There are a lot of terrible parodies out there, porn or otherwise, but sometimes obsession and creative talent finds the perfect sweet spot of fandom. This is one of those times. With May the 4th descending upon the internet on Thursday, there is going to be more than a little bit of Star Wars content to choose from, but none quite so perfect as this intergalactic take on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Dan Amrich and Jude Kelley are two dedicated nerds who began crafting Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans, a full length riff on the classic Beatles album, a mere five years ago, telling Polygon:
“We had released several one-off songs, and we enjoyed that, but we wanted to do a concept album to tell a larger story with a little more impact,” Kelley said. “At one point, we were considering parodying a Who album based around the idea of competitive arcade gaming, but it wasn’t coming together. Fortunately Dan’s wife, Katrin Auch, suggested we drop that and combine two bigger, more universally beloved things. She threw out Star Wars and The Beatles as examples — and we said, ‘Yeah, let’s do that!'”
And with that, a parody so perfect that it would make Weird Al weep with joy was born. Well, actually, writing the lyrics took over a year alone, with a 3,000 mile distance between the dedicated pals making the process more than a little tricky.
Honestly, the work shows. Not only do they work in clever Star Wars Easter eggs, but it is a note-perfect homage to the Fab Four as well. You can enjoy the entire thing on YouTube if you need to freshen up your usual Star Wars Day festivities, or if you just appreciate a creative outpouring of Aldaraan passion.
(Via Polygon)
