At the time of its 2005 release, “Peace” was perhaps the most thematically thoughtful song Weezer had put on an album in the near-decade since Pinkerton. A lot of that has to do with Cuomo’s refrain — “I need to find some peace” — which refers to Cuomo’s then-nascent experiences with Vispasanna meditation. The acoustic guitar in the verse seems to represent […]
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Like Hamlet is a young man’s play, Pinkerton is a young man’s album. Surely anyone can appreciate either (and at any age), but there’s a very hormonal, angsty, testosterone-motivated facet to both (at their respective cores, even), and at least in Pinkerton‘s case, that the vast majority of its acolytes are male and discovered it during their teens is […]
This song was one of the earliest sketches for Maladroit, and the third song Cuomo wrote in 2001 (the first being Green b-side “I Do”). We have two versions, the first recorded for the BBC (one of the four songs from that session the station would air) on 6/13/01. It is distinguished by its prominent […]
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Back in 2005, on the eve of Make Believe‘s release, guitarist Brian Bell remarked that the record’s second track, “Perfect Situation,” sounded like “Green Plus” to him. He was right — I can hear some traces of Green in “Situation” (namely its reuse of the opening bars from “Simple Pages,” more or less verbatim), and it’s a […]
The great “In The Garage” is a rare entry in the all-too-shortlist of Weezer songs with harmonica, which also includes the esteemed likes of “Mykel & Carli,” “Pig,” “Wanda (You’re My Only Love),” “My Name Is Jonas” and “Freak Me Out” (one of these is not quite like the others). The mouth organ riff that begins […]
Ask any of Weezer’s die-hard fans about “My Best Friend” and you’ll hear the sound of disdain. A survey of the comments on its SongMeanings entry, however, reveals plenty of love. “This song is wonderful,” remarks jack_the_brat. “this song always reminds me of 1 of my friends, shes not actually my best friend but i bloody wish […]
Thursday, August 14, 2008
This song is part of Songs From The Black Hole, a collection of songs that the band never finished. In the wake of The Blue Album‘s commercial breakout, Rivers Cuomo was disappointed to find that the mainstream had largely misunderstood the record, shocked to find the band had been misconstrued as a novelty act with a […]
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
This one is a Green Album-era rehearsal tune that was demoed by the band several times after their tour in the summer of 2000 — part of a collection of home recordings that are identified in the Recording History as the October Demos. It was attempted three times that month, then at the end of […]
I’m not sure how this song originally leaked, but by the time of its official release on Rivers Cuomo’s Alone demo compilation of 2007, “Lover In The Snow” was a familiar recording to Weezer die-hards. It’s a rare artifact from the Dark Ages of Weezer, the 1997-1999 period during which Cuomo quietly remodeled his craft after the […]
“Private Message” is a song from the band’s aborted Early Album 5 sessions, which transpired during the spring and summer of 2002 (both predating and following the release of Maladroit). It’s a love song with some pretty mystifying couplets, especially when heard in succession: I want you so badly Too bad that you slammed me And […]