Free as a Bird
In addition to the five parodies on the album, Yankovic had several parody ideas that were turned down. Originally, Yankovic wanted to turn The Offspring's hit "Come Out and Play" into an ode about doing laundry called "Laundry Day". There are conflicting stories as to why the song was never recorded; either Yankovic never approached The Offspring about releasing the parody, or the band denied permission. Either way, Yankovic performed the song in concert from 1996 through 2000. Despite not being able to parody "Come Out and Play", Yankovic would later be granted permission to parody their 1998 hit "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" as "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" on his 1999 album "Running with Scissors". Yankovic also wanted to record a parody of The Beatles' "Anthology" hit "Free as a Bird" titled "Gee, I'm a Nerd". Yankovic asked Paul McCartney, a supporter of Yankovic's work, if he could parody "Free as a Bird". McCartney had no problem with the parody, but because "Free as a Bird" was written by John Lennon, McCartney deferred the decision to Yoko Ono, who denied permission because she was uncomfortable with the parody idea.