"You're Only Second Rate" is a song featured in the film, The Return of Jafar sung by Jafar, who boasts about how superior he is in comparison with Genie, and as he does so he battles Genie in a duel of magic, in which he defeats him, leaving Genie, along with Abu, to be taken prisoner by Jafar.
Lyrics
I must admit
Your parlor tricks
Are amusing.
I bet you've got a bunny
Under your hat.
Now here's your chance
To get the best of me.
' Hope your hand is hot!
C'mon, clown!
Let's see what you've got!
You can try to slam me
With your hardest stuff,
But your double whammy
Isn't up to snuff.
I'll set the record straight:
You're simply out of date.
You're only second rate.
You think your cat's a meanie,
But your tiger's tame.
You've got a lot to learn
About the genie game,
So for your education
I reiterate:
You're only second rate.
Men cower
At the power
In my pinky.
My thumb is number one
On every list;
But if you're not convinced
That I'm invincible,
Put me to the test.
I'd love to lay this rivalry to rest!
Go ahead and zap me
With a big surprise!
Slap me in a trap!
Cut me down to size!
I'll make a great escape:
It's just a piece of cake.
You're only second rate.
You know your hocus-pocus
Isn't tough enough;
And your mumbo-jumbo
Doesn't measure up.
Let me pontificate
Upon your sorry state:
You're only second rate.
Zaba-caba-dabra!
Granny's gonna grab ya!
Alakazomnibus!
This thing's bigger than the both of us!
So spare me your tremendous stare!
You look horrendous in your underwear,
And I can hardly wait
To discombobulate;
I'll send your back end packing
In a shipping crate!
You'll make a better living
With a spinning plate!
You're only second rate!
Trivia
- Even though Jafar performs a song in the original movie, it should be noted that it was only a reprise of Prince Ali, therefore, this one is his official "villain song".
- A snippet of the song is heard instrumentally in Aladdin and the King of Thieves, during the song "There's a Party Here in Agrabah" when the Genie appears with a mask of Jafar, saying the line "Without Jafar and all of his malice".
- There are many cultural references in this song:
- When Jafar says "You've got a lot to learn about the genie game," a chalkboard reads "2+2=5". This may be a reference to 1984, a novel written by George Orwell. In Part One, Chapter Seven, the protagonist wonders if the state will declare 2+2=5 true, as he also ponders on whether everyone believing it makes it true.
- "I'll make a great escape" is a reference to a mass escape from the Nazi prison camp Luftstalag III in 1944, or to the 1950 book The Great Escape or (most likely) the popular 1963 film of the same name.
- At one point, Genie and Abu run into a grandmother in a rocking chair, facing away. When "she" turns around, "she" reveals "herself" to be Jafar. This is a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho where the protagonist is in a similar situation but the grandmother is a mere skeleton.
- "Alakazomnibus" is a "portmanteau word" combining "alakazam" and "omnibus."
- "This thing's bigger than the both of us" was a cliché line from 20th century romantic fiction, often used by a villainous character attempting to seduce another into an illicit relationship by suggesting that it was somehow "fated" and irresistible.
- "You'll make a better living with a spinning plate" refers to certain novelty acts, such as Erich Brenn, who would spin multiple china plates on thin poles without allowing them to fall off; such acts were tremendously popular from the early days of vaudeville down to the 1960's or so, but were considered hopelessly dated and hokey by the time The Return of Jafar was made.
