So Blue With Weezer
It was the summer of 1994, and I was in a camp bus full of kids that I didn’t know. My parents liked to put me into the YMCA day camp as a kid, and when I was in my early teen years, they sent me to the week-long trip at Mammoth Lake two times. It was on this trip that I first became aware of the band Weezer. I didn’t know who this band was for a couple of reasons, the first being that the kids I normally hung out with during the school year weren’t into this type of music just yet. The second reason is that I was still pretty much into my pop music phase, so I didn’t really listen to much alternative music at that time. It wasn’t until probably 1997, that I actually listened to the full album, and I was instantly drawn to it.
The album is self-titled, but it became known as the “Blue Album” for its cover, which features the band standing in front of a pure blue backdrop. This album features a number of great songs, but the overplayed hit “Buddy Holly” is what got them fame and recognition. The song was an instantly popular tune that got very heavy air time on the radio, and the music video was heavily rotated on MTV. For those that don’t remember, the music video was super advanced for the time that it was released. The video places Weezer on the set of the famous show Happy Days; it took old footage from the show and injected the band into that footage. This music video got a major spotlight cast on it because of the use of green screens and CGI. This song, not necessarily the album, thrust Weezer into the mainstream pipeline of alternative music in the mid-90s.
The album has a Southern California early-alternative sound to it, with track names that are slightly reminiscent of Beach Boys song titles, such as “Surf Wax America” and “In the Garage”. Weezer is from Los Angeles, or at least they were formed here, so it’s no surprise that they would mirror the sound and style of the region during that time. Let’s call it “early hipster shit”. This was an era of rock that was at the tail end of grunge, so there are some similarities, but if compared to say a band like Soundgarden, it’s totally different. It was a new era in rock, and this band was at the forefront of that new sound.
The first song that comes to mind when I think of this album is “Undone (The Sweater Song)” The beginning of the track is a guitar and drums kind of plugging away with the same chords and beats, but there are two male voices having a conversation in the background. In fact, throughout the song, there are random conversations that are interjected with the people having those conversations talking about going to some party; it was an interesting way to layout and then breakup the music.
The lyrics are not very deep when you first listen to them. On the surface, it’s a song about a sweater with a loose thread. When the thread gets pulled, the sweater falls apart. But, that’s too easy to not have a deeper meaning. When you view it from a deeper mindset, it’s about a mental breakdown. The end of the song is pure rock chaos with bashing drums and wild guitar strums, which then segues into feedback and nonsensical piano notes.
“Say It Ain’t So” is an ultimate karaoke song. I’m sure Rivers Cuomo, lead singer, guitarist, and writer, would roll his eyes at calling this a karaoke song, but that’s just the way it goes, man. The vocal harmonies and drawn out notes are killer. My favorite part of this song is when Cuomo sings:
I can’t confront you
I never could do
That which might hurt you
To try and be cool
When I say
This way is a waterslide away from me
That takes her further every day
So be cool
The way his mouth melds “This way is a waterslide away from me that takes her further every day” is masterful. The rhythm of it is crazy unique, and I love singing that part. Plus, this is definitely a jam to play on full volume.
Taking it down a notch is the song “Only in Dreams’’, which is the closing song on the album, and another with a Beach Boys-esque song title. The vast majority of this song is pretty slow and low, but it wouldn’t be a Weezer song if they didn’t turn that notch back up towards the end.
As far as unrequited love songs go, this one is pretty obvious, hence the title. I think many of us can relate to the feeling of only being able to have someone in your dreams. I can also see why this would be the last song on the album for two reasons. One, it’s a little over eight minutes long, with a majority of the instrumentation taking place at the end. Two, it has a tide-like timing to it when the lyrics run out; it goes in and out and in and back out again. It’s a nice track to end the album with.
The “Blue Album”, of course, was the catalyst for major success for the band. Whenever I hear songs from this album, it takes me back to a time when my musical taste was in transition, when I was just starting to turn the tide into alternative music. Although I don’t own, nor have I listened to any of their other albums in their entirety, I’m thankful for that bumpy bus ride because it introduced me to an awesome album.
