B-side "That Boy Could Dance" Format 7", 12" Length 3:19 | Released February 28, 1984 Recorded December 13, 1983 | |
Genre Comedy rock
hard rock
R&B | ||
"Eat It" is a 1984 song by comedy music artist "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a spoof of "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. The track was both a commercial and critical success, earning Yankovic a Grammy Award. It reached number 1 in Australia.
Contents
According to Yankovic, when he presented his lyrics to Jackson for review, he didn't know what kind of reaction he'd get. Jackson allegedly thought it was amusing, and agreed to allow the parody. On October 19, 1989, the RIAA certified "Eat It" as a gold single.
Reception
The single reached number 1 in Australia, and it was his highest-charting US single on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 12 until "White & Nerdy" peaked at number 9 in October 2006. "Eat It" earned Yankovic a 1984 Grammy Award in the Best Comedy Recording category. "Eat It" also outranked "Beat It" in overall highest position on the Australian Aria Charts, with its highest rank being number 1, while "Beat It"'s highest is 3rd. As stated before, the RIAA certified "Eat It" as a gold single on October 19, 1989.
1984 release
- "Eat It" – 3:19
- "That Boy Could Dance" – 3:32
1985/1993 re-release
- "Eat It" – 3:19
- "I Lost on Jeopardy" – 3:26
Music video
The video for "Eat It" is styled as a shot-for-shot remake of Jackson's video for "Beat It", but with elements being parodied in various silly ways. For example, one man grabs his girlfriend by the head and swings her back to kiss her, and her head comes off; two rival gang members brandish a spoon and fork at one another during the song's bridge, then begin to fight over a rubber chicken as the solo guitarist's instrument explodes in his hands possibly in reference to Eddie van Halen's solo in beat it causing a speaker to catch fire. The video ends with a spoof of "Thriller," in which Yankovic wakes from a dream, turns to prepare some Alka-Seltzer, and, when he turns back around, he has the yellow, slitted animal eyes Jackson sported at the end of "Thriller."