To quote myself from the “Sacrifice” post a few weeks ago:
Although this blog has had a really negative bent lately (thank you iTunes), I think we’re getting close to having gotten all of the “Very Worst” songs out of the way. That’s not to say I’ll be giving every song a thumbs up from now on, but I think my days of hateful spite and verbal revenge are beginning to draw to a close. This is said with only a tenuous recollection of most of the Maladroit outtakes and the majority of Early Album 5, so there may yet be a few things in there that really offend me, but I do know there are only a couple more album tracks left that deserve the harsh fate of “The Very Worst.” So people afraid that I might be on the warpath for a while longer can feel free to exhale.
I felt vindicated when “Miss Sweeney” came up next, and further relieved when the rather-likeable cover of “The Weight” followed. But now I must admit that I spoke too soon with the above quotation — I guess I forgot about “Change The World.”
Although I think we’ve discussed nearly all of them by this point, “Change The World” is another one of the stinkers from the Maladroit sessions (and, thankfully, one of the ones the band knew not to put on the record itself). In many ways it seems to be a kindred spirit of that album’s “Space Rock,” in that it is a mercifully brief (yet mercilessly dumb) rawk-out sesh that seems to be about the Weezer fans unhappy with the band’s recent digressions into simple-minded pop (The Green Album) and, worse yet, simple-minded “metal” (or Rivers Cuomo’s interpretation of it, at least).
More about that in a moment — let’s address the music, first. “Change The World” seems to be another song birthed from the band’s late 2001 leg of the Extended Hyper Midget Tour, which was documented by the band in soundboard quality and partially released to the public via regular updates from band archivist Karl Koch on Weezer.Com. Its first appearance there is dated October 24th, from the otherwise great HBO Reverb performance (which also gave us the definitive version of the highly underrated “We Go Together“). The song is forged upon a jeering metallic riff that taunts the audience seemingly ad nauseum (depressingly impressive for a 90-second song), another empty-ass ‘Droit verse (“You want it / You got it / You flaunt it and get your feet on the ground / And love me right now”) that seems reminiscent of its peer “The Zep Song;” a one-line chorus that serves to quickly weld the verse to the return of that obnoxious riff; and a surprisingly lengthy solo that might have worked decently well in the context of a better song. As it stands though, it’s quick blast of showboating cock rock that comes off as jumbled and scatterbrained, even by Maladroit standards.
The song didn’t change much when it reappeared a month later (11/27/01), but two weeks after that — 12/05 — Cuomo must have had audience members and listeners at home groaning alike when he announced, “This song is called ‘Change The World,’ with a new third verse.” The subsequent performance daringly minimizes its one tentative merit (its brevity), but still knows when to ease off after a rough 2 minutes. From there, the band dialed the song in for a live-take Maladroit recording session on January 8th, 2002 (the Weezer of the early aughts moved quickly), which is mostly notable for its bizarre studio banter prelude (Cuomo adopts a strange voice to tell a “cowboy” to “shut yo’ face,” while Scott Shriner promises that something — presumably the forthcoming song — “won’t sound like a flat tire”). It’s interesting that during the opening riff Cuomo and Shriner (apparently the only two enjoying what’s going on) trade “uhns” and “whoas,” before Shriner lamely provides a monotone, fill-in-the-blank echo for the lyric. Brian Bell struggles to keep up with the vocal harmonies, and Cuomo interestingly shadows the guitar solo with a falsetto scat. Stupid aesthetic decisions on their own, but fascinating ones relative to the flavorless live versions previously accrued from the .Com live bootlegs. I’ll call this one the “definitive” if only for its strange and momentary flourishes.
Now, about those lyrics — “You like it / You hate it” seems to express Cuomo’s exasperation with trying to negotiate the impulses of all his fans with those within himself (this was written during ’01, a time when Cuomo directly corresponded w/ his fans for feedback on various Weezer message boards, y’see), which seems to be confirmed by the following couplet: “You bought it / And glued your butt to the sound.” Cuomo, however lacking eloquence, seems to be spitefully recalling the days of The Blue Album and Pinkerton, the “classic Weezer” records fans bought and couldn’t seem to get over as the band began diverging into more pedestrian, uncomplicated territory. As if to add salt to the wound, Cuomo chants the chorus, “You couldn’t change the world / To fit your little thing.” I mean, I think that’s an insult, but man…Didn’t you go to Harvard?
I find myself wondering, nowadays, if Cuomo might regret some of the liberties he took with Green and Maladroit — two records that were forged on good ideas and occasional flashes of brilliance, but faltered critically in their execution. It’s tough to say, and I imagine it’ll be some time before he opens up, but there’s an interesting lyrical anomaly in the 12/05/01 version of this song: the usual “You hate it” is appended with a rather forlorn, “and bring me down” (which is suffixed to several other lyrics). Not exactly the stuff of regret, but it’s no secret that his biggest fans’ dismissal of his current songs and performances made the guy think twice for a moment.
27 Comments
I have little to say about this song, except for the chorus sounding like Duran Duran having gone cock-rock.
Had Weezer kept many of these Maladroit-era songs as live numbers to be dropped in the set for an occasional, brief, mindless rawk-out then it’s entirely possible that they might have been fondly remembered as curios from 01/02. However, they chose to frighten us into thinking the likes of this and ‘Zep Jamb’ were worthy of album inclusion – hence the memory is soured somewhat (see blog entry).
I think it’s main failing is that it’s so FORGETTABLE. I mean, right now I can’t hum the song without falling into “We Go Together” or “Ain’t Got Much Time”. I don’t hate it, but it’s got absolutely nothing going for it lol.
OK just listened to the live “3rd verse” version (my personal definitive), and my previous statements pretty much ring true. I do like the solo, though.
Okay, I’ll be the dummy who leaps to CTW’s defence. Except that I can’t. I do quite like this ‘song’, I always have, but I know all the reasons why I shouldn’t. The last three songs filed under The Very Worst I actually don’t mind at all (???!!!)
Any chance of some Alone II coming up?
Hup: Interesting point; I would have to agree. Were this simply a live-only “jam(b),” it’d be a little harder to hate. But since this can officially be considered an album outtake…well, that’s just unacceptable.
Tsar: Yeah, solo could have been salvageable.
TITW: You don’t mind WAAOD, eh? Then again, your screenname is TITW…: P
And yes, Alone 2 has been added to the great big Songblog Playlist. Its lovely contents will be in contention for future picks.
Oh, and kids, there is now literally only one song left that’s definitely a “Very Worst” song, at least off the top of my head. The randomizer just spat out some gold for the next few posts, so get ready for some good times…
‘That’s some serious rock.’
Really, Rivers? I beg to differ. This song is some serious suck.
*listens to ‘Miss Sweeney’ again*
Good post, shit song.
Soy: my taste in Weezer generally veers towards the sensible/general consensus (oh wait, this is Weezer, there is no consensus about anything, heh) but then sometimes my mind throws me a curveball and commands me to like some turdy lil’ shredfest bonanza.
Alone II discussion will be good. I’d like to see what y’all make of My Day is Coming…when the time comes, of course.
I hesitate to even call this a song… it’s more akin to something like a bad commercial jingle.
Hey look, another Weezer song that I like the opening, then the vocals come in and it instantly all goes completely to shit.
And yeah I sometimes wonder about Rivers going to Harvard. I mean…it’s Harvard, shouldn’t he be able to express himself better than “to fit your little thing”?
It reminds me of something my beginning poetry teacher always tells us: “show, don’t tell.” For example, the Falling For You bridge: Holy sweet goddamn you left you cello in the basement. I admired the glowing stars and tried to play a tune. Now, the feelings and emotions evoked from these lines are made more powerful by the fact he doesn’t sing: holy sweet goddamn, baby I’m so smitten with you. Please girl, I want to spend my entire life with you. (although if FFY was Green-era it may have been this).
Rivers’ movement toward generic subjects is a horrible lyrical choice for this very reason. This got way off topic. /end rant.
>“You couldn’t change the world / To fit your little thing.”
LOL. never noticed that.
and i don’t think it’s “the very worst”. there are a lot worse songs, even on alone ii. this one is just.. uninteresting like most of mala stuff.
What song on alone II is worse than this…..
Art: Hilariously accurate call. I can almost hear a prepubescent boy shout “It’s Nerf or nothin’!” over that shit-stupid riff. I’d sure like to aim a tennis ball firearm at Cuomo for this one. (JK Rivers, I know you’re not proud of this shit anymore yourself)
Noobs: Off-topic tangents are what TVS is all about! Great insight too, it’d be interesting to view Pinkerton through the lens of The Green Album and vice versa.
Low: Please tell me two things.
1. How is this song even slightly better than WAAOD, MBF, TITW, “Sacrifice,” “I Don’t Want Your Lovin’” or what have you?
2. Enlighten me, what off of Alone 2 could possibly be bested by this casually snot-rocketed “song”? If only to entertain us a bit. : P
I’d say the only thing I could even start to like is the verse. The riff is terrible, and the chorus sounds totally out of place, comes out of nowhere.
It’s refreshing to know that they haven’t put this on an album.
I was going to comment on how shitty this “song” is, but two things stand in the way:
1)It’s not worth talking about.
2)Low’s bold proclamation that there are songs on Alone 2 that are worse than this, which stirred up all kinds of emotions in me.
There is nothing on Alone 2 that is even remotely as bad as this piece of shit. Hell, I can’t even call it a “song” without using quotation marks, that’s never a good sign.
This is simply a lazy effort on Rivers part. Is it a stretch to say that it probably took soy longer to write this post than it did Rivers to write this “song”?
well i don’t know, maybe this song is pure nothingness while “titw” or “mbf” are pure embaressments. i want to cover my ears and run around screaming “i’m not here this isn’t happening” while i’m listetning to that piece of shit called “i was scared”, but when this song is on it just passes me. i feel nothing. just a shitty almost-song. like “i admire you so much”. oh, wait, you guys like that song too?
just another forgettable, average, dumb demo.
I don’t think it’s terrible, but it’s definitely mediocre. meh. So many of these mala demos feel so unfinished. like Rivers had written half a song, forgotten about it, run out of time to finish his songs, then just thrown them out there. So little lyrics. One riff over and over. They’re hardly even songs.
Low: The only reason this song isn’t at least as embarrassing as “Space Rock” is because it was never released on an album. But I’m here to evaluate songs as songs, and frankly, there is nothing here to make it better than TITW (which is at least funny) or MBF (which, like CTW, I hope to never hear again).
When I hear this song, I hear it for what it is: Rivers hawking up the grossest thing he can manage to spit in the face of the die-hard fanbase that actually cares enough to be downloading this thing. It was meant to be an insult, and I take it as one. What a terrible, terrible song.
Also Low, brevity means nothing when it comes to music — I’d stop disregarding this stuff as “almost-songs” based on length (is “You smell.” an almost-sentence? or an almost-thought?). In this exact same runtime, Guided By Voices managed a couple of classics (“Gold Star For Robot Boy” and “Teenage FBI”), and if I wanted a quick blast of balls-out rawk’n'roll in 1:39 I’d reach for “Ted the Electric” by the Detachment Kit. And if you wanted me to list the drop-dead perfect songs I’ve heard in a briefer running time than this song, we’d be here all night. (Probably the best in the briefest amount of time would be “You’re Not An Airplane” by GBV at 0:33, or “Ha Ha Man” at 0:40, or at the most “Indian Fables” at 0:42…I’ll stop myself here)
Since Cuomo isn’t usually that kind of songwriter, I imagine that when we get the A2 liner notes “I Admire You So Much” will not be presented as a “full” song. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be viewed as one, or called one if the artist so intends. Frankly, it has a prettier melody, a more heart-felt vocal performance, better lyrics, a more genuine feeling, and a cooler sonic aesthetic than “Change The World” does — in half the running time. Ain’t a goddamn thing wrong with that.
And I’m not head-over-heels like most people are about “I Was Scared,” but I like it.
fair enough.
and i’m not judging songs by lenght – i’m judging by developement. gbv had that special gift that even shorter songs sounded like real ones instead of just ideas. rivers lacks that ability. and i’m not buying that “more heart-felt vocal performance, better lyrics, a more genuine feeling, and a cooler sonic aesthetic” thing. half-assed idea demoed on answering amchine is still half-assed idea demoed on answering machine. sounds like crap and there’s really nothing to like about it. and i like lo-fi too, but lo-fi only makes sense if theres something good going on. and i don’t hear anything good on “i admire you so much”. at least not better that “change the world”.
i still love you, thought. [/drunk]
Jesus Christ, people are actually defending this shit? I recently tried to go back and listen to all the Maladroit demos (I could not bring myself to achieve that goal), and this one stuck out as the worst. And I think the worst song of the worst sessions definitely warrants a “the very worst” tag. There is nothing, NOTHING good about this song.
well, its short! its a good think when it comes to bad songs, imo.
thing*
I’m back, Alone II rules, sadly this song is the complete opposite of that opinion about Alone II. Anyone who thinks this song is anything but completely useless is someone I don’t want to talk to.
Alone 2 does rule, doesn’t it? Would love for one of those songs to come up in the randomizer…no such luck yet.
Low is an idiot who just made my day a little worse realizing there are people out there who think this song is something other than being a total piece of shit.
Hate is still a feeling.
Songs like Zep Song (that was mentioned in a much earlier post^^) are the kinds of songs that just pass by me. Cuomo picked The Beach Boys over Led Zeppelin. Someone in the band thought that this kind of sound was cool and wrote that jamb, and I’m gonna lay money down on it that it wasn’t him. That’s what experimenting is for, to find the band’s sound.
Change the World definitely has a Weezer vibe to it. The only way I can sort of describe it is that I can’t hear or see any doubt about the way they play this song.
A video was uploaded on youtube a couple weeks after the most recent comment. Call me crazy, tasteless, or an idiot. Fuck it. I’m giving this song one last stand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBgKfOa3Wzc
HBO Reverb is definitely the best version…almost makes it listenable. What a show.
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