Modern Classic
“I look just like Buddy Holly”
The little-known history of a 90s rock hit
Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” is a timeless song. It came out in 1994 as the fourth track in the Blue Album (which is still Weezer’s most popular album), and it still feels like it could’ve come out last year. The name of the song, “Buddy Holly”, comes from the fact that the lead singer of Weezer, Rivers Cuomo, hugely resembles the 1950s rock legend, Buddy Holly. Along with that, it was released on the birthday of Buddy Holly himself on September 7.
A Breakdown of the Song
What’s with these homies dissin’ my girl?
Why do they gotta front?
What did we ever do to these guys
That made them so violent?
First of all, it’s not a love song. It was written by Rivers Cuomo after his friends made fun of his Korean friend.
You can hear Cuomo use the anachronistic language of ’90s rap throughout the song, which greatly contrasts with Cuomo’s persona. Despite what it seems, Cuomo says that the song is completely platonic.
Woo-hoo, but you know I’m yours
Woo-hoo, and I know you’re mine
Woo-hoo, and that’s for all of time
As Cuomo explains, “It’s not a romantic thing at all.”
You can hear the infectious falsetto “woo-hoo” sung by the bassist, Matt Sharp, in the background. Followed by a faint “that’s for all of time.”
In the chorus, he refers to Mary Tyler Moore in the line:
Ooh wee ooh, I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh oh, and you’re Mary Tyler Moore
I don’t care what they say about us anyway
I don’t care ‘bout that
She was a successful actress during the time of Buddy Holly. There was a rumour that Holly and Moore dated (potentially because of this song), but she was married for all of Buddy Holly’s adult life.
Throughout the song, Rivers is putting up a tough guy front trying to protect “Mary Tyler Moore.” You can hear this break during parts of the song, specifically at the end of the second verse.
Don’t you ever fear, I’m always near
I know that you need help
Your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit
You need a guardian
Racist insults are thrown at “Mary Tyler Moore” while he’s trying to stand up for her. You can hear that the tough-guy front falters during the line ‘you need guardian’. Both bravery and fear are expressed in Cuomo’s vocal technique.
Bang, bang, knocking on the door
Another big bang, get down on the floor
Oh no, what do we do?
Don’t look now, but I lost my shoe
I can’t run and I can’t kick
What’s a matter, babe, are you feelin’ sick?
What’s a matter, what’s a matter, what’s a matter you?
What’s a matter, babe, are you feelin’ blue? Oh-oh
The first two lines are about the “homies” accosting Rivers. Within the next three lines, he talks about how he really can’t do anything when he’s confronted since his tough-guy persona is merely an act. He can’t run away from it either, because that would mean leaving his friend behind. The last three lines show Rivers checking on his friend after they made fun of her.
An early version of the song recorded in 1993 had a different feel to it entirely. It was played much slower and had a much lower tone overall. Today, it can be found on Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo. The chorus originally referenced Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, a famous dancing duo, saying “Oo-wee-oo you look just like Ginger Rogers, Oh, oh, I move just like Fred Astaire”, before being changed to the version released on the Blue Album.
The Music Video
Three ideas for the music video were conceived, and two of the ideas weren’t great. It was thought that it wouldn’t end up working but the band decided to do it. It showed Weezer performing in the 1970s show Happy Days. The video was made without CGI, only camerawork and editing. Despite the original doubt in the concept, it was met with a lot of popularity and often showed on MTV, and even won Best Alternative Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Editing, and Best Direction, as well as being nominated for video of the year.
Moving forward into fame
Weezer originally struggled to gain traction with audiences, who were more interested in grunge. At the time, Weezer was a small-known alternative American rock band. Though through the release of the music videos shown on MTV, Weezer became a hit.
The song was originally planned to be excluded from the album because he thought it was too cheesy and didn’t fit the sound of what he wanted Weezer to be. The producer Ric Ocasek (also the lead singer of the Cars) managed to convince him to include it, he’s quoted saying:
“I remember at one point he was hesitant to do ‘Buddy Holly’ and I was like, ‘Rivers, we can talk about it. Do it anyway, and if you don’t like it when it’s done, we won’t use it. But I think you should try. You did write it and it is a great song.’”
Today, Weezer has become a household name in modern rock. It felt like modern music when it first came out, and it still feels that way today. Weezer is everywhere in music; you can hear their songs on someone’s playlist, to at someone’s birthday party.
The song “Buddy Holly” has been featured in many advertisements and TV shows, including the Windows 95 CD-ROM, the famous American political sitcom, “Parks and Recreation”, the advert for Honda Pilot, and the Lip Sync Battle reality show. Because of this, “Buddy Holly” has eventually become a song known by the majority that we all know and love today.
