Music speaks to me for different reasons. Some music feeds
the militant activist, some the eclectic mystic, and some feeds the lonely
teenager. Weezer’s Blue album does the latter two. During high school I would
struggle to enjoy bands, sometimes because there were only a few songs that
spoke to me, others spoke only to one major part of me. The fact was, that if
Weezer had only fed the lonely teenager who was scared to talk to girls I
probably wouldn’t have been near the fan I am. In fact if it is was just going
to be about girls I’d have listened to country Music.
Weezer did something different than a lot of bands at the
time, well maybe I shouldn’t say it that way. Weezer utilized the basics, and
they were good at it. They didn’t pave new ground, and still they weren’t like
anyone else. They knew their music, they knew their instruments but in the end
they knew how to make music that would speak not just through its words but its
droning melodies and drive. But one of the best examples of this is during Surf Wax America I wasn’t a surfer so I
didn’t understand the theory but the descending harmony between the two singers
was simply beautiful.
We were introduced to this band before Windows 95 came out. I
know that because the Windows 95 CD that was standard at the time had the video
for Buddy Holly embedded into it. The
introduction came through the cacophony of The
Sweater Song, there really wasn’t much to this song, and it was basically
about a sweater that one can choose to destroy or keep. It wasn’t hard to
destroy this sweater one would need to simply hold string while they walked
away. I imagine most fans have attributed the lyrics to this song to something
special in their lives. Maybe the singer’s sweater represents the willingness
to put our own security in the hands of someone we care for. It might represent
to some the first time we say, “I love you,” with the fear of it not being
returned, or even maybe just, “I’m sorry.” Regardless if one chooses to walk
away, we will be left naked, with nothing. Though, it could just be a song
about a sweater. All I really know is that in the end is that when Patrick
Wilson starts running around his drum set banging on the cymbals, I was hooked.
Of course the version on the LP is very different. There is
talk about a ride to the party after the show. One woman who wants to go but
her friends don’t want to go, I don’t know It doesn’t make sense. Over the years
I have tried to make sense of it, and the best I have read is that he was going
to try and tell a story based on the songs of the album, but that fell apart so
they just added it as it was.
The album is so well loved by those of a certain nerdy
persuasion because it dealt with important themes around security and feeling
safe. In The Garage deals with this theme
directly. When do we feel safe? When we
can put our hands directly on our dungeon masters guide and 20 sided die. The
garage, in their song, was where they could be themselves. They pay homage to
this on the inside artwork, the instruments are set up on a concrete floor,
probably a garage where they write the words to their songs.
Say it Ain’t So
approaches, so well, the depths of our souls, is talks about what makes us who
we are through a story. The bridge tells us the background of the story set in
a letter to the singer’s step-father.
“You've cleaned up, found Jesus, things are so good so I hear.This Bottle of Steven’s awakens ancient demons, like father, step father, your son is drowning in flood.
But as a teenager no song affected me like Only in dreams. I was afraid to talk to
girls, at least tell them how I felt, but I would dreams of the dances, holding
a girl and floating. The song proved that even guys dream of romance.
After this album Weezer took a break, Rivers Cuomo went to
college and nothing came out. This became a traumatic time for Rivers, but that
is another story for another Friday. But don’t worry, I have every intention of
telling that one as soon as I can find some vinyl.
I ordered my copy of Weezer’s self-titled album (the blue
one) and came out with the Original Master Recording. This album was rereleased
and repressed from the original masters. The nice and heavy record came in a
special static bag, which I love because I am tired of shocking myself. I love
this addition to my collection. This album holds a special place in my own
story. In fact I didn’t realize until later that not everyone gets some of my
life references to this album. I noticed I kept having to explain what I meant
when I referred to the after party of my Wedding (as opposed to the reception)
as the party after the show.
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