{"id":149664682,"date":"2024-10-02T12:31:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T12:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=149664682"},"modified":"2024-10-02T12:31:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T12:31:13","slug":"what-makes-this-song-rip-weezer-no-one-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=149664682","title":{"rendered":"What Makes This Song Rip: Weezer &amp; &quot;No One Else&quot;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Singing can be pretty rewarding even when you&#8217;re not that good at it.&#8221; &#8211; Matt Sharp, &#8216;Blue Album&#8217; liner notes<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last National Poetry Month, we <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/the-poem-i-recommend-if-you-dont\">close read<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/lets-close-read-another-poem?utm_source=publication-search\">some poems<\/a>. Recently, I\u2019ve been <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/albums-i-loved-in-high-school-blink?utm_source=publication-search\">looking<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/albums-i-loved-in-high-school-nofx?utm_source=publication-search\">albums<\/a> I <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/albums-i-loved-in-high-school-mxpx?utm_source=publication-search\">loved in high school<\/a>. The most recent crop of those turned a little <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/albums-i-loved-in-high-school-relient?utm_source=publication-search\">shame-filled<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/albums-i-loved-in-high-school-slick?utm_source=publication-search\">maybe mean<\/a>. So I thought it might be nice to close-read some songs I really like. Talk about <em>why<\/em> I think they are cool.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Breaking this into sub-categories\u2014it worked at <em>Cracked<\/em>, it works for <em>The Line Break<\/em>, and it\u2019s a good way to organize thoughts. Most chord progressions are four chords, so we\u2019ll do four categories: general vibe, structure, chords, and moments of sublime. Those all make sense at face value right? Thanks, readers, I knew I could trust you.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/what-makes-this-song-rip-chon-and\">First up was Chon<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/what-makes-this-song-rip-polyphia\">Then we did Polyphia<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/p\/what-makes-this-song-rip-elephant\">Then we did Elephant Gym<\/a>. Now let\u2019s do Weezer. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Weezer - No One Else - Live On BBC Evening Sessions - January 26, 1995\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AR65C3vsmFY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>General Vibe<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A wistfulness and longing for an alternate universe where this sort of early-Beatles-with-distortion-pedals, rock-sung-by-a-regular-guy-who-doesn\u2019t-yarl, interesting-music-you-can-take-home-to-meet-your-parents carves out an actual niche among mainstream pop music. Do you know how happy I\u2019d be if this type of stuff was playing over the speakers at Taco Bell while I was wiping down tables and sweeping up stray bean-lettuce instead of, like, Hinder? <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/0468d6c9-56ba-4853-8520-372710656bce_800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"File:Hind3.JPG\"\/><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That said, I suppose the \u201cgeneral vibe\u201d section is the best place to talk about lyrics, which\u2014I mean, you can hear that, right? The possessiveness, the violent misogyny behind the bubble gum chords and cheery BPM? <em>My <\/em>reading of this song has always been that it\u2019s tongue-in-cheek, that it\u2019s a caricature of how nasty jealousy makes you. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weezerpedia.com\/wiki\/Weezer_(The_Blue_Album)_press_kit\">Rivers has imitated that \u201cThe World Has Turned And Left Me Here,\u201d<\/a> the very next track on the album, is a sequel to this song. Guy is a jealous, possessive asshole, then his girlfriend leaves him. Why is he alone? Could it be that he turns everyone in his life off by being a jealous, possessive asshole? No, it\u2019s the children who are wrong. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rivers might be assuming more sophistication than his audience deserves: Wikipedia says we can\u2019t be sure if this song sequence is related because the songs were written months apart from each other. As if the songwriter has a statute of limitations on emotions. As if thematic connections can\u2019t be made intellectually. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bad news for Brendan and me, since our upcoming album features a lot of things I was going through in like 2006-2012. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wonder what Time Lord poet <span class=\"mention-wrap\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Bob Sykora&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:4418940,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/08735bc3-9219-47e9-bb05-a72e3369d2f9_813x960.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;fe89051a-c75b-49ef-8d83-83c87fac5fac&quot;}\" data-component-name=\"MentionToDOM\"\/> has to say about the statute of limitations on emotion. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Structure<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a beauty to a basic pop structure. Seriously\u2014sometimes songwriting is purely feel, sometimes writing to a set structure frees you from writer\u2019s block. It\u2019s like how you know a sonnet has 14 lines. If you know you\u2019re writing a verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, well? The assignment\u2019s just three parts. Wanna add a prechorus? A long outro? Go nuts! Long outros are great for lots of things!<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/nt9rajp0GDw\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This song is simple: quick intro-verse-prechorus-chorus-repeat all that-postchorus-guitar solo-modified prechorus-chorus-quick intro for an outro. We\u2019re out in three minutes. Magic. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chords<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Look, the chords are the whole reason I wanted to do this thing. Listen to that verse progression! It\u2019s an eight-bar prog with <em>11 changes<\/em>, utilizing a ton of passing tones. Something I love that\u2019s a little nerdy: the IV chord, typically your second home after the I (or root chord), is mostly used as a passing tone. We\u2019re living in the crunchy liminal realm of the ii and iii chords <em>a lot<\/em>, especially when we get to that chord run at the end of the prechorus and the third time around on the chorus. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/d3165e9a-462e-4627-8198-b0b846450db0_450x600.jpeg\" alt=\"File:TB Crunchy Taco front.jpg\"\/><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It never feels too far from pop, though\u2014largely because of that nestled-by-the-fireplace I-V-vi-IV in the chorus. Hey, speaking of that chord progression, the legends at <em><a href=\"https:\/\/maximumfun.org\/episodes\/secretly-incredibly-fascinating\/secretly-incredibly-fascinating-pachelbels-canon\/\">Secretly Incredibly Fascinating<\/a><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/maximumfun.org\/episodes\/secretly-incredibly-fascinating\/secretly-incredibly-fascinating-pachelbels-canon\/\"> just did a whole episode on Pachelbel\u2019s Canon<\/a>, and that chord progression is like this one\u2019s older brother. Anyway, the chorus feels safe, musically speaking, which lets the other parts of the song get a little rowdy, musically speaking. This is one of the best chord charts you will ever read, young guitarists and pianists, especially as you\u2019re learning songwriting. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Moments of Sublime<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Idk what else drummer Patrick Wilson <em>could\u2019ve<\/em> played for that triplet intro. Actually, that\u2019s not true\u2014I can think of lots of fills he could\u2019ve played. But he played the right one, here. Like his 60s counterpart, Ringo Starr, Patrick Wilson doesn\u2019t get enough credit for doing all the right things. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The verse chord progression. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The falsetto background vocals. I miss when Matt Sharp was in Weezer. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Matt Sharp plays bass exactly right on this record and <em>Pinkerton<\/em>. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Rivers hits that open low E string before ripping into the solo.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The guitar solo would not make my \u201ctop 10 weezer guitar solos\u201d rejected pitch for <em>WatchMojo<\/em>, BUT is a master class is using multiple techniques to make an interesting pop guitar solo. My big gripe about <em>Green Album<\/em> is all the solos are just vocal melodies\u2014an absolute affront to the songwriting and guitar gods. This one is <em>almost<\/em> a vocal melody, with flourishes and a mix of octave strumming and single-note lick-playing. This solo is the baseline from which all other Weezer solos should be judged. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I usually don\u2019t care for when an obviously dubbed guitar solo rings out while the band keeps playing, but both in this version and the album version, the guitar that tracked the solo comes <em>back in<\/em> in a really interesting way. Listen to that stretch from 2:12-2:19\u2014that\u2019s smart lead playing. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brian Bell\u2019s bowling shirts during this era. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The end chorus, I love Rivers\u2019 baritone belting. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>WRAP IT UP B<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/91df8e5f-6201-4ece-b7b4-345aa7da1a35_686x600.jpeg\" alt=\"File:Guillermo D\u00edaz.jpg\"\/><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Rivers bit from the link above, which was too long for the epigraph, felt like <em>life itself<\/em> when I first read it at age 14 or whenever, and it doesn\u2019t feel too far off from how I feel about life now: <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt 18, I freaked out and moved to Los Angeles to become a rock star. I soon realized that I was an idiot, and gave up. At the same time, my girlfriend broke up with me. I was really sad and started to write songs. Most of them sucked, but it became a habit that stuck with me. Because I&#8217;m so terrible at expressing my feelings directly, and because no one really cares, and because anything real is almost impossible to talk about, I&#8217;ve come to rely on music more and more to express myself.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m glad Rivers became a rock star, because it means lots of people heard <em>Blue Album<\/em> and <em>Pinkerton<\/em> and <em>Green Album<\/em> and <em>Maladroit<\/em>. I\u2019m bummed out Rivers became a rock star, because of everything that happened afterwards. Except for certain parts of <em>Make Believe<\/em> and <em>Teal Album<\/em>. Idk. <a href=\"https:\/\/songexploder.net\/weezer\">Listen to Rivers\u2019 episode of <\/a><em><a href=\"https:\/\/songexploder.net\/weezer\">Song Exploder<\/a><\/em>, it\u2019s really useful in a ton of ways. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, this song <em>rips<\/em>. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sorry you got an email, <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chris<\/p><div class=\"subscription-widget-wrap-editor\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/shipwreckedsailor.substack.com\/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}\" data-component-name=\"SubscribeWidgetToDOM\"><div class=\"subscription-widget show-subscribe\"><div class=\"preamble\"><p class=\"cta-caption\">Thanks for reading shipwrecked sailor! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<\/p><\/div><form class=\"subscription-widget-subscribe\"><input type=\"email\" class=\"email-input\" name=\"email\" placeholder=\"Type your email\u2026\" tabindex=\"-1\"\/><input type=\"submit\" class=\"button primary\" value=\"Subscribe\"\/><div class=\"fake-input-wrapper\"><div class=\"fake-input\"\/><div class=\"fake-button\"\/><\/div><\/form><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Singing can be pretty rewarding even when you&#8217;re not that good at it.&#8221; &#8211; Matt Sharp, &#8216;Blue Album&#8217; liner notes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149664682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149664682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149664682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149664682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149664682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149664682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149664682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}