Just to say it, the sun dial watch was a pure joke. A lot of the horribly inaccurate parts were jokes. Most were jokes about Amish people, but the one where he had dread locks, that was to poke fun at Coolio who made the original song.
2 things: 1 this was filmed in the 90s so stuff like the butter churn was probably how it was back then 2 odds are that the stuff that are inaccurate is just for the joke
While that tool may be colloquially called a sickle, it is actually a scythe. A sickle is a single handed implement that has more of a semi-circular shape, also known as a sickle shape, after the implement. Scythe blades more often have a much more shallow curve inwards to the cutting edge, which is always perpendicular to the haft, rather than parallel like a sickle. Thank you for coming to my TED talk :3
I appreciate your information on the Difference between the Sickle and the Scythe, I never knew this and to find out at the age of 60 years old it's very interesting to Me. Thank You!
@@maj219 I found out this fact a while back, but I am sometimes surprised when others (usually young) who have done or at least seen farmwork don't know. Think grim reaper - that's a scythe. I taught a few youngsters to think of it like guns, since they are popular here in the states (hopefully handled safely). A sickle is like a handgun, and a scythe is like a rifle or shotgun - they are easily recognizable by shape and size. I'm only into my "middle" age, so not too old, but I sometimes jokingly entertain the thought of growing old to learn that 'sonny boy' over there can't tell the difference between a butter knife and a paring knife. Imagine that chaos in the kitchen -_-
It's an amusing song, but it's also interesting to hear this perspective on it. Thanks for sharing. I'm sure anyone who is at all familiar with the Amish is aware that they aren't a rowdy partying sort of folk. Of course, that's the absurd humor to it. I think the "tonight we're gonna party like it's 1699" line (rather than "like it's 1999") is rather clever for more than just the 1999 reference, and absurd image of the Amish having a really wild party. Considering the schism of the Amish as a distinct group from the Anabaptists is cited to have been in 1693, if the Amish were going to party, it makes sense that it would be as though it was 1699. Fun with history! :D
Lol! Really? I got nothing from the Amish perspective from this reaction video. Just lame facts that I could've Googled. There was zero feedback of how watching this video made her feel emotionally.
I've heard of a few Amish and Mennonite men named Ezekiel in Lancaster County Pennsylvania being a Pennsylvanian myself. When it comes to last names Zook, Yoder and Stoltzfus are common among the Pennsylvania Amish Community.
@@fanatical27 Oh I see, that's OK, I looked it up and all that came up was info on Stranger Things ships and stuff like that, but I've never watched ST so I was confused…
To be fair the dreads were a gag for coolio and not an Amish gag since it's supposed to make fun of rap a bit too. Cause obviously Amish don't refer to there friends as homies. Or I think they don't. Not a complaint just pointing out something missed since you asked. Great video btw!!! Keep em coming I absolutely loved it
OTOH it is interesting to hear her take on it. I've long wondered what the Amish think of this song, and this is at least one (former) Amish perspective on it. Wish there were more Amish reactions to the song on RU-vid.
Interesting reaction. This song made a lot of drama back in the 90s because coolio was offended that it turned a song about the black mans struggle into a joke. I always wondered what the Amish thought of it.
Weird Al got the permission from the record company, but they actually went against Coolio’s wishes. Coolio was upset about it initially, and Al sent a letter apologizing profusely, but never got a response back about it, nor did Coolio reject the royalties lol. But, Coolio has since said that it was stupid of him to refuse the parody bc Al only parodied great music. He even said that all the complaining against the parody just made him look dumb, like he couldn’t take a joke. He actually finds it funny now and regrets blasting it.
@@Joseph-ny5rr To be fair, it's not like the Amish should be immune to lampooning, or that they're beyond reproach. There have just as many problems as any community, though its of a different sort.
This is hands down the best reaction I have seen to this song, your commentary is gold and very interesting to learn what parts of the song that are accurate! Keep up the good work!
Dated a girl that lived very close to Amish country where I live. She said that the kids would sneak out and party pretty hard. It's odd bc as a kid growing up you rarely saw them, but it's fairly common to see them around stores in the suburbs now.
Hi guys I remember when he done video . Hes a comedian . Yes I did larf this off as I study Amish life . But Amish people would probably not find this funny thank you for bringing up the rights a wrongs love yah both❤❤
This is definitely the most interesting reaction I've seen. I learned a lot I didn't know about Amish life. Thanks for posting. Just subscribed to your channel. Maybe consider reacting to other Amish influenced entertainment like Harrison Ford's Oscar nominated performance in Peter Weir's Witness. I feel like Witness might be a more accurate portrayal but I'm only speculating.
Finally finally finally! Thank you so much for the detailed breakdown. My biggest takeaway is that Weird Al put a lot of time into getting Amish culture ‘right.’
@@TitusandFannie I'm not sure where Fannie is from or what Amish Order she was a member of, Weird Al Yankovic's parody of the Amish in this video is how he views the Pennsylvania Amish of Lancaster County that are incorrectly referred to as the "Pennsylvania Dutch". As a person who lives in Central Pennsylvania have friends who are Mennonite and I'm aquatinted with a few Amish.
@@roya.cathcartjr.5042 They're not "incorrectly referred to as the Pennsylvania Dutch". The term "Dutch", as a historical term, once referred to any Germanic speaking population. Long before "Dutch" was an ethnonym for people from the Netherlands. The Pennsylvania Dutch, despite being mostly from Switzerland, referred to THEMSELVES as "Dutch", cognate to the modern "Deutsch".
Depending on the community (because they’re very independent of one another) they’re allowed certain electrical luxuries if the end goal is to better sustain their way of life. For example, there’s a video floating around out there of an amish dude using a drill to build a house. They’ll allow certain things while still retaining the title of Amish rather than Mennonite.
Thank you for this reaction, I have learned a lot about the Amish culture, with all due respect to those who seek peace at the lifestyle level. I accept but disagree with the religious side of it, however those who draw actual peace from religion are honorable. It is a parodic work of art, so the exploitation of stereotypes is a natural trait. However, in this too the Amish way of life is respectable(unlike many other religious ways of life), although it is radically contrary to their beliefs(taking pictures, partying), when the ignorant mass of stupid outsiders challenge them, they do not respond aggressively, but exactly according to their beliefs. A wonderful parody, with an instructive reaction. Be good!
There are carriages in the music video, but some days ago, I saw a report of a journalist on TV who was talking with Amish People travelling in a long-distance train.
They do not pay social security because they do not draw it. Their houses are very plain, all white. Where I live they have no curtains or blinds on windows. No decorations in theyre yards.
There are Amish in my area (southeastern Virginia), I saw a mother with her children driving to a post office. The boy was the youngest, but all his sisters treated him like they would their father. It was years ago, I don't remember specifics but I could see it. She drove what looked like a 1970 Volkswagen van. Very humble and modest. In my travels to Ohio, I encountered both new and old order. Old order always wore black, and new would wear light blue, and a little of their hair would show. I actually had a young lady new order wearing a company vest over her dress wait on us at a Burger King, but we also visited an old order restaurant where they do interact with the outside a little, and will answer questions. Northern New York has Amish with their own school. I drove by one time the children were playing outside.
Yeah one bit of wisdom there is that just because someone outwardly claims to be a pacifist doesn't mean they won't suddenly change their mind if you come at them with a weapon or something.
The amish men grow a beard once they marry. Lets you know theyre married. Im not Amish, but I live around them. So Ive learned some things. Some are stricter then others.
Correct me if I'm wrong (I've never been Amish and don't know anyone who is/used to be), but based on what I learned on my trip to Pennsylvania, you missed a few things: 1. The "welcome to Lancaster" sign. Lancaster is mainly a regular urban hipster city. The heavier Amish communities in Pennsylvania are in Bird-in-Hand (yes that's a real town name) and Intercourse 2. "There's no cops or traffic lights". Well, of course there are traffic lights! Outsiders have to drive through there to get to their destinations sometimes 3. "We're all crazy Mennonites". Amish and Mennonite are extremely similar communities, but there's one major way to tell them apart, and that is by the clothes they wear. Amish people are only allowed to wear solid colors, but Mennonites can wear patterns, like plaid, if they want to
@@xthe.gasping.willowx9216 there is a spectrum of Mennonite communities; some are hardcore traditional, and some are fully modern and Mennonite by family heritage and church affiliation only, and a whole lot of variations in between
Did you watch the original "Gangsta's Paradise" video first? Some of the visuals in this video only make sense in contrast to that. It also explains some of the deliberate inaccuracies (as opposed to all the accidental ones), like the wrong hairstyle and cap on the woman in the chair: They wanted her blonde hair showing, to evoke the shots of Michelle Pfeiffer in the original video.
The names used are biblical names and Amish do take their names from the Bible maybe Fannie doesn’t know these names, but weird Al does. He’s Jewish whether he lives by these beliefs or not. His last name jankovic. It sound like her Amish community might not be one hundred percent like weird Al’s her, but it is known by the Amish giving tours of their plantations and communities that weird Al isn’t off. It is also known that for their entertainment the young Amish perform this on stage as production making fun. Weird Al said he never had problems with the Amish over it. It does make fun or light of the Amish. It shows a life style not how every community lives or not how every community practices their beliefs. Al is pretty close.
The sun dial is an intentional joke - the 'turning the other cheek' is also a joke because of the line before it (and it still rings true as a line) - the dreads are also a joke as the original artist who created the song that Weird Al is parodying also rocked a look like that for awhile and Weird Al made it more extreme - also note the 2nd to last scene was sung in reverse to lip sync it correctly, because if you notice all the animals are moving backwards. The 4:30 AM plowing is also meant to be humorous. The 'no phone, no lights, no motor cars' line is also a joke, as it is part of the theme song from a popular tv show called Gilligan's Island but it fit the description of the Amish perfectly. The churning butter scene is designed to be funny as he makes that motion faster after a lovely lady walks by. The scene where he has water pouring down his face parodies the original music video as the singer of the chorus has beads of sweat pouring down his face in several scenes.
You know what's crazy? I literally just found out Gangster's Paradise is a remake/rewrite of a Stevie Wonder song called Pasttimes Paradise and Stevie is the reason there's no profanity in Coolio's song. Blew my mind
Could an Amish person ever be arrested? Say they broke into another Amish’s house or an outsider broke into an Amish’s house. Would they call the police? Even maybe the bishop?
The braided hair is a parody/shoutout of Coolio’s hair (he did the original song Gangstas Paradise) Also, the video may have been uploaded in 2009 but the song was released back in 1996. Weird Al parodied a lot of songs over the years (since the early to mid 80’s)
I think you are the second person I saw react to this song who is/was part of the Amish community however the other didn’t breakdown what was and wasn’t that accurate. That was cool getting that.
The only person I know of that wasn't cool with a Weird Al parody was Coolio. Ironically, the person who made Gangsta's Paradise. Every single other artist was completely fine with it. Kurt Cobain said that once Weird Al parodied their song "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Kurt said that he knew Nirvana "made it" as a successful ban. Micheal Jackson even gave Weird Al the address of the subway where "Bad" was performed.
the reason he had dreadlocks was he was doing a Coolio song, doolio wore the at the time and i think it was him being funny about it. the line. no phone noe lights no motor car not a single luxory, like robinson caruso was as primitive as can be, i sactaully a line from teh Gilligan's island theme song that he utilized and made work in this
Initially, Weird Al got the permission from the record company, but they actually went against Coolio’s wishes. Coolio was upset about it and would mention it quite a bit, and Al sent a letter apologizing profusely, but never got a response back about it, nor did Coolio reject the royalties lol. But, Coolio has since said that it was stupid of him to refuse the parody bc Al only parodied great music and realized it was an honor not mockery. He even said that all the complaining against the parody just made him look dumb, like he couldn’t take a joke. He actually finds it funny now and regrets blasting it. They have been friendly since the late 2000s. ☺️
Not sure if you read this comment, but he was taking "creative liberty" or simply didnt research it extensivly. the dread locks where reference to the original artist Colio
Just curious, if there's no phones and such, what about an emergency? Thanks for the video. It was neat to learn about the culture as well as how they do things now versus the past, like the butter churning.
11:11 That's actually a scythe. Sickles are often smaller with one handle. Scythe's are longer and often have two handles like the one shown in the music video.
While the Amish don't have a lot of modern technology, don't think that they don't use it. Many communities have a public phone for emergencies, they will use gasoline engines to run things like hay balers, but they're pulled by horses. Many also work in factories, the company will pick them up and take them home in vans. The machines and tools being owned by the company doesn't violate their religious principals. The term "Amish made furniture" is often a misnomer, a LOT of that furniture is made in modern factories with modern tools, with Amish employees making them. Very little furnishings are made in a workshop on an Amish homestead. It's technically made by the "Amish", but not with hand tools like people think. Overall, they are pretty decent people to deal with, I'd rather deal with most Amish or Mennonites than a lot of people. The young people also get a chance to decide if they want to live the Amish lifestyle or not, and can sample the "modern" lifestyle for a while before they have to commit to living in the Amish community.
fanny i 've heard that the amish allow thir young people to leave the community for a year to decide whether they wish to remain a part of the community or away from it. are you in your year out?what was your reaction to experiencing technology for the first time?
Very few parents encourage their kids to go out into the world. That idea is dramatized by pop culture even though it does happen. I have fully left the Amish culture. My parents left when I was a young child. I was slowly introduced to technology but it’s still pretty fascinating to me and I love it! -Fannie
I came here expecting a full straight up critique of the video tearing apart every little aspect and detail and I'm leaving fairly surprised of how accurately Weird Al really portrayed the Amish community, great video!!! (I'm not at all familiar with Amish culture but here we have communities of Menonites who even come to town during this time of the year to sell bread, cheese, sometimes they are really and even sit down in benches and talk with people about the Bible and stuff like that -because of the Lent season, before Holly week, Easter Week and stuff- and that's like the most I know of them and that's the closest to Amish people I've encountered outside of airports where I've seen Amish people. ¡Greetings from Mexico!
@@sharoncrawford3042 I see, I think I had heard about it before but yeah, what I meant was that Amish people aren't common here, but yeah, I assume most of them are just nice hardworking people…
I'm curious about an Amish, or former Amish person's reaction to the Cinemax series Banshee. If you haven't heard of it, it's a very TV-MA show set in the town of Banshee, PA where the main villain is a man who left the Amish community and became a crime lord using a slaughterhouse and meat packing facility as a front. This video was pretty cool to see since Amish Paradise has been in my head for a few days.
Gansta's Paradise was released in 1995, Amish Paradise was released in 1996. I have no idea what your "2009" date came from. This is from the mid 1990's. It's okay, you haven't even paid the phone bill in 300 years, I'll forgive you for this one.
I lived in southwest Michigan, and was a regular visitor to Shipshewana Indiana, which is an Amish community. It's not uncommon there for Amish houses to have a few solar panels. In asking about their purpose we were told that some of the families will have a few power tools, like a drill press or lathe, that they power with solar. I've also heard that in the Lancaster community some of them will use cell phones. (probably also charged by solar)
One question - as someone who was raised Amish, is this video offensive [I understand that some people will be offended by anything - but, did Weird Al manage to make this without being actually offensive to Amish people] - I ask because this is a hard thing to navigate in parodies. My sister in law is Mennonite, which I realise is quite different but from a common source, and I know her reaction to this, but I have never heard what someone who is actually Amish has thought about it and that does interest me. [I have in-laws who have strong Amish connections but have very little direct experience with Amish communities and the two I have minor connection to are both viewed as rather literal communities.]
hey, I live in NJ. My family and I frequently shop at an Amish Farmers market near the Pennsylvania border. Always have good food. Gotta stay away from that fudge counter tho. LOL
Near where we live there is an Amish community they often times will build barns for the local farmers (paid of course) and they get it done in record time and they last forever the workmanship in Amish made anything is amazing it is built to last.
My buddy has an Amish built barn. He was amazed at the speed with which it went up. They were done the day they started. What really intrigued my buddy, though, was the fact that the Amish men who constructed the building, did so in complete silence. They never spoke to each other, but everyone knew what needed to be done, and when it needed to be done. None of them were waiting for another. All those guys just kept moving in silence, as one very efficient machine. He said that that it was very fascinating to watch.
With the most respect, thank you for this video. I am a total outsider and I want to learn more. I grew up with weird al and I never thought of the other side of the song. I liked subbed and all
ok now I wanna get a absolutely ridiculous sized brim hat and just strut around some farmers markets with heavy Amish people. see if I cant start a arms race with hat brims
