Fat (song)


"Fat" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "Bad" by Michael Jackson. It is Yankovic's second parody of a Jackson song, the first being "Eat It", a parody of Jackson's "Beat It". "Fat" is the first song on Yankovic's Even Worse album.
The video won a Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video in 1988.

Background

Yankovic came up with the idea for "Fat" while watching the "Bad" music video, when he had an epiphany that a parody of that song titled Fat would be a good sequel to "Eat It". As he watched the "Bad" video, he imagined an obese version of himself trying to get through the turnstiles on a subway, and resolved that he would do it.

Concert version

When performing in concert, Yankovic wears a costume that makes his body appear pudgy, along with a mask that makes his face look fat. Due to undergoing laser vision correction surgery, he no longer needs to wear glasses, though he wears glasses with non-prescription plastic lenses in order to help hold on the mask.

Track listing

  1. "Fat" - 3:36
  2. "You Make Me" - 3:04

    Music video

Directed by Jay Levey, the video for "Fat" parodies various elements of the "Bad" video by Jackson; Yankovic was able to get permission from Michael Jackson to use the same subway set from "Bad" for the video, which had yet to be struck in Culver City. Jackson had built an exact replica of the original set for the movie Moonwalker to be used in the segment called "Badder", and before striking it, he offered to allow Yankovic to use it.
The fat suit was created by Kevin Yagher, who later worked with Yankovic on the film UHF. Latex bladders were glued to Yankovic's face, along with similar air pockets through his clothes.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts