Byzantine: Difference between revisions

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Most of the lyrics were written by musician [[Laura Jane Grace]] (of the band Against Me!) via text message. Said [[Rivers Cuomo]], "She did most of the lyrics, and she sent them to me as text messages, and I turned it into a song."<ref name="ew">Franich, Darren. "Rivers Cuomo on Weezer's Black Album and struggling with the success of covering 'Africa'" ''Entertainment Weekly''. 27 February 2019. https://ew.com/music/2019/02/27/rivers-cuomo-weezer-black-album-interview/</ref> Grace commented on the collaboration in December of 2019<ref>Ehrlich, Brenna. "So, How Was Your Decade, Laura Jane Grace?" ''Rolling Stone''. 13 December 2019. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/laura-jane-grace-decade-recap-925222/</ref>, telling ''Rolling Stone'', "Rivers one day tweeted, 'Will someone write lyrics for me?' And I responded, 'OK, I will.' And then he DM’d me. It was so fucking wild and such a cool experience. I will forever be in Rivers’ debt. [...] I find his songwriting process really interesting and to be let into that in a scientific way was really cool to see from the inside."

 

According to Cuomo, the bridge was taken from a [[1991]] [[Fuzz]] track, described as “a very early-’90s grunge Soundgarden-type of song.”<ref name="ew" /> In an interview with ''Billboard'', Cuomo explained, "With 'Byzantine,' the bridge is from a pre-Weezer band that [drummer Patrick Wilson] and I were in in 1991, called [[Fuzz]]. I searched for the key and the tempo and the basic vibe I was looking for, and it popped up. All of my little bits and pieces of music will find a home eventually."<ref>Ginsberg, Gab. "Rivers Cuomo on His Data-Driven Approach to Weezer" ''Billboard''. 1 March 2019. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8500614/weezer-rivers-cuomo-data-driven-approach-interview</ref> In November [[2020]], the song in question was confirmed to be "[[I Can't Forget The Way]]", after it was [[riverscuomo.com demos|leaked onto Cuomo's demo storefront]] and subsequently sold as part of the compilation ''[[Alone V: Before Weezer]]''.

 

The verse melody of "Byzantine" greatly resembles that of the song "[[Dancing Girl]]", a track previously co-written by Cuomo for the [[2018]] album ''Hometown'' by Japanese alt-rock band [[Asian Kung-Fu Generation]]. This melody was was also previously used for the demos "[[There's a Bomb in the Air]]", "[[Hot Little Tramp]]", and "[[She's Just a Girl]]".

*[[List of Weezer songs]]