Maps of Music

Running with Scissors (1999)

Where the lyrics of Running with Scissors take you, and where it was really made.

Its lead single retold Star Wars: Episode I over Don McLean's melody, and its lyrics were written from Internet spoilers months before the film opened.

Key places

Cover shot on the track at Santa Monica City College (1999)

Album cover Ruby Red — On the cover, Yankovic is shown running on the track at Santa Monica City College, holding a pair of scissors in each hand. The pose is a literal depiction of the album title. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Tenth studio album by American parody musician 'Weird Al' Yankovic
• Released June 29, 1999; his first album for Volcano Records after the label acquired Scotti Brothers
• Fourth studio album that Yankovic produced himself
• Musical styles built around parodies and pastiches of late 1990s pop and rock, largely alternative rock and hip-hop
• Five parodies; the other half is original material in the form of style parodies
• Lead single 'The Saga Begins' parodies Don McLean's 1971 'American Pie' and retells Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

Background

• For nearly 20 years, Yankovic had been known for his hairdo, glasses, and moustache
• In early 1998 he grew out his hair, shaved his moustache, and had LASIK eye surgery, so glasses were no longer necessary
• Running with Scissors was his first album to show this new look
• It is also the first of his albums to feature multimedia content

Recording

• Recorded in six sessions, all produced by Yankovic himself
• The first session began June 29, 1997, and recorded the theme to his television show The Weird Al Show
• Band on the album: Jon 'Bermuda' Schwartz on drums, Steve Jay on bass, Jim West on guitar
• Lyrics for 'The Saga Begins' were started in December 1998, drawing on Internet spoilers
• The song was completed two months before The Phantom Menace reached theaters

Cover

• The cover shows Yankovic running on the track at Santa Monica City College
• He holds a pair of scissors in each hand, a literal depiction of the album title

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician known for comedy songs that often parody other musicians' songs.
• He also performs original songs in the style of other acts and polka medleys of popular songs, usually featuring his accordion.
• His first on-air exposure came in 1976, when a comedy song he made was played on The Dr. Demento Radio Show at age 16.
• He has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2025), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 2,000 live shows.
• He has won five Grammy Awards and earned eleven further nominations.
• His first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single ("White & Nerdy") were both released in 2006.
• His album Mandatory Fun (2014) became his first number-one album in its debut week.
• He wrote and starred in the film UHF (1989) and the television series The Weird Al Show (1997).
• He has produced two satirical films about his own life: The Compleat Al (1985) and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022).
• He has not released a full album since Mandatory Fun and mainly releases singles.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Entertainment Weekly: J.D. Considine gave the album a B rating
• Richmond Times-Dispatch: Melissa Ruggieri graded the album B+
• Anchorage Daily News: Warren Rhodes named it the fifth best release of 1999
• San Antonio Express-News: Robert Johnson gave one and a half stars and criticized recycled ideas
• Critics mostly praised 'The Saga Begins', though some felt the album was rushed

Reappraisal

• The Rolling Stone Album Guide: 3.5 stars out of 5, meaning the album averaged between good and excellent
• AllMusic: Steve Huey gave two and a half stars out of five and called it a mixed bag
• Huey called 'The Saga Begins' and 'Jerry Springer' clever parodies, but not the 'Pretty Fly for a Rabbi' and 'It's All About the Pentiums' level of his usual work

Records

• Billboard 200: entered at number 35 on July 17, 1999, and peaked at number 16 the following week
• No singles charted domestically; 'Pretty Fly for a Rabbi' charted at number 67 in Australia
• Certified Gold in Australia and Canada
• RIAA: certified both Gold and Platinum for shipments of over 1,000,000 copies in the United States
• Nielsen SoundScan: US sales exceeded 1,182,000 copies as of 2014

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Mary Kay Bergman was first sought to sing 'Pretty Fly for a Rabbi', but legal restrictions allowed her only a few lines, and Tress MacNeille was later featured instead.
• The polka medley 'Polka Power!' was released as a promotional single in Germany, where the label thought a polka song might sell better.
• Yankovic asked Lucasfilm for an advance screening of The Phantom Menace to check his lyrics, but the company declined; he later attended a charity screening and changed only one line.
• In late 2013, Yankovic sued Volcano and its parent company Sony over unpaid publishing royalties, including on this album; he won and received an undisclosed sum from Sony.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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