The Saga Begins (song)

"The Saga Begins" is a parody of the Don McLean song, "American Pie" by "Weird Al" Yankovic. This song and "Yoda" are the only two Star Wars parodies Yankovic has written and performed. Numerous other parodies (including Star Wars Cantina) are often erroneously attributed to Yankovic.

It tells the story of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from Obi-Wan Kenobi's point of view. The lyrics are surprisingly accurate even though the song was released before the movie, Yankovic paid $500 to view an advance screening, but most of his lyrics were correct, so he made minor changes.

Song
It begins by turning "A long, long time ago, I can still remember..." into "A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away...".

"Obi-Wan" tells that Naboo was under an attack, and he and Qui-Gon Jinn were sent to deal with the Trade Federation. Their response "didn't thrill us, they locked the doors and tried to kill us." Following that, they met Jar Jar Binks and Boss Nass, and took a bongo in order to get to Theed. There they rescue Queen Amidala, and end up in Tatooine, where they find a boy...

Chorus

 * Well, my, my, this here Anakin guy
 * May be Vader some day later, now he's just a small fry
 * He left his home, and kissed his mommy goodbye
 * Sayin' "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi
 * Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"

Second verse
Obi-Wan sings about the "junkyard slave, not old enough to shave", but able to use The Force, about him "hitting on the queen, although he's just 9 and she's 14" and guessing they will marry someday.

He says Anakin built C-3PO, and his pod is really fast, and when Jabba started the podrace he knew Anakin would win first place.

(repeat chorus)

Third verse
Obi-Wan tells that once they get to Coruscant, Qui-Gon brings Anakin into the Jedi Council, tell him "the tale about the midi-chlorians off the scale" and the council was impressed, thinking he would be the Chosen One.

"They interview the kid, and training they forbid", because Yoda sensed in him much fear. But Qui-Gon still says "Now listen 'ere, stick it in yer pointy ear! I still will teach the boy."

(repeat chorus)

Fourth verse
At Amidala's request, they return to Naboo, where they fight an epic war. On that day, "some Gungans died" (spoofing "The day the music died" that is the motif of "American Pie"). Anakin gets into a starfighter, blows up the Droid Control Ship and "a lot of folks were croakin', the battle droids were broken". Qui-Gon Jinn dies fighting Darth Maul, and Obi-Wan decides to train the boy.

(chorus 2x)

Music video

 * The video begins in a desert, supposedly Tatooine. Yankovic, dressed like Ewan McGregor's Kenobi, walks until he finds Darth Sidious playing the piano. Yankovic uses the Force to get a steel guitar, and in the second verse he reappears performing in a Mos Espa cantina. In the last verse, he returns to the desert, and in the last chorus, lots of "Obi-Wans" appear singing, a possible reference to the Clone Wars that would follow.
 * Some Star Wars characters can be seen, like Yoda, Amidala and Mace Windu, dancing strangely.
 * The upper half of the pianist's face is always covered by the hood of the robe that he's wearing much like the Sith master Palpatine. When asked why, Al stated that "They didn't want to scare small children.", a reference to the playful bullying of Al's pianist, Rubén Valtierra, commonly used in his live shows!