Say It Ain't So: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Weezer (The Blue Album)]]'' (1994)

* ''[[Dusty Gems & Raw Nuggets]]'' (Original mix) (2004)

* ''Say It Ain't So'' (singles) (1995)

* ''[[The Kitchen Tape]]'' (1992)

* ''[[Weezer's third demo]]'' (1992)

* ''[[Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years]]'' (2020)

[[Rivers Cuomo]] recorded multiple demos of "Say It Ain't So" in the first half of [[1992]], according to the [[Recording_History_-_Page_3#March-_May_1992:_various_8_track_recordings|Recording History]]. The inspiration for the song's lyrics came from an experience as a teenager, in which Cuomo found beer in the refrigerator. Cuomo had been afraid that his stepfather, [[Stephen Kitts]], would leave the family, mistakenly believing that alcoholism had contributed to the dissolution of the relationship between [[Beverly Shoenberger|his mother]] and [[Frank Cuomo|biological father]].

<blockquote>''"It's such a complicated story, way too complex to write a song about. I should never have done it. I was really afraid of alcohol at the time. I didn't drink till I was 21, not even a sip. I was petrified of alcohol. 'Say It Ain't So' was about when I was 16. I opened up the refrigerator, and I saw a can of beer. All of a sudden I made the connection that my step-father was leaving... because my father started drinking when he left my mother."'' {{Citation needed}}</blockquote>

<!--HMC: I can find articles that cite old fansites that contain this quote, but I can't find where Rivers originally said this. Anyone know?-->

Rivers Cuomo only saw his father a few times between the time his father walked out on the family and 1995, when they reconciled. Cuomo told ''Rolling Stone'' in [[2014]], "I was an angry young man[...] Typical Generation X. I was quick to point the finger."[https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rivers-cuomo-is-trying-to-be-all-right-516/]

One of Cuomo's original [[1992]] demos for "Say It Ain't So" was released on [[November 22]], [[2020]] as part of the digital compilation ''[[Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years]]''. The demo had been leaked weeks earlier through the [[riverscuomo.com demos|demo storefront]] on [[riverscuomo.com]]. This early version of the song contains what would comprise only the initial verses and first chorus of the final song.

A demo of "Say It Ain't So" was also recorded in [[1992]] as a full band for the band's second demo tape (commonly known as ''[[The Kitchen Tape]]''). Most copies of the ''Kitchen Tape'' that were produced lacked "Say It Ain't So", however (in addition to a demo of "[[The World Has Turned and Left Me Here]]"), and the demo was not included as part of the deluxe reissue of ''the Blue Album'' in [[2004]]. In June of [[2016]], a copy of the complete ''Kitchen Tape'' (given by Cuomo to engineer [[Paul duGre]] under the title ''Opposite Sides of the Same Good Ol' Fence'') was listed on eBay. Members of the [[AllThingsWeezer]] forums crowd-sourced funds to procure the tape for $4,350, whereupon the tape was digitized by user Geewiz and distributed online.

Another demo of the song was also recorded in 1992 as part of the band's [[Weezer's third demo|third demo]] (commonly referred to as "The Real Demo"). This tape, engineered by [[Jon Pikus]] and mastered by [[Alan Yoshida]], was distributed at the time in the band's aggressive campaign to be signed to a record label. Copies of the tape were obtained by fans in the late 90's and low-quality rips were circulated. A higher-quality digitization was produced by a fan who procured the tape in the early 2000s, who thereafter distributed it among fans.

 

 

The song was featured as a playable song in the [[2007]] rhythm video game ''[[List_of_Weezer_song_appearances_in_rhythm_video_games#Rock_Band_series|Rock Band]]''. The game has since been available in other rhythm video games, such as ''[[List_of_Weezer_song_appearances_in_rhythm_video_games#Guitar_Hero_Live_downloadable_songs|Guitar Hero Live]]'' and ''[[List_of_Weezer_song_appearances_in_rhythm_video_games#Rocksmith_2014|Rocksmith 2014]]''.

The music video was directed by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Muller Sophie Miller]. [[Scott Shriner]] expressed on the ''[[Video Capture Device]]'' commentary that the video caught his eye because it was different from what was around at the time.  The video shows the band in the wake of their success playing in their old [[The Garage|garage]] at their [[Amherst House|old house]].  The video also features band friend, historian and unofficial fifth member [[Karl Koch]].  During the guitar solo, the band is shown playing hacky sack in their backyard.<br><youtube>ENXvZ9YRjbo</youtube>