The Saga Begins (song)

"The Saga Begins" is a parody by "Weird Al" Yankovic of the Don McLean song, "American Pie". "The Saga Begins" tells the story of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from Obi-Wan Kenobi's point of view. the song appears among the bonus features on the 2011 Blu-ray release of the complete saga.

Among Star Wars fans, Yankovic is also known for his Star Wars-themed song parody "Yoda", as well as a scene in the video of his hit single White & Nerdy in which Al is shown making a back alley purchase of a bootlegged VHS of The Star Wars Holiday Special.

Conception and development
"The Saga Begins" is a Star Wars parody song written and performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic. The song was recorded on April 20, 1999 by Volcano Records. It was released on the album Running with Scissors on June 27, 1999. The song's run time is five minutes and twenty-seven seconds long and is of the Comedy and Folk rock genres.

Song

 * A long, long Time ago
 * In a Galaxy far away
 * Naboo was under an attack
 * And I thought me and Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Could talk the federation in
 * ''To maybe cutting them a little slack


 * But their response, it didn't thrill us
 * They locked the doors and tried to kill us
 * We escaped from that gas
 * Then met Jar Jar and Boss Nass


 * We took a bongo from the scene
 * And we went to Theed to see the queen
 * We all wound up on Tatooine
 * That's where we found this boy


 * Oh, 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"


 * Did you know this junkyard slave
 * Isn't even old enough to shave
 * But he can use The Force, they say.
 * Ah, do you see him hitting on the queen
 * Though he's just nine and she's fourteen
 * Yeah, he's probably gonna marry her someday


 * Well I know he built C-3PO
 * And I've heard how fast his pod can go
 * And we were broke, it's true
 * So we made a wager or two


 * He was a prepubescent flying ace
 * And the minute Jabba started off that race
 * Well, I knew who would win first place
 * Oh yes, it was our boy


 * We started singin'...
 * 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"


 * Now we finally got to Coruscant
 * The Jedi Council we knew would want
 * To see how good the boy could be
 * So we took him there, and we told the tale
 * How his midi-chlorians were off the scale
 * ''And

he might fulfill that prophecy''


 * Oh the Council was impressed, of course
 * Could he bring balance to the Force?
 * They interviewed the kid
 * Oh, training they forbid


 * Because Yoda sensed in him much fear
 * And Qui-Gon said, "Now listen here"
 * "Just stick it in your pointy ear"
 * "I still will teach this boy"


 * He was singin'...
 * 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"


 * We caught a ride back to Naboo
 * `Cause Queen Amidala wanted to
 * I frankly would have liked to stay
 * ''We all fought in that epic war
 * And it wasn't long at all before
 * Little hot-shot flew his plane and saved the day


 * ''And in the end some Gungans died
 * Some ships blew up and some pilots fried
 * A lot of folks were croakin'
 * The battle droids were broken


 * And the Jedi I admire most
 * ''Met up with Darth Maul and now he's toast
 * ''Well I'm still here and he's a ghost
 * I guess I'll train this boy


 * And I was singin'...
 * 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"


 * We were singin'...
 * 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

Star Wars references

 * 32 BBY (as "a long, long time ago")
 * The galaxy
 * Naboo
 * The Invasion of Naboo (as "an attack")
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Qui-Gon Jinn
 * The Trade Federation
 * Dioxis (as "that gas")
 * Jar Jar Binks
 * Rugor Nass
 * Bongo
 * Theed
 * Padmé Amidala (as the Queen or Queen Amidala)
 * Tatooine
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Darth Vader
 * 19 BBY (as "someday later")
 * Slave Quarters Row (as "his home")
 * Shmi Skywalker Lars (as "his mommy")
 * Jedi
 * Slavery
 * Wald's Parts (as junkyard)
 * The Force
 * Wedding of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala (as "marry her someday")
 * 22 BBY (as "someday")
 * C-3PO
 * Podracer (as pod)
 * Jabba Desilijic Tiure (as Jabba)
 * Boonta Eve Classic (as race)
 * Coruscant
 * Jedi Council
 * Midi-chlorians
 * The Chosen One (as "that prophecy")
 * Jedi training
 * Yoda
 * The Battle of Naboo
 * N-1 starfighter
 * Gungan
 * B1 battle droid (as battle droids)
 * Darth Maul
 * Force ghost (as a ghost)
 * Bravo Squadron (as "some pilots")

Accuracy
The lyrics are surprisingly accurate even though the song was released before the movie. According to Yankovic, everything was gleaned through Internet spoilers. Yankovic paid $500 to view an advance screening after writing the song, but most of his lyrics were correct, so he made minor changes; the only major change he had to make after the screening of The Phantom Menace was that Anakin did not tell Amidala that he was going to marry her, like Yankovic originally thought.

The main inaccuracy is that Obi-Wan stayed at the Queen's Royal starship after their arrival on Tatooine, rather than going with Qui-Gon and Padmé to search for a new part for the ship. Thus, he didn't witness the podrace firsthand, and didn't meet Anakin until he arrived at the starship with the rest of the group.

Music video

 * The video begins in a desert, supposedly on the planet 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 Eisley cantina look-alike. 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. But Yoda does not move.
 * 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 Lord Darth Sidious. 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.

CD's
Available on The Radio Disney Jams 2 CD. (Track 7)