The Saga Begins

This was a song by the famous "Weird Al" Alfred Matthew Yankovic. It was released as the first track on his 1999 album, Running with Scissors. Running with Scissors was sold by the Volcano Entertainment label, and distributed by BMG.

In "Weird Al" style, this was a parody of another famous song (as many of his are). This song was a parody of Don McLean's American Pie. Mr. McLean was asked on December 14, 1998, if he wanted to give permission to Mr. Yankovic to write "a parody song" (no mention of what was included). He agreed, and so Mr. Yankovic decided that the plot to Star Wars: Episode 1 made for a suitable set of lyrics. After the album went public, Mr. McLean got to hear the song for the first time, and liked it.

Mr. McLean's approval was all well and good, but his wasn't the only approval that Mr. Yankovic needed to get to publish that song. George Lucas, the director of (and owner of the rights to) Star Wars: Episode 1, was not very happy with Mr. Yankovic. The song covers nearly the entire movie's plot in a condensed version, and so those who have yet to see the movie and listen to the song will ruin their experience. This would lead to a decrease in movie sales, and Mr. Lucas did not like that.

He sent a letter to Mr. Yankovic that appeared to be the beginnings of a lawsuit. Mr. Yankovic, quite stunned, sent a letter back to Lucas that reminded him of the other side of the reference to Star Wars: increased sales. He made a good enough argument that the song would actually help sell copies of the movie that Mr. Lucas backed off.

In the end, Mr. Yankovic made a music video to accompany the song that appears to feature scenes from Star Wars, but does not. He is dressed in clothes that mimic Obi-Wan Kenobi's, however, upon reviewing Episode 1, they do not match. Also, there are a few bar scenes, but the shape of the bar and the creatures found there do not appear anywhere in StarWars: Episode 1. Mr. Lucas decided not to bother with the music video.

More information about Mr. Yankovic can be found at: "http://www.weirdal.com/faq.htm" . Mr. Yankovic's official website is "http://www.weirdal.com" .