Image via WikipediaParody artist, accordion aficionado, and esteemed geek rocker Weird Al Yankovic has just announced via MySpace blog that a brand new song will be made available on iTunes next Tuesday – that's October 7th for those of you watching in black and white. This track has been touted as "a parody of a song that very recently was (or perhaps still is) the number one song in the country."

This marks an interesting turn in Weird Al's career because – as he admits in his blog entry – his typical 3 to 4 year album cycle often makes it difficult to both stay topical and to lampoon contemporary pop songs while they're still high on the charts.

With recent hits from Kid Rock, Rihanna, and Katy Perry all ripe for derision and the nation abuzz with news of bailouts and VP debates, the question on fan's minds obviously concerns where Weird Al plans to take the parody and which song will prove the most ample fodder. But let us not forget in our excitement for new material the very interesting precedent this announcement sets.

For an artist like Weird Al, a man with a solid fan base but a somewhat less than regular output, digital distribution might just open up some exciting new doors. In the same way that the relatively fast production time of a show like South Park allows the writers to skew current events as they unfold, the downloadable single (when unfettered by the lengthy, often laborious wait for a full album release) could easily give Al the chance to lampoon popular songs and cultural developments while they are still at the very forefront of the American psyche.

Via Slashdot