Song: The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota
Running Time: 6:50
Year: 1989
Album: UHF, Al-In-The-Box
Style Parody: Harry Chapin (30,000 Pounds of Bananas), The Kinks (Living on a thin line) and Gordon Lightfoot.
Genre: Folk rock
Guitar tuning: F standard
Lyrics: Lyrics
Video: None
Download/Listen: None
Forum: Forum Discussion Page
Trivia[]
- The biggest ball of twine in the world — that was built by one man — is indeed located in Darwin, Minnesota. It weighs 17,400 pounds (rather than the 21,140 stated in the song) and was completed in 1979 by Francis A. Johnson.
- After this song was released, the nearby gift shop began selling postcards reading "Greetings from the Twine Ball, wish you were here".
- There is a larger twine ball in Cawker City Kansas, but it is a community project, and not built by just one person.
- The Twine Ball Inn (now closed) was a real place, but it was a restaurant, not a hotel.
- There is a road in Darwin named "Weird Alley."
- Elvis-A-Rama, the Tupperware Museum, the Boll Weevil Monument, Cranberry World, the Shuffleboard Hall of Fame, and Poodle Dog Rock are all real places. The "Mecca of Albino Squirrels" could refer to a few different places, most likely the town of Olney, Illinois.
- The kids started singing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" for the 27th time that day. The number 27 is a running gag in Weird Al's songs.
- The video for White and Nerdy calls back to this song, featuring a Trivial Pursuit card reading "In what city is the largest ball of twine built by one man?"
- Al recalls being followed by punk kids on a Hollywood street late one night and, instead of the worst case scenario, one said "Hey, Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota is, like, our favorite song!"