As Brad Paisley became more successful, his silly videos became more star-studded. William Shatner and Jason Alexander, in particular, would become staples of Paisley’s videos in the years to come.
Paisley was still just a minor star, however, when he wrote ‘Celebrity,’ a clever song lampooning the Hollywood culture. His focus is on the ridiculously privileged lives of the famous, and the reality show-fueled obsession ordinary people have with joining those ranks. He gets off some great lines in a supremely catchy song.
In the years following Mud On the Tires, Paisley would ascend to the level of celebrity he’s talking about in this song, though I don’t suspect he’s wrecking his Ferrari on the way to rehab.
[Note: I didn’t plan it this way, but this is a rather appropriate song to feature the day after Amy Winehouse died… if anybody was a victim of her celebrity, it was her.]
Do I have talent? Well, no.
These days you don’t really need it,
Thanks to reality shows.
Can’t wait to date a supermodel,
Can’t wait to sue my Dad.
Can’t wait to wreck a Ferrari,
On my way to rehab.
‘Cause when you’re a celebrity, it’s adios reality.
You can act just like a fool;
People think you’re cool just ’cause you’re on TV.
I can throw a major fit,
When my latte isn’t just how I like it.
When they say I’ve gone insane,
I’ll blame it on the pain,
And the pressures that go with bein’ a celebrity.
Ah ha.
I’ll get to cry to Barbara Walters,
When things don’t go my way.
An’ I’ll get community service,
No matter which law I break.
I’ll make the supermarket tabloids,
They’ll write some awful stuff.
But the more they run my name down,
The more my price goes up.
Cuz, when you’re a celebrity, it’s adios reality.
no matter what ya do;
People think you’re cool just ’cause you’re on TV.
Now, I can fall in and out of love,
Have marriages that barely last a month.
When they go down the drain,
I’ll blame it on the fame,
And say: “It’s just so tough, bein’ a celebrity.”
So let’s hitch up the wagons and head out west,
To the land of fun in the sun.
We’ll be real world, bachelor, jackass millionaires.
Hey, hey Hollywood, here we come.
Yeah, when you’re a celebrity, it’s adios reality.
No matter what you do,
People think you’re cool just ’cause you’re on TV.
Bein’ a celebrity.
Yeah, a celebrity.
Ah ha.
Aw, where’s my coffee?
Meet Me In Montauk 
Funny video. Love Jason Alexander (“Do you taste soy?”).
The song is another example of clever lyrics wrapped into a conventional country melody. Like the lyrics, music not so much.
That video is absolutely hilarious. I was loving Jason Alexander throughout and thinking that Shatner was being wasted, only to find that he gets the funniest line of the video – “the end; when the song stops. I loved that.” 🙂
I enjoyed this song – music and lyrics alike. Quite an entertaining SOTD.