Albuquerque
"Weird Al" Yankovic Lyrics


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Way back when I was just a little bitty boy living in a box under the stairs
In the corner of the basement of the house half a block down the street from Jerry's Bait shop
You know the place
Well anyway, back then life was going swell and everything was just peachy

Except, of course, for the undeniable fact that every single morning
My mother would make me a big ol' bowl of sauerkraut for breakfast
Aw, big bowl of sauerkraut
Every single mornin'
It was driving me crazy

I said to my mom
I said hey, mom, what's with all the sauerkraut?
And my dear, sweet mother
She just looked at me like a cow looks at an oncoming train
And she leaned right down next to me
And she said "It's good for you"
And then she tied me to the wall and stuck a funnel in my mouth
And force fed me nothing but sauerkraut until I was twenty six and a half years old

That's when I swore that someday
Someday I would get outta that basement and travel to a magical, far away place
Where the sun is always shining and the air smells like warm root beer
And the towels are oh so fluffy
Where the shriners and the lepers play their ukuleles all day long
And anyone on the street will gladly shave your back for a nickel

Wacka wacka doodoo, yeah

Well, let me tell you, people, it wasn't long at all before my dream came true
Because the very next day, a local radio station had this contest
To see who could correctly guess the number of molecules in leonard nimoy's butt
I was off by three, but I still won the grand prize
That's right, a first class one-way ticket to

Albuquerque
Albuquerque

Oh yeah
You know, I'd never been on a real airplane before
And I gotta tell ya, it was really great
Except that I had to sit between two large albanian women with excruciatingly severe body odor
And the little kid in back of me kept throwin' up the whole time
The flight attendants ran out of Dr. pepper and salted peanuts
And the in-flight movie was biodome with pauly shore
And, oh yeah, three of the airplane engines burned out
And we went into a tailspin and crashed into a hillside
And the plane exploded in a giant fireball and everybody died
Except for me
You know why?

'Cause I had my tray table up
And my seat back in the full upright position
Had my tray table up
And my seat back in the full upright position
Had my tray table up
And my seat back in the full upright position

Ah ha ha ha
Ah ha ha
Ah

So I crawled from the twisted, burnin' wreckage
I crawled on my hands and knees for three full days
Draggin' along my big leather suitcase and my garment bag
And my tenor saxophone and my twelve-pound bowling ball
And my lucky, lucky autographed glow-in-the-dark snorkel
But finally I arived at the world famous albuquerque holiday Inn
Where the towels are oh so fluffy
And you can eat your soup right out of the ashtrays if you wanna
It's ok, they're clean

Well, I checked into my room and I turned down the a/c
And I turned on the spectravision
And I'm just about to eat that little chocolate mint on my pillow
That I love so very, very much when suddenly, there's a knock on the door

Well now, who could that be?
I say who is it?
No answer
who is it?
There's no answer
who Is It?
They're not sayin' anything

So, finally I go over and I open the door and just as I suspected
It's some big fat hermaphrodite with a flock of seagulls haircut and only one nostril
Oh man, I hate it when I'm right
So anyway, he bursts into my room and he grabs my lucky snorkel
And I'm like "hey, you can't have that
That snorkel's been just like a snorkel to me
And he's like tough
And I'm like give it
And he's like make me
And I'm like kay
So I grabbed his leg and he grabbed my esophagus
And I bit off his ear and he chewed off my eyebrows
And I took out his appendix and he gave me a colonic irrigation
Yes indeed, you better believe it
And somehow in the middle of it all, the phone got knocked off the hook
And twenty seconds later, I heard a familiar voice
And you know what it said?
I'll tell you what it said

It said
If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again
If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator
If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again
If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator

In Albuquerque
Albuquerque

Well, to cut a long story short, he got away with my snorkel
But I made a a solemn vow right then and there that I would not rest
I would not sleep for an instant until the one-nostrilled man was brought to justice
But first, I decided to buy some donuts

So I got in my car and I drove over to the donut shop
And I walked on up to the guy behind the counter
And he says yeah, what do ya want?
I said you got any glazed donuts?
He said nah, we're outta glazed donuts
I said you got any jelly donuts?
He said nah, we're outta jelly donuts
I said you got any bavarian cream-filled donuts?
He said "nah, we're outta bavarian cream-filled donuts
I said you got any cinnamon rolls?
He said nah, we're outta cinnamon rolls
I said you got any apple fritters?
He said nah, we're outta apple fritters
I said you got any bear claws?
He said wait a minute, I'll go check
Nah, we're outta bear claws
I said well, in that case, in that case, what do you have?
He says all I got right now is this box of one dozen starving, crazed weasels
I said OK, I'll take that

So he hands me the box and I open up the lid and the weasels jump out
And they immediately latch onto my face and start bitin' me all over
Oh man, they were just going nuts
They were tearin' me apart
You know, I think it was just about that time that a little ditty started goin' through my head
I believe it went a little something like this

Doh
Get 'em off me
Get 'em off me
Oh
No, get 'em off, get 'em off
Oh, oh god, oh god
Oh, get 'em off me
Oh, oh god
Ah,

I ran out into the street with these flesh-eating weasels all over my face
Wavin' my arms all around and just runnin', runnin', runnin'
Like a constipated weiner dog
And as luck would have it, that's exactly when I ran into the girl of my dreams
Her name was zelda
She was a calligraphy enthusiast with a slight overbite and hair the color of strained peaches
I'll never forget the first thing she said to me
She said, hey, you've got weasels on your face

That's when I knew it was true love
We were inseparable after that
Aw, we ate together, we bathed together
We even shared the same piece of mint-flavored dental floss
The world was our burrito
So we got married and we bought us a house
And had two beautiful children - nathaniel and superfly
Oh, we were so very very very happy, aw yeah

But then one fateful night, zelda said to me
she said, Sweetie pumpkin? do you wanna join the columbia record club?
I said, whoa, hold on now, baby
I'm just not ready for that kinda commitment
So we broke up and I never saw her again
But that's just the way things go

In Albuquerque
Albuquerque

Anyway, things really started lookin' up for me
Because about a week later, I finally achieved my lifelong dream
that's right, I got me a part-time job at The sizzler
I even made employee of the month after I put that grease fire out with my face
Aw yeah, everybody was pretty jealous of me after that
I was gettin' a lot of attitude

Ok, like one time, I was out in the parking lot
Tryin' to remove my excess earwax with a golf pencil
When I see this guy marty tryin' to carry a big ol' sofa up the stairs all by himself
So I, I say to him, I say, hey, you want me to help you with that?
And Marty, he just rolls his eyes and goes
No, I want you to cut off my arms and legs with a chainsaw

So I did

And then he gets all indignant on me
He's like, hey man, I was just being sarcastic
Well, that's just great
How was I supposed to know that?
I'm not a mind reader for cryin' out loud
besides, now he's got a really cute nickname, torso-boy
So what's he complaining about?

Say, that reminds me of another amusing anecdote
This guy comes up to me on the street and he tells me he hasn't had a bite in three days
Well, I knew what he meant
But just to be funny, I took a big bite out of his jugular vein
And he's yellin' and screamin' and bleeding all over
And I'm like, hey, come on, don'tcha get it?
But he just keeps rolling around on the sidewalk, bleeding, and screaming
You know, just completely missing the irony of the whole situation
Man, some people just can't take a joke, you know?

Anyway, um, um, where was I?
Kinda lost my train of thought

Uh, well, uh, ok
Anyway I, I know it's kinda a roundabout way of saying it
But I guess the whole point I'm tryin' to make here is

I hate sauerkraut!

That's all I'm really tryin' to say
And, by the way, if one day you happen to wake up
And find yourself in an existential quandry
Full of loathing and self-doubt
And wracked with the pain and isolation of your pitiful meaningless existence
At least you can take a small bit of comfort in knowing that
Somewhere out there in this crazy old mixed-up universe of ours
There's still a little place called

Albuquerque
Albuquerque
albuquerque, Albuquerque
albuquerque, Albuquerque
albuquerque, Albuquerque
albuquerque, Albuquerque

I said a (a)
L (l)
B (b)
U (u)
Querque (querque)

Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque
Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque
Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque





Albuquerque

Overall Meaning

"Weird Al" Yankovic's song Albuquerque begins with the singer reminiscing about his childhood when he lived in a box under the stairs in the basement of a house near Jerry's Bait Shop. Life was going well for him except for the fact that his mother fed him sauerkraut every morning, which he hated. When he asked his mother why she fed him sauerkraut, she replied, "It's good for you" and then forced him to eat it until he was twenty-six and a half years old. The singer then swore to himself that he would escape his basement and travel to a magical place, where the sun always shines, the air smells like warm root beer, and the towels are fluffy.


The singer's dream came true when he won a first-class, one-way ticket to Albuquerque, courtesy of a contest organized by a local radio station that required contestants to guess the number of molecules in Leonard Nimoy's butt. During his flight to Albuquerque, the singer had to sit between two Albanian women with excruciatingly severe body odor and a child who wouldn't stop throwing up. The flight attendants ran out of Dr. Pepper and salted peanuts, and the in-flight movie was Biodome with Pauly Shore. Three airplane engines burned out, and the plane crashed into a hillside, killing everyone but the singer. He survived because he had followed the rules by keeping his tray table up and his seat back in the full upright position.


After crawling from the wreckage and surviving an attack by a hermaphrodite with a flock of seagulls haircut, the singer checked into a room at the Albuquerque Holiday Inn, where he turned down the A/C, turned on the Spectravision, and looked forward to eating the little chocolate mint on his pillow before a knock at the door disrupted his plans. The song ends with the singer running into a guy named Marty who wants him to chop off his arms and legs with a chainsaw because he was being sarcastic. Amidst these strange events, the singer expresses his hatred for sauerkraut.


Line by Line Meaning

Way back when I was just a little bitty boy living in a box under the stairs
I used to live in a small box under the stairs when I was a little boy


In the corner of the basement of the house half a block down the street from Jerry's Bait shop
The box was situated near the basement corner of a house located half a block away from Jerry's Bait shop


Every single mornin', It was driving me crazy
My mother used to serve me sauerkraut every morning which infuriated me


And she tied me to the wall and stuck a funnel in my mouth And force fed me nothing but sauerkraut until I was twenty six and a half years old
To make me eat sauerkraut forcefully, my mother tied me to the wall and put a funnel in my mouth and fed me sauerkraut until I was 26 and a half years old


Where the sun is always shining and the air smells like warm root beer
I had a fantasy of traveling to a place where the sun always shines and the air smells like warm root beer


And anyone on the street will gladly shave your back for a nickel
In that dream place, people would readily shave your back for a meager sum of a nickel


That's right, a first class one-way ticket to Albuquerque
I won a first-class ticket to Albuquerque in a radio contest


The flight attendants ran out of Dr. pepper and salted peanuts And the in-flight movie was biodome with pauly shore
During the flight, they ran out of Dr.Pepper and salted peanuts and the movie shown was biodome with Pauly Shore


And we went into a tailspin and crashed into a hillside And the plane exploded in a giant fireball and everybody died Except for me
Unfortunately, the plane went into a tailspin and crashed into a hillside which caused it to explode and kill everyone except me


Because about a week later, I finally achieved my lifelong dream that's right, I got me a part-time job at The sizzler
A week after the incident, my dream came true as I got a part-time job at The Sizzler


So I did And then he gets all indignant on me He's like, hey man, I was just being sarcastic
I took him seriously and proceeded to cut off his limbs, and then he complained about it, saying it was sarcastic


I hate sauerkraut
I genuinely loathe sauerkraut


Somewhere out there in this crazy old mixed-up universe of ours There's still a little place called albuquerque, Albuquerque
Regardless of everything, there still exists a place named Albuquerque in this universe




Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@sniffles8655

@JackgarPrime Pretty sure it is the type situation where you just have to flip a coin lol. That being said, you can never go wrong with Weird Al. He is a gift to this world. Nay, a gift to the entire universe. Billions of years from now when the earth and human civilization are long long gone, some future Alien Civilation will find some old Weird Al Albums floating aimlessly through the vastness of space and they will find a way to listen, and Weird Al will become their new Deity. That's just the way things are.....







In AllLlLlLlLLLlbuquerque!



All comments from YouTube:

@dominicbofficial

Fun Fact: When performing this live, Al would sometimes "lose his track of thought" in the middle of the song, and start it over.

@youraverageant7888

Lol

@alfedosucksatgames5008

He did that during his performance at the Buffalo chip a few years back. Singing Amish paradise he stopped and just stared at the crowd continuing to sing, than restarted the song

@nen66666

He did that once at a show I went to

@armchair_expert

He doesn't really need to. He can end it anytime and skip to his main point - that he really hates saurkraut.

@akita_t33th20

That Would Be Me

140 More Replies...

@typhoonthunder

if there's any song that deserves a "reanimated" collab video, it's this one

@JaKack

Definitely

@Zappa_boi

Yes

@thequiet1s141

Definitely

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