page_title: The Saga Begins
section_title: Music video
hierarchical_section_title: The Saga Begins / Music video
caption_attribution_description: "Weird Al" Yankovic performing "The Saga Begins"
context_page_description: "The Saga Begins" is a parody song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It parodies "American Pie" by Don McLean, with lyrics that humorously summarize the plot of the film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace through the point of view of Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the protagonists of the film.
  The song's title, not mentioned anywhere in the lyrics, derives from a tagline that appeared in teaser trailers and the film poster for The Phantom Menace: "Every saga has a beginning". "The Saga Begins" was released as a single from the 1999 album Running with Scissors, and later appearing on the compilation album titled The Saga Begins.
context_section_description: The video begins in the desert on the planet Tatooine. Yankovic, dressed like Obi-Wan Kenobi, the protagonist of Episode I, walks until he comes across  Darth Sidious playing the piano. Yankovic uses the Force to get a resonator guitar, and in the second verse he reappears performing in a Mos Eisley cantina leading a band also dressed as Jedi. In the last verse, he returns to the desert; and in the last chorus, numerous "Obi-Wan" clones sing as a group.
  Some Star Wars characters can be seen, such as Queen Padmé Amidala (played by Al's cousin, Tammy), Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, and Yoda.
  The upper half of the pianist's face is always covered by the hood of the robe that he is wearing much like the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. When asked why, Yankovic stated that, "They didn't want to scare small children," a reference to the playful teasing of Yankovic's pianist, Rubén Valtierra, commonly used in his live shows.
  In 2011, the entire video was released as a bonus feature in a Star Wars spoofs compilation for the 2011 Blu-ray box set release of the saga.
caption: Yankovic performing the song in Auckland, New Zealand on March 10, 2007.
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