Only a Cockroach
"Only a Cockroach" | ||
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Demo by Rivers Cuomo | ||
Album | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | |
Released | 2020 | |
Recorded | January 2011 | |
Writer(s) | Rivers Cuomo | |
Status | Released | |
This song is part of the "Beginning of the End" lineage of songs
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"Only a Cockroach" (also known as "Rock and Roll Cockroach" or simply "Cockroach") is a song by Rivers Cuomo, the earliest known iteration of the 2020 Van Weezer track "Beginning of the End". Demos were released as part of the digital compilation Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years (also in 2020).
Appearances
- Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years (2020)
Overview
In January of 2011, Rivers Cuomo uploaded a video to YouTube[1] of himself and producer Shawn Everett working in a studio, wherein a short snippet of a guitar riff could be heard, as well as a text-to-speech voice saying "...an old rock band, the Roaches, have been called back to a triumphant reunion...". Fans who were present at focus groups in the years leading up to the release of Everything Will Be Alright in the End corroborated that Cuomo was working on a song titled "Rock and Roll Cockroach," ostensibly for a (later debunked) "Sea Opera" concept album. The concept of a fictional band named the Roaches eventually became the concept for the Astronauts from the Everything Will Be Alright in the End narrative.
"Only a Cockroach" was, ultimately, repurposed as the Weezer song "Beginning of the End," from the band's 2020 album Van Weezer. In November 2020, multiple demos of "Cockroach" were released as part of the digital compilation Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years.
Known recordings
Performer(s) | Title | Filename | Date of recording | Recording location | Length | Appeared on | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rivers Cuomo | Rock and Roll Cockroach | ROCK AND ROLL COCKROACH - ROUGH 1 -.mp3 | 2010—2011 | 3:50 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Rock and Roll Cockroach | ROCK AND ROLL COCKROACH - ROUGH 2 -.mp3 | 2010—2011 | 3:22 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Rock and Roll Cockroach | ROCK AND ROLL COCKROACH - ROUGH 3 -.mp3 | 2010—2011 | 3:21 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Rock and Roll Cockroach | Rock and Roll Cockroach vso 136.mp3 | 2010—2011 | 3:41 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Rock and Roll Cockroach | ROCK AND ROLL COCKROACH - NO VCL_13.mp3 | 2010—2011 | 3:42 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Rock and Roll Cockroach | ROCK AND ROLL COCKROACH - ROUGH 4 -.mp3 | 2010—2011 | 3:47 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Cockroach | COCKROACH - ROUGH 7 - AUG 9.mp3 | August 9, 2010—2011 | 3:42 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Only a Cockroach | Only A Cockroach RC2.mp3 | 2010—2011 | 3:28 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years |
Lyrics
Rock and Roll Cockroach (ver. 1)Sitting in a dressing room, about to go on |
Only a CockroachSitting in a dressing room, about to go on |
See also
References[edit]
- ↑ Weezerpedia "2011-01-18RRC" YouTube. Originally uploaded by Rivers Cuomo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q1520Ml-pM Archive.org mirror: https://archive.org/details/2011-01-riverscuomo/2011-01-18RRC.flv