I’ve been on a huge Weezer binge recently, I think it’s because I’ve really only now started to really understand the genius of their vocalist and lead songwriter, Rivers Cuomo. On their debut, Weezer (the blue album), and even more so on the follow up Pinkerton, Cuomo’s songs were about pain, disillusionment, alienation, and the opposite sex. He wrote with real experience, and real sadness.

In late 1995 and early 1996, after the success of Weezer, Cuomo had begun attending Harvard to get his degree in English. There, he fell into deep depression and estrangement due to his rock star status. Songs like “Tired of Sex” and the “The Good Life” are mainly about his struggle with the fame.

In an awesome quote, Cuomo says: “Fans ask me all the time what it is like to be a rock star. I can tell that they are dreaming, as I dreamed, when I was a kid, of someday ruling the world with a rock band. I tell them the same thing I would tell any young rock-star-to-be […] you will get lonely. You will meet two-hundred people every night, but each conversation will generally last approximately thirty seconds, and consist of you trying to convince that no, you do not want their underwear. Then you will be alone again, in your motel room. Or you will be on your bus, in your little space, trying to kill the nine hours it takes to get to the next city, whichever city it is. This is the life of a rock star.”

One of my favorite cuts from Pinkerton is “Across the Sea”. In the song, Cuomo writes about a letter he had received from a Japanese girl who had heard him on the radio and wanted to know all about him. Cuomo has said that he was very lonely at the time of receiving the letter and it affected him deeply.

In the chorus, Cuomo says: “Why are you so far away from me? / I need help and you’re way across the sea / I could never touch you / I think it would be wrong / I’ve got your letter / You’ve got my song,”

I think the greatest part about the song is the feeling. It genuinely feels like Cuomo was depressed and alone at the time of writing. It feels like he really wants to find this girl, but he’s sorrowful because he never will.

It’s the songs like this, that I think, need to be in heavy rotation on radio. This song means something. It tells a story. It’s filled with raw emotion and feeling. It’s about real life. I’m sorry, but that’s much easier to appreciate than anything i’ve heard on the top 40 in awhile.

Here’s “Across the Sea”.