Yankovic would have called the parody song “Schmoozer.”

As the world’s foremost parody musician, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s parody songs are often considered a badge of honor for most accomplished performers. However, Yankovic is a professional, and always asks for permission from the artists before making a parody, which some of them decline. One of those artists was Beck, though in hindsight, Beck wishes he’d let Yankovic do his thing.

At the time @beck thought it would be career suicide https://t.co/f0HDXIC00g

— NME (@NME) July 1, 2022

In an interview with the Words + Music podcast, Beck discussed the creation of his hit song “Loser,” and mentioned that Yankovic sought permission for a parody of it. “‘Weird Al’ Yankovic tried to do a version of it, it was going to be called ‘Schmoozer,’ which I regret denying him the permission to do,” Beck said. “I think it would have been an amazing video, I’m actually really sad it didn’t happen.”

Beck says he regrets not letting ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic record a parody of his track "Loser" — which would have been called "Schmoozer." https://t.co/XStY420UXE

— billboard (@billboard) June 30, 2022

The main reason Beck turned the parody down was that he wanted to ensure “Loser” would be taken seriously, and was concerned a spoof would ruin his career. “I had a lot of people who were veterans in the business telling me at 20, 21, 22, ‘You should go back to school. You don’t really have the talent to do this. The songs as they are aren’t going to work. They’re too rough, they’re too raw, they’re not real songs, they’re sort of hodgepodge ideas,’” Beck said. “It really wasn’t taken seriously at all. And when it came out, and it was popular, it still wasn’t taken that serious at all. You can go back to the press of the day. I just remember myriad articles and headlines of ‘One hit wonder, joke band Beck, novelty act.’”