Pinkerton: Difference between revisions
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'''''Pinkerton''''' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band [[Weezer]], released on [[September 24]], [[1996]]. [[Rivers Cuomo]], the band's lead singer and guitarist, wrote many of its songs after a painful leg surgery | '''''Pinkerton''''' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band [[Weezer]], released on [[September 24]], [[1996]]. [[Rivers Cuomo]], the band's lead singer and guitarist, wrote many of its songs after a painful leg surgery. | ||
''Pinkerton'' is named after the character B.F. Pinkerton from Puccini's opera ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', and the album plays as a concept album based loosely around the opera. Like the Puccini opera, the album includes other references to Japan, Japanese people, and Japanese culture from the perspective of an outsider who considers Japan fragile and sensual. It was originally planned as ''[[Songs from the Black Hole]]'', which Cuomo deemed a "space opera." The initial concept was scrapped, but the band incorporated several of the songs into ''Pinkerton''. The artwork on the album's cover is [[Kambara yoru no yuki]] ("Night Snow at Kambara"), a print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist [[Hiroshige]]. | ''Pinkerton'' is named after the character B.F. Pinkerton from Puccini's opera ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', and the album plays as a concept album based loosely around the opera. Like the Puccini opera, the album includes other references to Japan, Japanese people, and Japanese culture from the perspective of an outsider who considers Japan fragile and sensual. It was originally planned as ''[[Songs from the Black Hole]]'', which Cuomo deemed a "space opera." The initial concept was scrapped, but the band incorporated several of the songs into ''Pinkerton''. The artwork on the album's cover is [[Kambara yoru no yuki]] ("Night Snow at Kambara"), a print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist [[Hiroshige]]. | ||
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==Writing and composition== | ==Writing and composition== | ||
Much of the album's content was written by Rivers Cuomo while studying at Harvard. Cuomo strived to write from a more direct and personal stand point. The album touched upon various life experiences of Cuomo and included subjects like groupies, dysfunctional relationships, a fan letter, identity and former girlfriends. | Much of the album's content was written by Rivers Cuomo while studying at Harvard. Cuomo strived to write from a more direct and personal stand point. The album touched upon various life experiences of Cuomo and included subjects like groupies, dysfunctional relationships, a fan letter, identity and former girlfriends. Due to his painful surgery to elongate his leg, many of the songs were written in first-position on his guitar's fretboard so that Cuomo would not have to move too much to play them. | ||
The inspiration for the lead single "El Scorcho" came from Cuomo's shyness and inability to say "hello" to a crush of his while at Harvard. Cuomo revealed that the song "is more about me, because at that point I hadn't even talked to the girl, I didn't really know much about her." For the single, Cuomo refused to make any "[[Buddy Holly]]"-like videos explaining "I really don't want the songs to come across untainted this time around...I really want to communicate my feelings directly and because I was so careful in writing that way. I'd hate for the video to kinda misrepresent the song, or exaggerate certain aspects." The final video featured the band playing in an assembly hall in Los Angeles, surrounded by light fixtures of diverse origin, flashing in time to the music. | The inspiration for the lead single "El Scorcho" came from Cuomo's shyness and inability to say "hello" to a crush of his while at Harvard. Cuomo revealed that the song "is more about me, because at that point I hadn't even talked to the girl, I didn't really know much about her." For the single, Cuomo refused to make any "[[Buddy Holly]]"-like videos explaining "I really don't want the songs to come across untainted this time around...I really want to communicate my feelings directly and because I was so careful in writing that way. I'd hate for the video to kinda misrepresent the song, or exaggerate certain aspects." The final video featured the band playing in an assembly hall in Los Angeles, surrounded by light fixtures of diverse origin, flashing in time to the music. | ||