A long time ago on a playlist far, far away…

If you’ve spent anytime on the internet this past weekend you’ve probably read more than a few Facebook status updates and tweets screaming “May the 4th be with you!” It’s amazing how a simple play on words based on a classic Star Wars line became an unofficial holiday among die-hard fans and Disney’s shareholders. May 4th was a cute and all, but having sworn my allegiance to the dark side of the Force years ago I have executed my very own “Order 66″ and will celebrate Revenge of the Sixth!

The Star Wars franchised has become so ingrained in our pop culture it’s almost gone past the point of fandom and become something of a religion. It’s almost ridiculous, the sheer amount of nods made in movies, television shows, books and even music. There were some obvious references made by bands like Standby Red 5, Jedi Mind Tricks and Bossk. Here’s a list of a few of my favorite Star Wars-themed songs.

5) Hot Waffles – “George Lucas Raped Our Childhood” (2005)

Not every musical tribute to Star Wars is meant to be celebratory. Sometimes they can be downright scathing. When George Lucas formally announced that he was beginning development of the prequel trilogy we Star Wars fans pretty much lost our collective shit. After years of hinting of their existence it was finally happening and fans couldn’t contain the excitement. Then The Phantom Menace premiered in the Summer of 1999 resulting those same fans lost their collective shit for an entirely different reason.

Comedic rock duo Hot Waffles (comprised of brothers Chris and Tim Waffle) created a hilariously catchy ode chronicling the rage of Star Wars fans Chris and Tim lament the increasingly poor decisions of George Lucas, Sci-Fi’s equivalent of Todd Margaret. With so many lyrical jabs at Lucas you can chalk it up to another set of disgruntled fans, but what Hot Waffles parody isn’t just the movies but even the irrational anger of some fans. If the song title offends you, you’ve obviously not heard any of the insults hurled at Lucas. The biggest punchline comes during the last verse, which expertly sums up the rationale of angry uber-fans:

And I swear as sure as the twin sunset on Tatooine that I will never give lucas another dollar of my money at least until the Episode 3 Super Special Edition DVDs come out, I gotta get those.

 

 

4) blink-182 – “A New Hope” (1997)

It’s pretty easy for anyone to write Star Wars-related songs pointing out the shortcomings of its creator. In the case of SoCal pop-punk trio blink-182, there’s no better way to pay homage than to express your undying affection for a fictional character.  On “A New Hope,” one of the deep cuts off the classic album Dude Ranch, bassist Mark Hoppus swoons and pines for the cinnamon bun-coiffed leader of the Rebel Alliance. At its core, the song is simply a tune about unrequited love, but this one happens to have a slew of Star Wars references. It should be considered creepy, but it’s hard not to feel bad for our protagonist with lines such as “Every night I fall asleep with you, and I wake up alone.”

 

 

3) Supernova – “Chewbacca” (1994)

Show of hands: who wanted to be Han Solo when they grew up? Let’s run down the list: He has his own ship only rivaled in badassery by Boba Fett’s Slave 1, he battles bounty hunters and gangsters. Now, with another show of hands: who wanted to be Chewbacca as a kid? Don’t worry–I’ll wait. Despite being a loyal friend and companion no thanks to the Wookie life debt, Chewbacca always played second banana to everyone’s favorite smuggler. At least Supernova thought Kashykk’s “walking carpet” cool enough to get his own tribute in song.

Probably best known for having been featured in writer/director Kevin Smith’s slacker flick Clerks, “Chewbacca” isn’t the most complex song ever written. For a minute and a half you hear Supernova’s constant, driving bassline, drums and the occasional distortion-heavy guitars. The only difference is this song has some pretty funny impersonations of Jabba the Hutt and Chewie himself. What’s the Wookie word for “I’m not supposed to be here today?”

 

 

2) Weird Al Yankovic – “The Saga Begins” (1999)

The public response to Star Was Episode 1 ranged from negative to positive slightly less negative, but Lucas still got his wish: the Star Wars saga was once again on the minds of seemingly everyone who wasn’t a Trekkie. Weird Al Yankovic, the master of the parody song and the bane of Billy Corgan’s existence, had been bitten by the Star Wars bug. In his midst of his geek-induced fever dream, Weird Al wrote what might be my favorite parody titled “The Saga Begins.”

Using Don McLean’s classic “American Pie” as the template, the parody’s backstory is just as entertaining as the song itself. Written before the official release of The Phantom Menace, Al used internet spoilers to write the lyrics, which are from the point of view of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Being a pretty good sport about the experience, Lucasfilm and Don McLean both spoke very highly of the parody, which is something that can’t be said for Coolio.

 

 

1) MC Chris – “Fette’s Vette” (2001)

The cult of Boba Fettt is still a mystery to me. The bounty hunter had a total of maybe 5 minutes of screen time in the original trilogy and probably even less lines in the script. Despite his shortage of time in front of the camera, Fett remains one of Star Wars’ biggest badasses. Nerdcore rapper MC Chris paid tribute to the jet pack-clad Madalorian on “Fette’s Vette” from his 2001 album Life’s a Bitch and I’m Her Pimp. When it comes to Star Wars references, MC Chris puts most of us to shame on this track. To be honest, unless you’re an avid fan you might not even bother listening to this one. My favorite line would have to be,

“Guess for me that’s not an option/can’t say that with more clarity/Me going legit would be like Jar Jar in speech therapy.”

God bless you, MC Chris.