Like a Surgeon

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"Like a Surgeon"

Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic
from the album Dare to Be Stupid
Released	June 4, 1985
Format	7", 12", picture disc
Recorded	February 21, 1985
Genre	Comedy
Length	3:27
Label	Scotti Brothers
Producer(s)	"Weird Al" Yankovic
Chart positions
47 USA
"Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology
"This Is the Life" (1984)	"Like a Surgeon" (1985)	"I Want a New Duck" (1985)

"Like a Surgeon" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "Like a Virgin" by Madonna.

1 Track listing
2 Music video
3 Trivia
4 See also

[edit] Track listing

"Like a Surgeon" – 3:27
"Slime Creatures from Outer Space" – 4:23

The promo single only contains "Like a Surgeon". The single was reissued in 1985 on the Golden Oldies label. It was reissued for a third time in 1993, also on Golden Oldies. Both reissues replaced "Slime Creatures from Outer Space" with "King of Suede".

[edit] Music video

The music video takes place in a hospital operating theatre. To make fun of the music video of "Like a Virgin", the main character sings on top of a hospital bed, compared to Madonna singing on river boats in Venice, Italy. Both videos have a lion at the beginning.

In the beginning of the video, a voice pages "Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard". This is a pastiche of the Three Stooges short "Men in Black".
At the beginning of the video Yankovic steps into the ICU, and sees a person whose heart has stopped. At first he doesn't realize it, then he begins banging on the heart rate monitor, and then finally hitting the person in the chest, which causes his heart to start again.
One of the X-rays that Yankovic shows is of a man with a screw in his head.
The sinks are being used for washing hands, feet, and pots and pans.
In the operating room, the game "Operation" can be seen hanging on the wall.
Many of the operating instruments used are "unorthodox": chainsaws, drills, blow-torches, etc.
While doing a heart transplant, Yankovic accidentally drops the heart. A nurse subsequently trips on it.
When the nurse is giving Yankovic the knife, she actually cuts his finger off.
Yankovic removes one of his patients' operation cap to reveal a lobotomized brain.
The I.V. has a fish swimming in it.
After Yankovic gives the patient the anaesthetic mask, a nurse in the backgorund is seen putting on the mask, and then fainting.
A football player can be seen in the "Nurse Huddle" near the middle of the video.
When the verse "My patients die before they can pay" is played, a scene of Yankovic and his nurses operating is shown, but then reveals that they are actually extracting money from a wallet.
Yankovic dances like Madonna near the end of the video.
One of the monitors features a clip from George of the Jungle. The theme song for this show was covered by Yankovic on the Dare to Be Stupid album, which also included "Like a Surgeon".
One of his patients has a sign that reads "27", and in the background a sign reads "Now Serving: 27".
When the verse "I can feel your heart beat... For the very last time" is sung, Yankovic falls flat on his back, and remains there for the remainder of the video.

[edit] Trivia

Madonna is partly responsible for the parody. Madonna asked some friends when Yankovic would parody her song "Like a Virgin" as "Like a Surgeon". When word got back to Yankovic, he decided it was a good idea and wrote the song. This is the only known time that Yankovic has gotten a parody idea directly from the original artist.[1]
When played live in concert, the song is noticeably slower, and features Yankovic rolling around on a bed that is placed in the middle of the stage while keyboardist Rubén Valtierra belly dances next to him. This is a parody of Madonna's concert performances of "Like a Virgin".
The video was shot in an actual hospital that had recently gone out of business.

[edit] See also

v • d • e “Weird Al” Yankovic
Band members
"Weird Al" Yankovic • Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz • Steve Jay • Jim West • Rubén Valtierra
Discography
Studio albums: "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983) • "Weird Al" Yankovic In 3-D (1984) • Dare To Be Stupid (1985) • Polka Party! (1986) • Even Worse (1988) • UHF (1989) • Off The Deep End (1992) • Alapalooza (1993) • Bad Hair Day (1996) • Running With Scissors (1999) • Poodle Hat (2003) • Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic • List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic • Complete discography
Filmography
Music videos • "Al TV" • The Compleat Al • UHF • "The Weird Al Show" • "Weird Al" Yankovic Live!
Related articles
Singles • Songs • Dr. Demento • Music videos • Parody musicians • Comedy musicians