Longtime Sunshine
This story is too tedious for me at this point. Too raw. I’ve written about it before and I’m trying to think if I have anything new to say.
Let me start with the song and see what emerges — Longtime Sunshine from Alone: Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
I’m playing it as I type this. On repeat. I came across this song for the first time not too long ago when Weezer played NPRs Tiny Desk Concert. I fucking love it. Love it.
I can’t really say what it meant to Rivers. Fans have theories. It doesn’t matter because once you put your art out there people are going to merge it into their own stories. To me it’s a story about the comforting idea of being dead and done.
When he sings:
sometimes i wanna get in a car, close my eyes and drive real fast
keep on going ’til i get some place where i can truly rest
I think, yeah. Yeah. But like the road not taken, it’s for another day and a day I may never make it back to. But Yeah.
I’m so tired sometimes. I’ve purposefully chosen all the hardest paths. And I have no plans to stop. If anything, I will next level this until I collapse.
But when he sings:
sometimes i wanna build a house with a woodstove or a fireplace
in the middle of the living room an old piano
sometimes it don’t seem so bad to settle down with a good woman
leave this lonely life behind forever and ever
I think yeah. I want that. I want to rest in someones arms and be done.
