery until 1995 (and also played drums for the ...

, and Steve Jay appears as

Dave Dederer David Dederer (born October 5, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer. He was a member of the alternative rock band The Presidents of the United States of America. An alumnus of Seattle, Washington's The Bush School and Brown University ...

. Yankovic has stated that originally his guitarist, Jim West, was supposed to play the part of Dederer, but his hair was too long. Jay later filled in. * Throughout the video Forrest offers different people chocolates. He first offers Gladys Ormphby (

Ruth Buzzi Ruth Ann Buzzi ( ; born July 24, 1936) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She has appeared on stage, in films, and on television. She is best known for her performances on the comedy-variety show '' Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 196 ...

Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Dan ...

character) some chocolates and she hits him with her purse. The second offer is to Henry Reichenbach who is portrayed to be a stereotypical biker which results in Gump being spun around by his head. He then offers

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

some chocolates. Boone greedily devours most of the box. * The instruments used in the song are over-simplified as a parody of the Presidents of the United States of America's actual instruments (a basitar, or 2 stringed guitar for bass, and a guitbass, which is a 3 stringed guitar). Al uses a one stringed bass in the video, while the guitarist uses a two stringed "guitar". * In the instrumental break of the song, it shows Forrest running (a parody of the scene where Forrest runs all around the country) across the street, in a horse race, and outer space. As he runs in the street again, he suddenly bumps into a pole and falls down to the ground, as the song says, "Run...stop!" * As mentioned before, half of the music video is also a parody of the "Lump" music video: Instead of singing in a

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

/marsh, Al and his band are dancing in the water fountain in the middle of the park. The silhouette scene in the "Lump" music video is also parodied, with Al and his band making hand shadows against the background. * At 1:04, during the silhouette scenes, Yankovic can be seen bending his guitar. This is similar to the videos for " Smells Like Nirvana" and " Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*." * Gump is digitally edited into existing footage tapping John F. Kennedy on the shoulder, standing behind

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and waving to the camera, and roasting hot dogs at an

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

drop, just like the movie which edited Gump into several newsreels so he appeared to be interacting with historical figures. * The song ends with, "And that's all I have to say about that", which is the way Forrest Gump often ends his stories. Afterwards, the Presidents of the United States of America followed Weird Al's example and ended performances of "Lump" with that quote and they still continue to do so.

Chart positions

References

External links