El Scorcho: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Grunge Leg New Jack.gif|200px|left|A GIF of the actual moment when Grunge leg-dropped New Jack through a press table.|thumb]]In a [[Harvard Crimson interview with Rivers Cuomo - April 26, 2006|2006 interview with the ''Harvard Crimson'']], Cuomo confirmed that two of the lines in the song ("Watching Grunge leg-drop New Jack through a press table" and "Listening to Cio-Cio San fall in love all over again") were taken from an essay written by one of his classmates from an expository writing class. The former lyric references ECW's star Johnny Grunge leg-dropping New Jack, through a table, while the later references Cio-Cio San, the character from ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', the Puccini opera on which ''Pinkerton'' is loosely based. The lyric "I'm the epitome of Public Enemy" is a reference to the song "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Believe_the_Hype Don't Believe the Hype]" by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Enemy_(band) Public Enemy] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vQaVIoEjOM&feature=youtu.be&t=40]. The reference to "shred[ding] the cello" suggests that the object of Cuomo's affection in the song is the same girl as in "[[Falling for You]]". This is corroborated by a blog post by Cuomo to his Myspace account in [[2007]] in which he confirmed that both "El Scorcho" and "Falling for You" were about a "Half-Caucasian/half-Asian" girl. In ''[[The Pinkerton Diaries]]'', the lyrics for "Falling for You" precede a cello composition written by Cuomo for a woman with whom he was acquainted, referred to only as "[[B.G.]]". In a journal excerpt the book, Cuomo laments "exposing" B.G. on ''Pinkerton''. | [[Image:Grunge Leg New Jack.gif|200px|left|A GIF of the actual moment when Grunge leg-dropped New Jack through a press table.|thumb]]In a [[Harvard Crimson interview with Rivers Cuomo - April 26, 2006|2006 interview with the ''Harvard Crimson'']], Cuomo confirmed that two of the lines in the song ("Watching Grunge leg-drop New Jack through a press table" and "Listening to Cio-Cio San fall in love all over again") were taken from an essay written by one of his classmates from an expository writing class. The former lyric references ECW's star Johnny Grunge leg-dropping New Jack, through a table, while the later references Cio-Cio San, the character from ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', the Puccini opera on which ''Pinkerton'' is loosely based. The lyric "I'm the epitome of Public Enemy" is a reference to the song "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Believe_the_Hype Don't Believe the Hype]" by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Enemy_(band) Public Enemy] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vQaVIoEjOM&feature=youtu.be&t=40]. The reference to "shred[ding] the cello" suggests that the object of Cuomo's affection in the song is the same girl as in "[[Falling for You]]". This is corroborated by a blog post by Cuomo to his Myspace account in [[2007]] in which he confirmed that both "El Scorcho" and "Falling for You" were about a "Half-Caucasian/half-Asian" girl. In ''[[The Pinkerton Diaries]]'', the lyrics for "Falling for You" precede a cello composition written by Cuomo for a woman with whom he was acquainted, referred to only as "[[B.G.]]". In a journal excerpt the book, Cuomo laments "exposing" B.G. on ''Pinkerton''. | ||
[[Brian Bell]] is the one who says "El Scorcho" and "rock and roll!" at the beginning of the song. Bell's first lead vocal on a Weezer record can also be found on the song during the bridge ("How stupid is it, won't you give me a minute? Just come up to be and say hello to my heart.") Bell was also responsible for the guitar solo | [[Brian Bell]] is the one who says "El Scorcho" and "rock and roll!" at the beginning of the song. Bell's first lead vocal on a Weezer record can also be found on the song during the bridge ("How stupid is it, won't you give me a minute? Just come up to be and say hello to my heart.") Bell was also responsible for the guitar solo, according to a [[AIM chat with Rivers Cuomo excerpts - January 10, 2002|2002 fan interview with Cuomo]]. The song also mentions the band [[Green Day]] in the lyric "''I asked you to go to the Green Day concert/You said you never heard of them.''" When performing the song live, [[Rivers Cuomo]] has often substituted in other bands when singing the lyric, such as "I asked you go to the [[Foo Fighters]] concert" when touring with the band on the [[Foozer]] tour. | ||
"El Scorcho" commercial performance was underwhelming; several radio stations refused to play the song, and the video did not receive airplay on MTV. This is considered to be one of the causes for the initial commercial failure of the album. The song was successful in Australia, however, reaching #9 on the ''Triple J Hottest 100'' chart, the national poll conducted by alternative rock station ''Triple J'' for the year's most popular alternative songs. It was subsequently released on the 1996 ''Triple J Hottest 100 ''compilation. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080619170224/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/history/1996.htm] [https://www.discogs.com/Various-Triple-J-Hottest-100-4/master/1269758] | "El Scorcho" commercial performance was underwhelming; several radio stations refused to play the song, and the video did not receive airplay on MTV. This is considered to be one of the causes for the initial commercial failure of the album. The song was successful in Australia, however, reaching #9 on the ''Triple J Hottest 100'' chart, the national poll conducted by alternative rock station ''Triple J'' for the year's most popular alternative songs. It was subsequently released on the 1996 ''Triple J Hottest 100 ''compilation. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080619170224/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/history/1996.htm] [https://www.discogs.com/Various-Triple-J-Hottest-100-4/master/1269758] | ||