Weezer- Thank God For Girls [Single Review]

With their new White Album coming out in two days, and having prepared for it’s release since last November, it’s work promoting the album by looking back to the first new song they released: Thank God For Girls.

As the title and the artwork (pictured above) suggest, there is a fair amount of religious symbolism and imagery linked into this song, as well as alot of references to cannoli… which are one of the main desserts of the Italian south, a stronghold of the catholic religion, and it seems to tie in with that patriarchal view that women are there to serve their men.

Before alarm bells start ringing, the song takes this image and puts it in a very ironic, mocking spotlight. It is more of a look at the men who try to use women, rather than the girls themselves. The suggestive image of the Pope chosen for the single cover, gives off the impression that this is about people who abuse positions of power.

Talking about the song itself, we’re given an energetic performance from start to finish, with awesome quasi-rap vocals from Cuomo, which seem to meander at times — in a calculated fashion — from topic to topic, before taking a long breath of fresh air during the lyrically slower and more impassioned chorus.

The makeup for this song is quite unique for a Weezer song. They usually veer closer to the teenage punk genre, but this song is more classy, a little more seductive. The piano is a nice effect with the descending chords, which build up with each instrumental texture added. By the time the drums enter everyone in the room would be ready to rock to the music.

It feels like there is a sort of cross-over here, like the band is trying to spread their message to a wide demographic. I can see a slight blend of Rock and Hip-Hop in the song. When I listen to it, I don’t want to rock or sway as much as I want to bounce to the music, it’s just got that sort of beat, even though the song has its roots cemented in Alternative Rock.

I will say that the ending to the song left something to be desired, it sort of released without a conclusion, the layers dissipate, and the voice just, sort of, exhales. Without a doubt, it’s better than just fading to zero, because it is an actual composed ending to the song, but I feel it could have done better with a final gesture on the other instruments. It is nevertheless a very original ending, that the band is making their own name for, which can only be commended.

The music video released alongside the album really supports this whole patriarchal view created around women, with the band members all being leaders of this exploitative religious cult attended by crowds of women. It also features alot of the cannoli that are referenced in the first verse,

but also throws in additional meaning to the words in the second verse, as it seems to talk alot about online dating, and the idea of meeting someone before you see them. There is an uncertainty that hovers around it, and this is very perfectly symbolised by the scenes of the poker game which interlock with the cult scenes. In a game of poker, you’re not going to show your true self, in character or physically, because you want to hide giving yourself away to your competitors.