So since I use my iPod to listen to music in the car, I often set it to shuffle and could go for probably months without hearing the same song and/or certain songs (iTunes says 42.2days assuming I was playing it straight through). So imagine my surprise when it shuffled over to this song by "Weird Al" Yankovic, which I've listened to for the first time since I finally saw the newest Rocky (VI if you're counting, a.k.a "Rocky Balboa") around Chrsitmas. Normally I don't listen to this song, as it isn't one of my favorites, but I left it on and was amused to realize how it actully ended up being a lot like the plotline/backstory of that film, despite having been written in 1984 (a good 12 years before).
For those that haven't seen "Rocky Balboa" no real spoilers here about the ending, but he's supposed to be somewhere in his 50s (I would say pushing 60, as the plot is supposed to be 30 years later and I specifically remember in the original "Rocky" both Rocky and Adrian were suposed to be "almost 30" as mentioned by Paulie when he was teasing her about not being married yet). So he's been retired for a while... he's put on some pounds (which we then watch him work off) and he's lost all his speed and stamina. What he's been doing in the meantime is he has opened his own restaurant. I believe it's supposed to be Italian cuisine, though I'm probably just assuming that because he's Italian as I don't rememeber them specifically saying for sure. He also has apparently spent all his money, as he is now living in the Kensington district of Philadelphia (basically a working class neighborhood so while his house isn't a slum like his first appartment it's not really that nice either). He spends a lot of the first quarter of the movie moping around and visiting the old neighborhood (for reasons I don't want to tell you as it is a spoiler) and not really doing much. So of course if you know the "Weird Al" song, you already know why this is amusing. If you don't then here are the lyrics:
Fat and weak, what a disgraceGuess the champ got too lazyAin't gonna fly now, he's just takin' up spaceSold his gloves, threw his eggs down the drainBut he's no bum, he works down the streetHe bought the neighborhood deliBack on his feet, now he's choppin' up meatCome inside, maybe you'll hear him sayTry the rye or the kaiserThey're on special tonightIf you want, you can have an appetizerYou might like our salami and the liver's all rightAnd they'd really go well with the ryeOr the kaiserNever eats while on the jobHe heard it's good to stay hungryBut he makes a pretty mean shish kabobHave a taste, they were made fresh todayTry the rye or the kaiser or the wheat or the whiteMaybe I can suggest an appetizerStay away from the tuna, it smells funny tonightBut you just can't go wrong with the ryeOr the kaiserSo today, his deli comes firstSteady dreams of his past days of gloryGoes in the back and beats up on the liverwurstAll the while you can still hear him sayIt's the rye or the kaiser, it's the thrill of one biteLet me please be your catering advisorIf you want substitutions I won't put up a fightYou can have your roast beef on the ryeOr the kaiserThe rye or the kaiserThe rye or the kaiserThe rye or the kaiser