This Is the Life (song)

Infobox Single
Name = This Is the Life


Artist = "Weird Al" Yankovic
from Album =
Released = November 1984
B-side = "Buy Me a Condo"
Format = 7", 12"
Recorded = August 20, 1984
Genre = Comedy
Length = 3:02
Label = Scotti Brothers
[ Writer = ]
Producer = "Weird Al" Yankovic
Chart position = none
Last single = "I Lost On Jeopardy"
(1984)
This single = "This Is the Life"
(1984)
Next single = "Like a Surgeon" (1985)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Dare to Be Stupid
Type = studio
Tracks =
# "Like a Surgeon"
# "Dare to Be Stupid"
# "I Want a New Duck"
# "One More Minute"
# "Yoda"
# "George of the Jungle"
# "Slime Creatures From Outer Space"
# "Girls Just Want To Have Lunch"
# "This Is the Life"
# "Cable TV"
# "Hooked on Polkas""This Is the Life" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is the theme song to the gangster comedy movie "Johnny Dangerously". The song is about the perks and spoils of organized crime.

Although it is done in the style of 30's jazz, it has an electric guitar solo, and a section with a hip-hop beat. The song was later re-released on Yankovic's successful third album, "Dare to Be Stupid".

Track listing

The following tracks are on the single:
# "This Is the Life" – 3:02
# "Buy Me a Condo" – 3:52

The promo single only contains "This Is the Life".

Music video

The video itself is a spoof of 1930's style Gangster movies, with Yankovic playing the role of a gangster himself. However, various specific things have been parodied:
*At the beginning a man is stopped at a gun check and removes a Tommy gun he had in his suit.
*Yankovic appears bathing in a bathtub of Perrier.
*Yankovic throws his fedora hat like a boomerang and it lands on a coat hook halfway across the room.
*Throughout the video Al uses money as everyday things. He uses a dollar bill to light a cigar.
*The original video was interspersed with video clips from the movie "Johnny Dangerously". Another version of the video released on The Compleat Al in 1985 did not have the clips, but instead, was spliced with stock footage.
*For legal reasons, "This Is the Life" was not featured on home video releases of the film until the DVD was released in 2002.

Notes

*"This Is the Life" is Yankovic's first single to not contain any parodies.
* According to the singles back cover, the hip-hop artist "The Glove" provides the scratching in the song.

ee also

*List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic
*List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic