“(Live).”
Some of you reading may not understand why that’s a joke, but the fact is, “Island in the Sun” is the most released song of Weezer’s career. Too released. Released more than any one song should ever be, regardless of which band did it. To wit:
THE COMPLETE “ISLAND IN THE SUN” DISCOGRAPHY
- The Green Album (2001)
- Radio-only promo CD (2001)
- UK retail CD single #1 (2001; with “Island in the Sun” music video CD-ROM)
- UK retail CD single #2 (2001)
- UK retail yellow vinyl 7-inch (2001)
- Japanese retail CD single (2001)
- The Lion and the Witch EP (2002; live)
- Japanese Maladroit CD (2002; Green Album version)
- Australian Maladroit CD (2002; Green Album version)
- UK Maladroit CD (2002; Green Album version)
- Video Capture Device DVD (2004; music video Version 1)
- Video Capture Device DVD (2004; music video Version 2)
- UK “Beverly Hills” CD single (2005; live)
- Japanese “Beverly Hills” CD single (2005; live)
- “Island in the Sun (Live)” iTunes single (2005; live)
- UK Make Believe CD (2005; live)
- Japanese Make Believe CD (2005; live)
SOUNDTRACKS/MISC. APPEARANCES
- Holiday in the Sun movie (2001; used as theme song, as covered by the Olsen Twins)
- Island in the Sun karaoke single (2001; as imitated by a band called Obscure; incls. regular, Karaoke Remix, Tiki Bar Remix, and Unplugged Remix)
- Mr. Deeds soundtrack (2002)
- Triple J’s Hottest 100 compilation (2002)
- Smallville: The Talon Mix soundtrack (2003)
- Aquamarine soundtrack (2006; as covered by Emma Roberts)
- The Definitive Tom Dunne Vol. 01: 2000-2006 compilation (2006)
- Lance Armstrong: Run Longer Nike+ Playlist (2007)
And probably scores more.
In truth, it is a great song. Great enough to warrant 17 official Weezer releases and a handful of soundtrack releases (including shows like The Sopranos and The Simpsons, which use the song but have never issued it on a soundtrack of any kind) and spinoffs? Maybe not. I mean, in Japan and the UK, the song was released on three consecutive, official, studio albums — The Green Album, then Maladroit less than a year later (with the Green version simply being tacked onto the end — not even a different mix!), then Make Believe (as a live rendition). What the fuck!
It really is Green‘s finest standout, though. IITS, along with “Photograph” and “Hash Pipe,” is one of the album’s few songs not mixed and compressed to sound middled-out, bland and anti-dynamic — the mix actually has some depth, a sense of space to it. The arrangement is one of the album’s best, as well; the verse bassline is one of the best of the era, giving what would otherwise be a somewhat dragging song that much-needed boost (if you replaced its danceability with something more plodding [like straight eighth notes], I would go so far as to venture to say it wouldn’t have been a hit). The intro, production of the lead rhythm guitar, addition of a second (acoustic) rhythm guitar on the verse, the simple lead line, those great “ooooh” backups (although, one critique there: why are they practically buried?), etc. etc. The bridge rockout is predictable (practically inevitable), but works nicely here, and the guitar solo is one of the few instances of the Green album verse-melody-solo working so well. The lyrics are quite nice, as well — a rare example of Rivers’ purposefully detached lyrics working to a song’s advantage.
The live version we have from The Lion and the Witch EP is somewhat disposable (though still probably my favorite cut from that disc), but I really do like Cuomo’s super-echoed outro, especially when it’s just him singing at the end with Scott Shriner accompanying on bass. A beautiful ending, which certainly fares better than the studio version’s simple fadeout.
The other live version we have (are there more than two?) is my less favorite of the two, but it’s cool for being played a few BPM faster (hence a little more energetic than its usual performance), for Pat Wilson’s unusually busy (and pretty cool) drum work, and for Cuomo’s spanking new (and much improved) guitar solo. The band attempts a similar outro to the Lion and the Witch version, but it doesn’t come off nearly as well.
Lastly, of the live versions in any form of circulation, there is the “re-worked” arrangement from the Extended Hyper Midget Tour of 2001 (live cuts from which were, for a time, distributed to fans via weezer.com). It is comparable to the other two live cuts we have, minus any kind of outro at all.
And believe it or not, there are versions of this song that have (thus far) escaped official release! Cuomo’s home demo from 1999 is a cute little take on the song, with a synth-organ on the bridge rather than a rockout. However, as some fans have noted, to contrast his vocal performance here with his on “Velouria” just a year _prior_ is mind-numbing. In 1998, Cuomo’s voice was at the top of its game, literally the best it has ever sounded; now, in 1999, he sounds like a semi-tonedeaf teenager coughing his way through this first home recording. The only tenable explanation is that he is trying (quite audibly) to sound like Liam Gallagher, as Oasis was a huge influence of Cuomo’s at this time, and (also quite audibly) failing.
ACTUALLY LASTLY, there’s the 17-second clip of an early full-band recording of this song that has been lifted from the Video Capture Device DVD. It is notably more upbeat and uptempo, and with a rather crazy solo that Karl Koch had apparently flown into the mix from “No More Confusin’,” which was demo’ed several times with Weezer at Cuomo’s home studio. Recorded in 2000, these are the uncirculated “October Demos.” [Thanks to commenter Fro for remembering the song title!]
Oh yes, and to quickly roundup the video component: two music videos were released for this song. One was directed by “Hash Pipe” music video director Marcos Siega, which is notable for both the presence of Mikey (lookin’ sharp) and the ridiculous Mexican wedding setting. The band was understandably displeased, so they reunited with Spike Jonze (the “Buddy Holly” guy) to do one of the band playing outdoors with various zoo animals. It marks a bizarre point in the band’s history when Mikey was “missing” (in rehab, actually) and the band still had not yet found Scott to replace him, so the band is erroneously presented as a three-piece. Also, the SNL performance features annoying douchebag and one-dimensional actor Will Ferrel on maracas.
68 Comments
I was going to mention the AOL Sessions versions, but opted out in favor of keeping the length of this post somewhere between “novella” and “biblical.” If anyone wants to cover that ground for me in the comments, please do.
Regarding the solo mixed into the VCD clip:
I believe it was “No More Confusin’”
Am I right in thinking that they considered Matt Sharp for the zoo animals video in place of Mikey?
It could have been a little poignant with the four of them wandering around the hills in silence, no lip-synching.
You are correct, Adroit. And yes, that would’ve been a bit moving…
Fro: Thanks for the tip. I will edit the post now.
I can’t think of any greater thing for two people in love to have than their own island in the sun. A place where they would have no troubles, no cares, and never feel bad any more.
Island in the Sun is, quite simply, one of the best pop songs anybody has ever written. Of all the tracks on green, I absolutely love to put on my headphones, turn up Island In The Sun, and listen to that empty sound with just the riff in my right headphone followed by the perfectly placed “hep hep”s leading into the intro of all instruments.
The beauty of this song lies in it’s simple, yet effective chord progression. During the verses, chords change from major to minor as the Utopian lyrics soar over them. The result is a sense of happiness, but also a since of distance and impossibility. As if to say, “No matter how badly we want this Island of ours, we will never be able to have it.”
Regardless, the chorus erupts into an almost pleading reassurance from the male character, “We’ll run away together, we’ll spend some time forever, we’ll never feel bad anymore.” As if to say, “Please hold on. Keep waiting. I swear it will happen.”
The harmonies, like most of green, are flawless on this song. The solo’s simplicity words well, and would most likely not work if it were to be anything else. The song ends with Cuomo crooning “We’ll never feel bad anymore, no, no,” to the Oohs backing him.
Around the time Rivers first demoed this song, he was writing the names of songs on walls. Brian Bell visited Rivers, well aware of the state he was in – delicacy. He scanned the walls of song titles and then came across “Island in the Sun.” He asked Rivers to play that one for him. He instantly knew it was special.
Entries into Karl’s Corner (now documented in Super Chrono) from the days of recording Green also describe how unique and special the song is in Weezer’s catalogue. He mentions how the song is being given special attention, how everything must be done just right, how worried Rivers is about getting it perfectly, and about how splendidly it turns out.
For anyone seeking an example of Rivers gift with pop, one should look to Island in the Sun.
impressive bit of work on the discography there…was it much work or could you recall it all by memory?
my fandom took a nose dive from somewhere in 04 until this past fall, so i had no idea about how many times it appeared.
interestingly, i was one of the first to hear the song because i was at the opening show in Austin before TGA had been released…excitedly, i tried to memorize the harmonies on my way back home so i could somehow describe the songs to the newsgroup.
it was my favorite song from green from the start and i knew it would be a single when i heard it.
the drums sound weird on TGA but it kinda fits (or maybe i’m just used to it) it’s…detached as is the whole song, as several have noted.
martin, i like your comments a lot…it seems like rivers for a long time was after pop perfection and this song gets as close to it so far. in fact, i was always a little surprised it didn’t blow up even bigger on the u.s. top 40 charts.
does anyone know why exactly a third single was never officially released? photograph had some promise…maybe even a re-worked version of don’t let go (a la keep fishin).
damn, you keep getting cool songs on your shuffle! i hate to curse you (and us) but we’re due for a rash of bad ones now and heated arguments and the like…
Martin, thanks for basically covering the entire breakdown of the song itself for me; I was just trying to give my nod to all of the versions of this song we have, which took up the entire space for the post. Great analysis and insights. I also like that you recalled the Rivers-writing-on-walls story…Of all the different periods of his eccentricity, I think the era building to the release of Green is certainly the most interesting.
Tapegun: The discography took a fair amount of research and factchecking, yes. I love Weezer, but I’m not that psychotic…!
Also, yeah, I’ve long wondered why “Photograph” was given the shaft. “Hash Pipe” and IITS were both definitely successes, so why not try for the hat trick? Then again, I think by the time “Photograph” was being considered, it was already time to gear up for and promote Maladroit, so maybe it was the band’s own insistence on releasing a new product within a year of the last full-length is what truncated Green‘s single run. In any case, Japan got a “Photograph” CD single…
And that’s what’s great about this blog, Tapegun — I look forward to even the stinkers. It bodes well for interesting discussion.
It’s interesting that only Blue and MB have thus far yielded a successful third single. Green Album was perfectly capable of a third single. Simple Pages surely would have been a hit.
Soyrev, You’re welcome. Island in the Sun has always had some strange appeal to me so I was more than happy to comment. Keep up this blog, dude, I love it.
Island in the sun is just perfect pop. Its really strange how its the song that if you mention Weezer everyone knows, its just that good. The way it oozes summer and has so many hooks, but its not repetitive and has a sincere message – just great.
An official TVS “The Very Best” selection.
How does IITS only have 10 comments?
Anyway, I love this song. The guitar tone is great, and one of the reasons that I really wish the band would hook up with Ric again.
I’ve long wondered the same, OOS. Where’s the IITS love, people? I, for one, thought my Complete Discography of the song was pretty funny…
Re: Ric’s production here, I don’t know. If Blue was all we knew the man by (when it comes to Weezer), of course…but the fact that he let something like Green happen — and I mean everything, from sound to song selection et al — really makes me question the man’s cajones as a producer.
Yeah, Green was a mis-step, but I think that Rivers was very much to blame for what happened. He had to make sure that every little detail was perfect, and that made everything seem very robotic. The clean production was probably also at the insistence of Rivers, though i’m not sure.
In regards to tracklisting, wasn’t that the label? I thought that they didnt like what the band was doing so they made them change stuff around. In any case, Rivers, again, is partly at fault, because the kind of songs he wanted were the ones that made it to Green.
The label intervention story never made sense to me. “This needs more hits” is something Geffen would say (hello, Red), but seriously, IITS and “Hash Pipe” were the only hits on the record, and maybe two other songs on the album could’ve been potentially…As for the other 6, who cares if it’s “Crab” or “Lover In The Snow?” I think it’s pretty safe to say that “Glorious Day” didn’t shift a lot of units by its lonesome…
I remember reading about the Green era in the “Rivers Edge” book…Ric made it sound like Rivers was basically running the show, to the extent that he would take a “finished” track and do additional mixing/production to it without Ric’s involvement. I’ve heard a few other Ocasek-produced records and they don’t sound anything like Green…I don’t really know what would happen if they worked with him again, though-they’re not the same inexperienced band from Blue.
Hey, anyone ever see this performance before?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWB3jla-L7A&feature=rec-HM-rn
Pretty shocked I’ve never seen it discussed before. I have no idea they ever fucked up the song like this, I figured they always just played it straight…
Also, does anyone have really early live versions of IITS? I remember hearing that there was a sort of reverb-heavy, ghostly kind of quality to the guitar that isn’t on the studio version, which I remember a few people saying was a shame. Would love to hear what they were talking about…
….actually..I’m ok with this for a few reasons
1. It’s a one-off (or few-off) live version
2. Yes, Scott’s mixing it up, but the IITS bassline isn’t sacrosanct like OID.
3. IITS is great, but never felt like a hallowed classic not to be trifled with a la Blue/Pink
4. I’ve heard IITS so many damn times I’d be sick of it too, if I was at that concert I would’ve been pleasantly surprised rather than take a piss break.
4.
wtf is that other 4 doing there? my bad.
Never seen that before!
Love the the new funky bassline from Scott, sounds great to me.
Rivers “disco dance” shout is hilarious and lame though.
It sounds like such busy crap. Goes against the feel of the song.
And yeah, Rivers’ stage banter back then was embarrassing. Lots of laugh-at moments, not too many laugh-with…Though TRA’s banter was even more self-consciously wacky and annoying, for the most part. I like how he handled that kind of thing during the MB era, and all tours pre-Green.
The bass line sounds like a rolling western song to me. The bass line isn’t what bothers me so much as Rivers vocals. What the heck is wrong with his voice?
bumpin this for no reason. that live performance is awful, save the rockin solo.
Why the fuck didn’t he write real solos for TGA? Can someone PLEASE explain this to me? It doesn’t make any fucking sense.
He was trying to be as formulaic as possible, because he thought that that’s what people wanted. He thought that people wouldn’t want anything more interesting then just a melodic solo.
Bad reasoning, but I guess that that’s what we got.
How could he possibly think that? That is the dumbest thing ever.
Yeah, the idea that a kickass solo might make a radio station play a song less is pretty strange logic. Oh Rivs!
At least he cut loose a little on a lot of live versions of TGA songs.
Although, to be fair, the melodic solo does work on Island. I couldn’t imagine a different solo here. Same with something like YWGWMT: sometimes the melodic solo’s just work.
However, his insistence to put them in every song in place of actually good solo’s (or no solos at all; to be honest, I don’t think that EVERY song needed a solo) on Green is irritating. It only really works well on Island, Smile, and maybe Simple Pages (just because that melody works better as a solo then with Rivers voice, in my opinion).
Anyway, whatever, Island In the Sun is perfect and one of Weezer’s best tracks. Just throwing that out there.
No argument there.
I would love to get a version of this without the horrible mixing. Not that it really effects this song, but still.
As far as TGA goes, I’ve always thought that this one (along with “Hash Pipe”) definitely has the best mixing of any song on the record. A more prominent bass would be nice, and those backing “ooohs” definitely deserve to be amped up a bit…But other than that, sounds pretty good. A little overcompressed, but the mix is serviceable.
Personally, I would love a Green Album Deluxe a few years down the road, with a REAL re-mix and the remastering. Give this sucker Red Album quality production and it would sound fucking GORGEOUS!
(note that I’m referring to the spacing and depth of the Red mix, not necessarily anything specific like guitar tone or vocal autotune…)
I do agree that the melodic solo works in this song. On TGA, I’d have to say I also love it on O Girlfriend as well — I just love the melody in that song too much. However, a rockin’ solo on the other songs would have definitely been ideal.
Besides the previously-mentioned YWGWMT, I really enjoy the melodic solo of “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly.” Aside from the main melody in the solo, I just love the riffs in the solo that branch away from the melody. It’s just so fucking energetic as opposed to the monotonous and anti-climatic melodic solos on TGA.
I also like the Smile solo, though I just really like that melody.
Also, I agree Soy, a fully remastered Green would be fantastic. Heck, I would go a step further: incorporate some demos into that. I mean, I don’t care how good the mastering is, Glorious Day, Crab, and to a lesser extent Simple Pages would still suck. Get the demos of O Girl, and My Brain, and remaster them and throw them in. Also, remaster I Do and put it in somewhere. Then add in some bonus tracks. It would be awesome.
Oh, and if Green deluxe ever comes to fruition, I want a piano Smile. That Brian version was amazing.
Clore, that’s where you and I disagree: I think the solo is precisely where the album version of “O Girlfriend” loses steam. Thankfully we have a serviceable record of at least one instance where the band beautifully rectifies the album version’s shortcomings (I’m thinking the Toronto ’02 bootleg) and do justice to the beautiful song “O Girlfriend” really is.
But we’ll get to that eventually!
OOS: I think to request a remix/remaster of TGA is not entirely out of the question, but to ask them to re-release it w/ an altered tracklist is a bit too deep into the realm of fanboy daydream. But a good remix (or at least remaster) of TGA plus a second disc culling material from the Green and pre-Green era could make for a really wonderful deluxe release.
Piano “Smile,” demos of “O Girl” and “My Brain,” whatever else the band recorded during the “Velouria” sessions perhaps (plus the wealth of shit in the October demos and beyond), “No Way” and “Burning Sun”…shit, I want this almost as much as Pink Deluxe!
I guess it’s kind of unrealistic, but it would be awesome.
Also, yeah, in many ways I would want a Green deluxe more than a Pink deluxe, because the green-era is more mysterious.
I wonder how much the success of Green crushed Rivers. or if it did at all. By TGA being a smash hit, the world was more or less saying: “We don’t give a flying fuck about your feelings, give us bubblegum pop and shut the hell up,” to Rivers Cuomo.
At the same time, Rivers might have completely sucked all that emotion out him by the time TGA blew up. Almost like brainwashed himself into jumping on the TGA bandwagon. Idk.
^^^^
*emotion out of himself is what that sentence should say.
“Maybe the Green Album wasn’t amazing, but it had a half-dozen single-ready tracks better than “Island In The Sun.””
http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2009/06/30/the-overunder-weezer/
Silly nonsense from Magnet. Not only is IITS one of Weezer’s best, but I can’t imagine a better potential single from TGA.
It’s funny, Rivers spent the entire Green album looking to master the perfect 2 minute pop song, yet, he had actually already accomplished it with You Gave Your Love to Me Softly – even the solo in it follows the simple melody rules, yet it still is mind-blowingly perfect.
Yep. Looking forward to that one coming up.
Woohoo! YGYLTMS is in my top 3 fav. all time =w= songs. I’ll be looking forward to your post.
I’ll be curious to see how you tackle the difference between the two versions, especially since I’m a fan of the less popular one that’s a bit more uptempo.
Read by comment, it was ignored.
number 34.
What I don’t get is why Rivers jumped into the no emotion = success mindset. I mean, Blue was emotional. Not Pinkerton level, no, but Undone and Say It Ain’t So were sold on emotion, and even Buddy Holly had some meaning. He just seemed to choose to ignore that.
Furthermore, I don’t get how we got 97/98, which seem to be his two more experimental years ever. Did it take a while for him to realize that Pinkerton failed or something?
Finally, yeah, I didn’t get that comment on the article either. IITS is probably the most obvious hit they’ve ever written. I’d be interested to see what that guy thought were more single-ish.
OOS: Pinkerton’s failure struck Cuomo pretty quickly. It just took him a little time to whittle most of the interesting aspects of his music out of the mix. “The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World” was Rivers’ first attempt at writing more strophic, less-complex music…and yet, that’s a pretty fine song, ain’t it? Same with “Lover in the Snow.”
Green may be a “monument to vagueness,” as that wonderful Rolling Stone article put it, but I think IITS and “O Girlfriend” resonate with a good deal of that “romantic longing,” as Cuomo has put it. Enough emotion for me in either of them, really.
But your point re: Blue is interesting. “Say It Ain’t So” is one of the best-aging Weezer hits ever, and it’s possibly his most emotionally direct, autobiographical heart-on-sleeve…well, I mean, it’s close.
Yeah, it seems like Rivers basically looked at Buddy Holly, and figures that that was the only reason Weezer succeeded. He can’t have looked towards Undone or Say It Ain’t So, for some reason.
Also, i’m surprised the TPGITWWW and LITS could’ve come from the same mindset that produced Glorious Day and Crab. Those songs are fantastic. Though, I thought TPGITWWW was written from Rivers’ personal experiences at the time? Still not too emotional, but not horrible vague like the rest of Green.
Oh, and yeah, O Girlfriend and IITS certainly display an emotion gone from the rest of the album. Isn’t it telling that IITS ended up being one of his biggest hits? People want some emotion from Rivers.
What’s funny is that between TPGITWWW and LITS, LITS was completely fabricated — and yet, the performances seethes with at least twice the conviction and emotion. What a song.
Yeah, it is fantastic. And to be honest, i’m glad it didn’t make Green, it would’ve been ruined in studio.
Does anyone here have the Green Album on vinyl? If so, how is it? I imagine it trumps its digital counterpart hands down. I’m considering making this investment in the near future…
I have it on vinyl but need to get my record player working first. Also, I believe I have the green vinyl version, which is of lesser fidelity than the black…
You know how Cuomo does a “this is how we record!” version of this song where he loops himself playing everything? I think he may have gotten the idea (maybe subconsciously) from the first Beach Boys official live album, 1964′s Concert. They do something very similar on that version of “Little Deuce Coupe.”
Maybe this means…he’s listening to Beach Boys again? (shakes head) Whew, for a second there I had something resembling hope for Weezer.
Soy, what’s your favorite Beach Boys album (besides Pet Sounds)? Just wondering.
Noob: When I saw the title “Tripping Down the Freeway,” I was certain that it was a reference to the Beach Boys song “Honking Down the Highway.” The clip sure doesn’t make it sound that way, though.
Also, there’s an early Beach Boys rarity that has the line “an island in the sun” on it. Coincidence? Perhaps…
Clore: The Beach Boys are my favorite band of all time. Aside from Pet Sounds, there’s Sunflower, Surf’s Up, Friends, Wild Honey (the precursor to the Green Album), etc etc etc. I could go on all night, but those are definitely a good deal of the records I revisit most often. Songs like “Forever,” “Cool Cool Water,” “Til I Die” and “A Day in the Life of a Tree” are certainly Pet Sounds worthy, and a great deal of the records are completely different but totally amazing in their own right.
Thanks, Soy. I realized you were probably the expert when I saw all of your listens on last.fm.
I have always enjoyed the Beach Boys ever since I was little, but I only started appreciating them more when I started college back in 2005 and when realized not all of their songs were about cars and surfing like I had stupidly assumed. I think the Brian Wilson story is a fascinating and tragic.
Since I recently recovered my abandoned turntable that I gave to a friend in high school, I’ve been listening to some of my parents records including the Beach Boys, although they mainly have the compilation albums and hits albums
.
I actually recently picked up Smiley Smile and Wild Honey, and I also seem to revisit my dad’s copy of Surfer Girl quite a bit. I’ll be sure to check out the ones you mentioned. Thanks!
Sorry for the long comment. I’m writing this on my phone and it’s hard to edit/go back, haha.
Smiley Smile is not a favorite of mine, but I’ve come to appreciate it more than I used to…can’t compare to Smile though, the album it should have been.
The Beach Boys Today! for the win. I love the early stuff just as much as the later stuff.
I love pretty much every era minus the ’80s and the ’90s. Those got really fucking abysmal.
I’m surprised there isn’t more traffic here considering the A6 boards have been down.
Yeah. Fuck everything.
I think, what with the new Weezer album being what it is, and the top song on this blog being one of the (if not THE) band’s worst, nobody feels very motivated to kick them when they’re down.
That said, I’d like to do some kicking of “Island In The Sun,” which I think is overrated. No time right now, but I’ll be back!
I first heard “Island in the Sun” the last time I saw Weezer live, on the Yahoo! tour with the Get Up Kids and Ozma. I found it kind of boring, but I hoped the album version would be an improvement. My sister, who’s not super into music, said she thought it was pretty good. And, you know, it was fine. But it was toothless and monotonous compared to the new songs we’d seen played on the previous tour at Lupo’s. It gave me a really bad feeling that the upcoming album would be a huge disappointment as a follow-up to Pinkerton.
IITS, to me, just sounds really depressing. In fact, that’s its one redeeming factor for me, and I don’t know if it’s intentional. The detached way Rivers sings, coupled with the lazy drone of the song, makes it sound to me like a guy who’s clearly never going to play and have fun on a sunny island, and knows it. It’s kind of like a very sad rendition of a Sandals resort jingle.
I don’t know if the contrast was intentional. At that time, Rivers seemed to have a hard time displaying real emotions in anything. But who knows? Maybe I’m being too harsh because I found the green album so crushing, but I think this song is pretty boring and overrated.
That said, it’s one of the finest on its album.
I like your interpretation of the song, Burgess, and whether or not it was intentional it’s certainly a very noticeable and defining facet of the tune.
And I’ll agree that it’s one of the finest on Green, but I think that little handful of tunes is among the best work Weezer’s done since Pinkerton. Green might not be a great album, but it’s a good album, and that’s more than you can say about any other record Weezer’s released this decade.
I have a hard time judging the post-Pinkerton stuff as albums, since I never really got to know them as such. Green just stings me more than the subsequent albums because the green album was the follow-up to Pinkerton.
I would really like to know if IITS is supposed to sound sad. I could see it going either way. An undercurrent of sadness would really play of IITS’s lyrics well, but that could be coincidence. I think a lot of that era’s stuff has an underlying sadness.
Didn’t Brian Bell once say this was his favorite Weezer song ever? I remember reading this in an interview a few years ago, but I can’t remember where I read it or if my memory is serving me 100%…
If we’re speaking of the same quote, it was his favorite song on Green. he said this around the time of Green’s release.
Sorry to bump this, but I kind of have a idea of why IITS was released a billion times in Japan (even if it’s not important).
I’m a Japanese major, and because of this, I have a lot of Japanese friends. From what I gathered from the ones who actually knew about Weezer, was that TGA was HUGE when it hit Japan and was really what made them popular. Obviously, as ATS shows us, they had fans before but it was really TGA that made them famous.
Because clearly IITS is the best song on TGA, it’s pretty much Japan’s favorite Weezer song. If you gathered up a selection of Japanese people who know about Weezer, I’m sure the majority of them will say IITS is their favorite song.
Case in point: One of my friends last year said he liked Weezer, but only had TGA. Even after I gave him all of the Weezer studio albums, he still likes IITS the best. My girlfriend even said that she had TGA on mini-disc around the time it came out.
Hell, on the Japanese Weezer tribute album “Across The Sea,” the first song is IITS and played by the most famous musician on the entire album (the album, by the way, is a real interesting listen (if you can get your hands on it), the songs range from a slight variation from the Weezer original to ‘holy shit.’ Despite this, this tribute album is a lot better than that shitty American one that came out).
This probably explains the different version of them playing it live in that performance that was posted. Just mixing up Japan’s classic Weezer song.
By the way, I’ve been reading this site over the past few days. I absolutely love it. You are an incredibly talented writer. Keep up the good work!
To stress again — never, EVER apologize for a “bump” on TVS! Nothing makes me happier!
Thanks for the cool insight into IITS and TGA’s disproportionate cultural capital in Japan. For some reason, I can totally see TGA being the quintessential Weezer album in Japan.
And thanks for the kind words! Please do keep a-readin’ and a-commentin’ — that’s exactly what ensures I don’t throw this site under the bus-load of other work and creative projects I should probably be doing instead. Speaking of which, finals are over soon and I should have a new entry up before Xmas…
This is one of my favorite melodies of all time. It’s just makes me feel so good and at the same time long for better days.
There is something very longing in both the melody and Rivers voice that makes this song to emotional even though it’s just a catchy pop song.
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