One More Minute

Track listing

The following tracks are on the single:

1. "One More Minute" – 4:02
2. "Midnight Star" – 4:33

The promo single only contains "One More Minute".

Lyrics

Although the song sounds like a typical romantic slow-dance song, it is about rationalizing extreme acts in reaction to his girlfriend dumping him for another man. He sings how he would rather endure the pain of various acts of masochism "than spend one more minute with you". These include: ripping out his intestines with a fork, jumping onto a pile of thumbtacks naked, diving "into a swimming pool filled with double-edged razor blades," eating shards of broken glass, forcing an icepick underneath a toenail (or two), and slamming his fingers in a door repeatedly. In the closing verse, he states that he "would rather rip my heart right out of my rib cage with my bare hands and then throw it on the floor and stomp on it 'til I die", painting a particularly dramatic image of his true feelings for his ex-love. The things he does in reaction to the split are suitably bizarre also: after mentioning he has torn up her photos and removed her number from his Rolodex (presumably acceptable things), he also recounts having burned down the malt shop the two had frequented for the sake of the bad memories. Other than preferring to perform violent acts than spending "one more minute with you" he also states he would rather do disgusting things like cleaning all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with his tongue.

Music video

Several jokes in the music video are inspired by a scene in the movie Top Secret!, a movie Yankovic cites as one of his favorites. Most notable are the microphone gags and the presence of three back-up singers, played in the music video by Yankovic's band. While many fan-posted videos have been removed to protect their copyrights, and Yankovic has put up many videos to be downloaded for sale, "One More Minute" has so far been allowed to remain on many free video sharing sites.

According to his series of trading cards, at one point in the video, Al takes out a photograph of his actual ex-girlfriend and tears it in half; this woman was apparently the inspiration for the song.

Live performances

In concert, the song is played at a noticeably faster pace. Humorous bits sometimes precede the song; for example, on the Running with Scissors tour, Yankovic starts off with a monologue about his "hometown" (which happens to be the town he is currently in) and tells a story his mother told him when he was "...about 23." He is constantly interrupted by keyboardist Rubén Valtierra; to the point which he takes out a blank gun and "shoots" him.

After the first chorus, Yankovic (and a security member—usually wearing a jacket with "AL" on his back) goes into the audience and greets audience members while performing. Additionally, Yankovic removes a pair of boxers from his pants and hands them to a female in the audience. This was also inspired by the aforementioned Top Secret! scene.