Contrary to popular belief, “Crab” is not one of the worst songs Weezer’s ever done.
What “Crab” is, however, is the worst song on The Green Album, which remains a (very) distant third in the great canon of Weezer albums. What that record lacks in dynamics, it makes up for in total, persistent, pointed lack of dynamics — Green is, not unlike The Blue Album or Pinkerton, a remarkably focused work. But while those two albums boast variations on perfection for their 10-track runtimes, Green spends its ten cents on mathematical, unrelenting homogeneity; if Blue is grass-fed, summer-grazed brilliance, then Green is pasteurized mediocrity.
Thankfully, the record does allow for a few deviations: “Island in the Sun” remains one of the greatest summer pop songs ever written, and “Hash Pipe” makes the majority of the copious Maladroit sessions seem all for naught — it’s the best the band has ever done in wedding metal’s sneering assault to a Beatles-quoting melody. And on the other hand, “Crab” stands out in that it is quite obviously the record’s worst offering.
Musically, the song is as generic as anything else on the second half of Green (perhaps with a little more of a bite), but irritates particularly in its employment of cheap Guitar Center flange and gratuitous lead vocal echo. Then there’s the matter of the lyrics, which stand as the most extreme example of Cuomo’s anti-personal writing approach in the Green era. As he recently explained to Pitchfork:
[With Green] I was writing songs literally. I was writing lyrics without having any subject in my mind. They were words coming out of my mouth; I didn’t know where they were coming from.
Lines like “Crab if you need it / She put her knickers on,” and “No, crab at the booty / T’ain’t gonna do no good” (or maybe that’s “taint“), do nothing but confound, especially when they are repeated so insistently. Though I must admit I quite enjoy the couplet, “She said she’s feeling lonely / And I say that’s okay” — it’s actually in line with the badass image this song so desperately tries to evoke.
Interestingly, while the officially released version clocks in at 2:35, the early leak of The Green Album reveals in hindsight that “Crab” used to be one verse longer (trimming it down must have been one of the many last-minute edits made to the album — can’t say it was a bad call). There’s also a live version that was pointlessly THE LEAD TRACK of a special French promo CD that also included a live “Don’t Let Go” and a non-remix remix of “Always,” as band historian Karl Koch here explains:
this cd was originally intended to be packaged with the Green Album in France, as a special bonus cd shrinkwrapped to the main CD. Apparently the French record company decided the promotion wasn’t necessary due to the Green Albums sucess in France, and the idea was scrapped. However, a small amount of the actual promo cd were in fact pressed. The live songs are from the Extended Midget Tour, the Always ‘remix’ is the same mix as the b-side found elsewhere.
Thereby creating the least worthwhile Weezer release of all time (promotional or otherwise). Though it might be worth noting that this live “Crab” features a better solo, a drum count-off that might have rickrolled a few audience members into believing they’d get to hear “Tired Of Sex,” as well as Brian Bell and Scott Shriner on backing vocals (whereas Cuomo insisted on singing all the vocal parts in the studio). Cuomo also fumbles with his guitar for a bit afterwards and, in typical Mala-asshole mode, complains that “our [guitar] tech is determined to ruin me.”
That said, here are two funny quotes pertaining to “Crab.” The first one is from the 2006 Fan Interview with Rivers, featuring our very own commenter, Gumbytom:
Is there any meaning at all behind Crab? (If so, what is it?)
—Gumby Tom [sic]
Columbus, Ohio
A heterosexual guys sexual frustration with a particular girl.
—Rivers Cuomo
And lastly, in a hilarious moment of unwitting self-parody:
You thought the crab would at the booty…er, do, you good. But it t’ain’t! Know what I’m sayin’?
—Cuomo-san, 5/23/02, Club Zepp (Osaka, Japan)
83 Comments
Apologies to whoever I promised the next post to be “epic.” I didn’t have the energy to take on that huge song this week (if you’d like me to explain why, I’d be happy to), so that one will be passed over for the next few posts. It is coming, though, folks. : )
Also: it’s Monday. Has anyone been able to find Alone II in record stores today? I’m going to try to find one today.
Don’t tell us you’re bypassing your Randomizer Method….
Say it ain’t so, Soy!
I bypassed one selection that I will be coming back shortly. Here’s a graphical representation:
XXXX1 (bypassed song)
Crab
XXXX2 (already written)
XXXX3
XXXX4
XXXX5
After the already written one gets posted, I’ll go back to the bypassed one, then resume where XXXX3 left off.
I know this might offend some purists a little, but the rub is as follows…
For medical reasons I won’t get into too much here, I had to leave college this semester and take a break, to get some perspective, to get healthy again, to get back on a path where I can succeed the way I usually do but in a healthier and happier fashion. I will say it had much to do with sleeplessness, and that when the bypassed song was the next one up to bat, I was on literally zero hours of sleep and knew there was no way I could do that incredible song justice in my current state. The next one in line was “Crab,” which was a much less demanding song to write about — but I still think I did a fine job considering I wrote it around 4 or 5am (and after building up a remarkable sleep debt over the course of an excruciating month or two).
So yes, taking time off from college is, I think, a plenty valid reason to bend the rules around here a bit. I thought people might prefer me still posting a bit rather than putting a temporary lock on the songblog, but if you guys would prefer that over bypassing the randomizer for one song, do let me know. I aim to please.
Wow, sorry to hear that Soy. I get tired from community college, I can’t imagine an Ivy League’s workload.
It’s so sad to me that TGA just blends into this compressed and shiny piece of shit to me. I can’t even think of all the track names, and if I could, I’d have to think for a moment to sing/hum it because it’s just one big pop puke.
Sorry Soy, I hope you know I wasn’t trying to be a bastard, although sometimes it comes naturally. I hope you get better…
By the way, your diagram made me lol. More diagrams, please!
those quotes are awesome.
Crab is just so boring I don’t even feel like discussing it.
i think crab is.. interesting. i mean, this songs lacks everything – it’s undevenloped, there’s almost nothing happening, lyrics are complete bulshit and sound is as unintereting as sound can get. yet, the little moment in the chorus when that drum-fill comes, and the overall melody of that moment is pretty good, above average. it’s great b-side material, imo.
Green is a pretty boring album. I don’t think this is the worst of the bunch though.
As uninteresting as this song is, I’m much more offended by the lyrics in “Glorious Day”. “Right, right/fight, fight” is even dumber and lazier than these lyrics. At least Crab is kind of fun, Glorious Day is just lame.
Hey, take all the rest you need, soy, zero sleep sucks and college can definitely stress you out.
But about Crab: sometimes I actually prefer this to Smile or Glorious day, because they are all bland and homogenized, but Crab’s lyrics are kinda funny. I mean, come on, it’s fun to yell “Crab at the booty, t’ain’t gonna do no good!” (by yourself preferably, for embarassment reasons) along with Rivers.
But as I’ve always maintained, this (along with the other songs I’ve mentioned) should’ve been left off TGA in lieu of much better tracks.
Get better SoyRev! (I think we should start a movement a la Save Ferris)
Hope you get better, Soyrev.
As for ‘Crab’, I’ve always dug it. It boils down what TGA is all about into one song, IMO: just a fun little piece of power pop. Not much thinking required here, and I really like the vocal harmonies in the chorus. Yeah, the lyrics are pretty pointless, but I’m OK with that. The song achieves what it aims for. I think the whole album does.
Yeah get well soon, Mr. Rev! No sleep = not good and being sick in college is definitely not a good time (I got really sick the first time I went to college and that’s actually when I went blind too so I understand how that sort of thing can be stressful.) Drop me a PM on a6 if you need to talk or anything, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we’re routing for you man!
Anyway, Crab is a weird song. I don’t hate it as much as I probably should but also agree that it’s the worst track on green. I’d be curious to know which b-side you guys would replace it with though… TVS, Sugar Booger, Starlight, Oh Lisa… etc? I dunno, none really fit or are good enough to be on the album either if you ask me.
Crab dosen’t bother me as much as it used to. in 2001 I HATED it but I’ve warmed up to it esp after the late 2001 “reworking”. meaningful? no. lyrical substance? definetly not but it is a catchly little ditty and these is worst on green imo (‘glorious day’ comes to mind)
BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has wished me well so far. I especially like Noobs’ idea, a “Save Soy (The Person)” campaign would be swell…
Dorsia: Funny that you reference regurgitation in describing TGA’s sound: back in middle school my friend remarked that “the guitars sound like vomit,” which I have since revised in these pages as “saccharine vomit.” “Pop puke” works brilliantly too, though!
Guys, what’s up with the “Glorious Day” hate? It might be the 2nd song to go off TGA for me, but I can still respect that jumping guitar riff, and the intro is without a doubt one of the best musical moments on Green. So great that the rest of the song can’t help but be a huge disappointment, but with TGA, you take what you can get…
Brado: Rivers attempted pop simplicity with TGA, not pop mediocrity. This album certainly does not achieve all that it sets out to do…
Ludicrosity: You are still the greatest Weezer fan ever. But, were it up to me, I’d definitely add TVS in lieu of “Crab” — it does not “fit” too well, like you said, but the problem with TGA is that it all fits all too well. Songs unique and distinct from the others (IITS, “Hash Pipe,” and “Photograph”) benefit greatly from that, especially in context. TVS is not as good as those songs, but it’s still catchy as fuck and, again, at least it would add some diversity. If not that, then I would say “Starlight”…but since the lyrics are kinda too-damn-similar to “O Girlfriend,” it wouldn’t really work. It certainly is a better song than “Crab” though. “Sugar Booger” and “O Lisa” can both rot in hell.
Great post.
I think ‘Crab’ survives by virtue of it being in the first half of the record. A pretty good vibe has been built up over those first four songs, and far from killing the momentum I think it sustains it through to ‘Knock Down-Drag Out’. The irritating production only starts to get to me from ‘Simple Pages onwards.
And has there ever been an example of a song benefiting from its lead singer doing his own backing vocals as opposed to (capable) band members?? What a kick in the teeth for Brian and Mikey.
“‘Sugar Booger’ and ‘O Lisa’ can both rot in hell.”
That was just a hillarious quote to me, maybe it’s so funny because it’s true. I agree that TVS is quite catchy and does divert from the green formula just a bit but I hate the lyrics of some of it “mash you in the nads?” Yikes!
I think TVS would be great on TGA, given it’s absurdly catchy status. And while we’re at it, (chronology be damned) I’d throw O Girl and My Brain on there too. No matter what you think the worst three songs are on TGA, replacing them with these three could certainly jazz up TGA.
And Ludicrosity: “mash you in the nads” Yes. This is a ridiculous lyric. More ridiculous than “Crab at the booty, t’ain’t gonna do no good”?
Also, I will take every chance I get to work those lyrics into my posts on this song.
BTW, soyrev, I’m going to have some trouble getting SAVE SOY written on a water tower. It’s that damn principal, he suspects something’s up!
Soy, thanks for these critiques! I love them, i look forward to each. Feel better!
Crab to me is not as bad as O Lisa but has no place on TGA. TVS is also in my Weezer bottom-10, so i’d have to agree with the Noob, My Brain/O Girl, either one would of fit the flow perfectly, or at least, suitably.
Get better, Soy! You are a great asset to the =w= community with your thoughtful posts both here and at albumsix.com.
And THANK YOU for putting Change the World in the very worst. Sorry to be off topic, but that song is the epitome of everything wrong with Weezer in 2001-2002.
While I disagree with it being the worst track on the album (“Knock-down Drag-out”, anyone?), I’ve always found “Crab” to be representative of how soulless “The Green Album” was. Meaningless lyrics, overly-compressed mix, goes nowhere, etc. The song actually has a nice melody, and I like the vocals, but man, it’s all so…. “Green”.
I haven’t listened to this song in probably 4+ years. I never ripped Green into iTunes… just never had the desire.
Crab = Sleepytime.
Soy, I hope you feel/get better.
Thanks for the shout-out. I was very surprised he answered that question and in the manner he did so. After reading a few of his other responses in that fan interview, I half expected his response to be “It means whatever you want it to mean.”
Crab is one of my favorites on Green. (Worst that actually made the album, IMO, Knock-Down Drag-Out). I like the big rocking melody and don’t care too much about the lyrics. The live versions of this from late ’01-on (after they changed the solos) are quite enjoyable. To me, at least.
Soy – <3
As for “Crab”, I don’t put it as the worst song on the album. It’s down there, but I don’t think it’s any worse than “Knock-down Drag-out”. At least “Crab” has an interesting melody – one that might be worth the whole guitar-solo-following-lead-melody thing (at least more than most of those others). “Knock-down Drag-out”, on the other hand, barely has 4 notes in the verses.
But yes, of course, putting “My Brain” and “O Girl” (and maybe even “Teenage Victory Song”) on “Green” would have made the album much better. But hey, why not add the rest of the RCB songs and “Lover in the Snow” and “Crazy One” and “Cold and Damp” and…
Just commenting here to thank a lot Soyrev for the wonderful work in this blog. And, if you need it, I’m a medic, so feel free to ask
We can certainly dream PKMN Trainer Red….
To me, Crab works well as a “welcome back to the green machine” following the Island in the Sun respite. It also gets points from me for forcing listeners into an intentionally inane sing-a-long during the chorus.
Me oh my, just when I was thinking “Crab” was gonna be a dud, it brings all sortsa people out of the woodwork…and a lot of first-time posters! Welcome all!
And again, thanks so much to all the people who’ve wished me well. Really, it might seem trivial coming from a bunch of strangers, but reading all that really cheered me up today. So thank you.
Also, the next post has been written for a while, and being home is only going to free up a little more time for this blog…So from now on, if you guys kick the discussion into overdrive and we rack up the comments fast enough, I’ll break the whole “one post per week” model and speed it up a bit. : )
Lastly, special thanks to Walfred, Cesarsalad, and anyone else who has been reading old posts and commenting them up. You guys all rule!
That said…
I’m not feeling the KDDO hate, fellas. I think it is one of the few TGA songs that achieves exactly what it’s going for, and that’s to be a simple, fun, bouncy pop song. It’s also one of Rivers’ very finest attempts at being Green Day, which he tried an awful lot during this era…
Adroit: I don’t know, but I do know that I really love it whenever I hear a voice other than Cuomo’s on this record. That huge “OHHH, BA-BY” before the solo in “Simple Pages” is probably my favorite single moment of the entire album.
Fuck, now I have to go listen to all of TGA straight. This happens every once in a while…
GUYS: Duh this album would be much better with “O Girl” and “My Brain” on it…We were just discussing, earlier, what could improve the record out of the songs that actually made it to the album sessions. Like Red said, there’s about a million songs from this era that absolutely blow 80% of this record away. We’ll discuss that at the conclusion of this songblog!
Noobs: If you do it (and get a picture of it), you can kiss the randomizer goodbye and pick the next 20 songs for the blog. The challenge is on!
Lord: Yeah, “Change The World” is a total piece of shit. I had to do it.
Art: There was a time when I deleted everything off my iTunes except TBA and Pinkerton. This was around ’06, I’d say…I’d have never guessed I’d be wasting such a ridiculous amount of time and words on the band now!
Walfred: To me, the “Green machine” doesn’t start until “Crab.” I mean, maybe “Don’t Let Go” is a part of it, but seriously, tracks 2-4 are all golden, distinguishable pop songs that kick some serious ass (and were clearly all the critics listened to when they worshiped at TGA’s alter back in ’01).
It will be a long long time before the end of this blog I hope, especially if Weezer keep up the work like they do.
Crab is my least favorite on Green, and least fav. officially released =w= song. Its not even funny like CDW.
Thanks, Soy. I just found this site and I have to say that it has the most fantastic analysis of one of my favorite bands, making this my favorite site on the web. Where was this site when I was struggling with the existence of “We Are All On Drugs”? Get well soon (t’aint gonna do no good)!
Wow, that’s weird. For some reason, when I posted my comment, I didn’t see the 3 ahead of mine (one which said basically the same thing as mine). Hmm.
Anyway, Soy – as far as KDDO goes, It may be achieving exactly what it wants to achieve, but that doesn’t make it a good song. I mean, I’d say “Beverly Hills” does an absolutely perfect job at achieving what it wants to achieve. Sure, KDDO is a fun, bouncy little song – but as far as real merits go, it’s got a terribly minuscule amount of them. The only even slightly interesting thing about the song I can think of off the top of my head is the way the chord progression goes up while the melody goes down in the chorus – and that isn’t even anywhere close to the only time they’ve used that technique.
Red: I just think it’s catchy. Infectious verses, decent chorus, a verse melody solo that I can actually dig…whateva mane
And no worries, you didn’t see those comments because I hadn’t approved them yet. Anytime there’s a new IP/username posting, I have to approve it before it appears. If it weren’t for that there’d be a metric FUCKTON of spam on these comment threads by now. Free “zoo porn” for all!
Walfred: Favorite site on the web? Hot damn!!
waitingandwaiting: I think when it comes up in the randomizer is going to be the second time I’ve ever heard CDW.
It might not be the worst Weezer song for me but it’s surely the most boring.
That’s why it’s so hard to talk about this song, there’s just not that much to talk about.
Still you did a very good job writing about it soy.
Hope you get better!
I forgot to say get well soon!!!
Though hearing CDW Might make you feel a bit worse.
Thanks guys.
Alas, this is the least-commented album track discussion we’ve had in 2 and a half months…(and that was “Falling For You,” with only 28 comments! what the hell!?) But, since you guys have been so nice and supportive, and it’s a holiday all about generosity (or genocide?) today, I may just throw another song up late tonight, if anyone’s interested.
TGA tracks 1-4 aint exactly the gold standard but they are pretty darn good. Then comes Crab, a stupid pisspot detour that make the album’s other lyrics seem like New Yorker essays. Its not a particularly bad song as such, its just a dreadful selection for a 10 track record. If Green was supposed to be a relentless chuggin’ along engine, then fine, but we needed O Girl, Modern Dukes and MBIWO over stuff like this.
Soy: hope you get better soon.
Haha, maybe FFY got so few comments because there are no words to express the pure feelings of joy when we hear it. And hell yeah, I’d be interested in another song.
of officially released bsides, give me brightening day for crab and id have a whole new outlook on the green album. its sort of an unfortunate dud in the middle of the album IMO.
while we’re at it, replace simple pages with pretty much any other bside. thats another post for another day, though.
Sandwiches, I gotta disagree with you here. “Brightening Day” has a great solo and probably the most interesting lyrical couplet of the Green era at the end of the song, but sheesh…What a grating little song. It sounds like Cuomo trying to write like a 17-year-old trying to write like Billie Joe Armstrong.
I really don’t understand the hatred “Simple Pages” receives — it’s not a great song, but it’s easily the 5th best song on TGA for me, and the last song on the list of tunes I would salvage from Green. Ideally, it’d be a great b-side to a great album, but as it stands, I definitely dig it…the outro is the most musically complicated thing on the album (a bit sad, yes), and the big “OHHHH, BA-BY” (hi, Brian!) right before the solo is possibly my single favorite moment on TGA. (Defining “moment” as a span of, say, 3-5 seconds of music) It’s a good song as it is, and would have been great had the band recorded it the way Fak covered it over on the A6 forums.
For some reason, I just can’t hate Crab. The melody is too catchy, and I totally disagree with your notion that the album doesn’t achieve what it sets out to do.
In the end, I just think that Green achieves it’s goal as a sugar-sweet pop-rock album that purposely clocks in at under a half hour.
Runtime and saccharine aren’t TGA’s issues: those lie with development. In truth, the only fully developed, almost-perfectly realized pop songs on TGA are “Photograph,” “Hash Pipe,” “Island In The Sun” and — yes — “Knock-Down Drag-Out” (whether you like it or not, it is exactly what it wants to be). “Don’t Let Go,” via its 2005 revisions, later rose to that level, but as it stands on the record, it’s dropdead boring. “Crab” is a flangey, echoic mess of sound and lyrics that add up to less than the sum of its parts; “Smile” is the most offensively, fucking painfully undeveloped Weezer song in existence (at least on record); “Glorious Day” is superior to “Crab” but suffers from many of the same symptoms. As much as I love “O Girlfriend” and “Simple Pages,” they too are terrible betrayals of their potential — “O Girlfriend” especially. That ’02 Toronto version came a lot closer to realizing it, but it’s still not quite there. Great song at its heart, though.
That said, if TGA really did manage to achieve what it set out to do, it would be a MUCH closer “third best” Weezer record than it is. That statement would imply an abundance of quality rather than a (relative) dearth of it.
I agree with Thom Yorke.
It’s a concept album, hyper-structured pop rock, more than anything and I have trouble discussing the merits of any one song over the other. I enjoy it from time to time when I want to get into a groove at work or something, but that’s about it.
Soy, I see your point and the highlights that simple pages offers (and brightening days downfalls). I think i’m hard on Simple Pages since its smack in the middle of the second half of green, which always when listened straight through just sort of blends, and bores. Thats usually the song that i snap to my senses and hit skip til O Girlfriend. But to get back to the song at hand, I definitely remember crab being the first song that i ever really had to admit would be a skippable track of a weezer record for me. I could put on the first two records (back then) and not be bored with any track. It only took a listen or two to know that Crab broke that streak
I have to say, I actually like this song. It’s certainly in the bottom half of green, but it’s not the worst (Glorious Day).
Also, I still fail to see how Smile is less developed then any other song on Green barring maybe Island In The Sun and Hash Pipe. Even if it is, it’s probably second favourite on the album. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when it comes up in the TVS.
I’ve always liked Crab, though I can’t think of any good reason for doing so… But I’ll say this, by God: Any song that appears on the same record as “Knock Down, Drag Out” cannot, by definition, be the worst song on the record.
KDDO is kickass.
I also kinda like Crab for reasons that not even god understands. It’s a terrible song, but my boner for Weezer lets me enjoy it.
I actually think KDDO is a much more legitamately good song, though.
I like KDDO. It’s one of four songs on Green that totally achieves what it’s going for (although what it’s going for is admittedly much less than what, say, “O Girlfriend” or “Smile” is going for).
And I’m excited for “Smile” to come up, as well.
I too enjoy KDDO, although I think that there was a lot of missed potential in the bridge. In any case, even though it achieves what it’s going for, i’ll still take half-baked Smile and O Girlfriend instead.
Hm, am I in the minority that can’t stand Smile? Certainly my least favorite on Green. But that’s another discussion for that post.
“Smile” is the most frustrating listen of Green for me, if only because I can hear the missed opportunities percolating in the back of my mind. But it’s still a solid track.
And yeah OOS, I never said I like KDDO better than either of those songs, and I don’t think that I do (definitely not more than “O Girlfriend”). But there’s only 4 songs on Green that I wouldn’t change at all, and KDDO is one of them. (Though in an ideal world, it would’ve been left as a really good b-side.)
I think that it could’ve used a different solo, but other than that I agree, it’s pretty much fine the way it is. But it’s still not fantastic.
I’ll never fully understand the love for Smile either. It’s not terrible, but it’s nothing great. Coulda been something great, though.
could this song be about some one giving you crab lice? It mentions knickers at what not.
…Strangely I’ve never thought of that.
I always figured that was what the song was about. Not necessarily someone giving someone else an STD. Maybe someone who’s afraid to give somebody else crabs or someone who’s afraid of getting crabs from a partner. Either way, the song’s kinda gross if you look at it from that perspective. That being said, I think I’ve already read too much into a Green era tune.
That would be a really strange. Though it fits:
“Crab if you want her”
Like, you get Crabs if you…want…her? Whatever, the lyrics mean nothing.
Also, I actually like this song.
“Crab” isn’t bad. Definitely TGA’s worst, but still very listenable. If you’re in the right mood for it it can be great.
I’d put Glorious Day beneath this, but yeah it’s probably second worst.
“Simple Pages” hands down.
This is one of those very rare times where I like the melody of song so much I completely ignore how ridiculous the lyrics are that I’m singing along with.
Crab. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it.
CrippyBoy, you really think that about “Simple Pages?” I think it’s the 5th best after the three singles and “O Girlfriend.”
ohhhh bay-bay!!
The song always struck me as a three-way hybrid of “O, Lisa”, “Sugar Booger”, and “Brightening Day.” I suppose that’s just one of the weird disorienting effects of such a uniform songwriting approach. Barring “O Lisa”, I actually prefer those two over “Simple Pages.” Yes, I’m well aware of your dislike of “Sugar Booger”, but I find it damn catchy. Also, “Smile” is one of the top three songs on TGA to me. Trust me, listening to a Japanese cover full of Engrish makes you really aware of the song’s beauty. Whew, talk about going off on a tangent!
For me, Simple Pages is third worse. Aside from some neat moments in the solo and chorus, I don’t like it.
My ranking of the Green tracks would probably be:
1. IITS
2. Smile
3. O Girlfriend
4. Hash Pipe
5. Photograph
6. KDDO
7. DLG
8. Simple Pages
9. Crab
10. Glorious Day
I too must admit that I find “Sugar Booger” incredibly catchy.
To be honest, I think that all the Green b-sides are really catchy (including O Lisa).
Are we all closet Green B-Side fans? Considering this blog is named “Teenage Victory Songs,” I might be on to something!
Nothing closet about it. A good song’s a good song. I’d venture to say we’re fans of most of their b-sides anyway. I can’t think of a band who does them better.
I think that Muse has more consistent b-sides (though nothing approaching Devotion or WOY quality), and Queens Of The Stone Age has some gems in there (Infinity in particular). But yeah, Weezer b-sides are probably the most interesting, if only because they’re so strange. I just wish they would start releasing more: the b-sides to Red were covers, MB and Mala got none.
Mala did get “Living Without You,” which scorches 95% of the album itself.
Oh yeah, I forgot about LWY. Still, only 1.
What was with the lack of b-sides, there was plenty of material. Even though the quality was poor, at least for mala, would it not be worth it for the promotion. The lack of extra songs just isn’t right for make believe when we know that there was album quality songs finished. Did the band ever give reasoning for it?
Some interviewer asked the band and I think it was Scott who said, “I think the whole point of b-sides is that they aren’t good enough to be put on an album, so what’s the point?” Paraphrase.
He’s clearly unaware of how good their old b-sides are.
Reminds me of that Hootenanny where the audience spontaneously broke into “Jamie.” Scott looked as though he’d never heard the song before.
Crab is underrated. There are some much worse Weezer songs out there.
I’m a little wary of the hardcore Weezer fan’s tendency to judge a song not by how good it is, but how by not relatively bad it is…
That said, I like “Crab.” Could’ve been replaced by any number of far better tracks, but it gets it done.
I only just noticed that this had Rivers ‘singing’ over the guitar solo, like a bastardised el scorcho
Haha, lol @ “singing” in quotation marks.
Interestingly enough, Mikey’s favorite song on Green!
Crab is one of my favourite tracks on the album. And Green is my 2nd favourite Weezer album after Pinkerton. I just *love* the effortlessly catchy feel of it.
I was in Weezer denial for many years. I always enjoyed their singles, but I never really got into the band. When I popped in my brother’s copy of Green and heard Don’t Let Go, I was completely hooked. My only disappointment was that Hash Pipe and Island in the Sun disrupt the flow of the whole thing. To this day, those are the two tracks I often skip when listening to Green.
For my money, the album would have been even better if Hash Pipe and IITS were replaced with two of Teenage Victory Song, Sugar Booger or Starlight. They’re all great songs that fit the Green vibe.
Interesting, although I feel like “Hash Pipe” and “Island” pretty much save the record by being so distinct from the rest (I’d give “Photograph” the same distinction as well). Once you’ve lived in the album for a while there’s something nice about how it all melds together, but to the average listener Green is a ridiculously samey album, and I’d like to think that the omission of “Starlight” from the record was one of the band’s more clear-headed decisions in this regard (it more or less shares a key lyric with “O Girlfriend,” and recycled ideas were the era’s biggest problem). Besides, “Hash Pipe” is Nu Weezer doing falsetto metal and “Island in the Sun” is one of their best songs ever. Gotta love ‘em.
I do like “Teenage Victory Song” though, obviously.
Eh, I always thought Starlight deserved a spot over something like Glorious Day.
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