Underneath the layers of humor and sarcasm in Weezer’s self-titled debut (best known as the Blue Album) are sad songs about alienation and self-doubt.
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“Undone – The Sweater Song” is an anthem that made the geeks cool.
Sad but True
Rivers Cuomo wrote a sad song, but music fans thought he was joking. He’s singing about insecurity and coping with the world around you, but he uses humor and gargantuan guitar riffs to mask the pain behind the song.
If you want to destroy my sweater
Hold this thread as I walk away
Watch me unravel. I’ll soon be naked
Lying on the floor (lying on the floor)
I’ve come undone
The massive guitar riffs and metal-inspired solos project confidence, but the hesitation and discomfort are right there in the words.
In John Luerssen’s band biography Rivers’ Edge: The Weezer Story, Cuomo said, “‘Undone’ is the feeling you get when the train stops, and the little guy comes knockin’ on your door. It was supposed to be a sad song, but everyone thinks it’s hilarious.”
I don’t want to destroy your tank-top
Let’s be friends and just walk away
It’s good to see you lying there in your Superman skivvies
Lying on the floor (lying on the floor)
I’ve come undone
The Velvet Underground and Metallica
“The Sweater Song” is the first Weezer song Cuomo wrote. He explained the inspiration to Rolling Stone: “I was trying to write a Velvet Underground-type song because I was super into them, and I came up with that guitar riff. I just picked up that acoustic guitar, and the first thing I played was that riff. And it just feels so classic to me, even now, when the band starts to play it, it just takes over the energy in the room, and you’re just transported into the world of Weezer.”
He added, “It wasn’t until years after I wrote it that I realized it’s almost a complete ripoff of ‘Sanitarium’ by Metallica. It just perfectly encapsulates Weezer to me—you’re trying to be cool like Velvet Underground, but your metal roots just pump through unconsciously.”
Cuomo wrote the song in 1991, and three years later, it was the first single from Weezer’s debut album.
Community College Forms a Generational Songwriter
Cuomo met his bandmates while working at Tower Records in Los Angeles. However, they weren’t gaining traction in the local music scene, which at the time grunge dominated. So, Cuomo applied to community college, and an English 101 professor unwittingly helped write “The Sweater Song.”
His professor explained the importance of a thesis statement and used the analogy of pulling a thread in someone’s sweater. If they walk away, the entire sweater will unravel. The professor said a thesis statement holds onto the thread throughout an essay.
Cuomo went home and used his professor’s exact words for the song’s chorus.
What’s Up with the Title?
“Undone” was the original title, but fans at early shows referred to it as “The Sweater Song.” It happened so frequently that Cuomo felt he had to add the reference to the title.
He told the Sing for Science podcast he doesn’t like the way parentheses look in song titles, so he chose a dash instead.
No Sweaters in the Video
Bassist Matt Sharp and the band’s friend and collaborator Karl Koch recorded the chatter heard during the song’s intro. It was meant as a placeholder because they wanted to use sound clips from an old sci-fi film, but Geffen Records wouldn’t pay to clear the samples.
Still, it was the ’90s, and the record label did pay for a music video.
Weezer opposed anything to do with a sweater for the video. According to Luerssen, Geffen received 25 treatments for the video, all with sweater themes.
Filmmaker Spike Jonze submitted a treatment using “a blue stage, a Steadicam, and a pack of wild dogs.” Jonze became famous for directing iconic videos by R.E.M., Beastie Boys, and Fatboy Slim, among others.
“The Sweater Song” was shot while Weezer performed a sped-up version of the song. When it’s played back at the proper tempo, the band appears to perform in slow motion.
Jonze filmed multiple single-shot takes, and the one used features the band fed up with the video shoot.
Like “Buddy Holly,” it became a staple on MTV. It was the perfect combination of band, songs, and producer Ric Ocasek.
The World Has Turned and Left Me Here
Weezer released the Blue Album one month after Kurt Cobain died. Cuomo had studied Cobain’s songwriting, and when he heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the first time, he was “pissed” he didn’t write it.
The DNA is in the songwriting. Furthermore, it’s the English professor’s thread and thesis analogy. “The Sweater Song” is a microcosm of the Blue Album. Cuomo’s thesis is about insecurity, and as a young man, he felt unraveled trying to fit in.
When Weezer followed the Blue Album with Pinkerton, people thought Cuomo had really unraveled. But the album has only gained respect with time.
Like it or not, the anti-rockstar was one of his generation’s most influential rock stars. Somewhere, there’s a kid who’s angry he didn’t write “The Sweater Song.”
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Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
