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Weezer lead singer has come to grips with his depression
Author: Rick Copley (The Augusta Chronicle)
Published: September 15, 1994
- 'Sweater Song' catapults sales of band's title album; lyrics' reception takes wry twist
Rivers Cuomo wasn't trying to be funny.
A few years ago, the lead singer and songwriter of Weezer penned a song about being lost in a deep depression. In it, he says that if you want to destroy his sweater, just unravel it and soon he'll be naked.
It was supposed to be sad, but almost everyone in the country thinks Undone - the Sweater Song, is a riot.
"At first I was insulted, and I felt misunderstood," Mr. Cuomo said, in a telephone interview from a Memphis, Tenn. motel where the band was playing. "But when I saw that it was universally taken as a funny song, I kind of accepted it."
It also taught him something about himself.
"It was very general depression the type where you realize that you're depressed and that just makes you more depressed," Mr. Cuomo said.
"When I'm in that state of mind, I still have a sense of humor, which I guess I found out when people started laughing.
"I think I figured out that there's a balance between trying to be serious and not taking yourself too seriously."
What is serious to Mr. Cuomo and his three band mates is that music fans are buying up copies of their self-titled debut album in droves. That's helped boost their Saturday show at Aiken Technical College from a mere rock show to a bit of an event. In the alternative rock world, Weezer is hot, powered by the quirky Sweater Song and its equally quirky video.
That's not bad for a quartet that formed just over two years ago in Los Angeles. They began playing many of the songs that are on the album in clubs around Hollywood, thoroughly convinced that nobody would like them.
For a while, they were right as fans seemed bent on ignoring their brand of unfiltered pop. But a buzz began to grow about Weezer, which ended in a deal with Geffen Records.
On a whim, they sent their demo tape to former Cars lead singer and Paulina Porizkóva's husband, Ric Ocasek, hoping he might agree to produce their debut. To their surprise, the droll singer hopped on board.
"I don't think any of us listened to anything that sounds like us," said Mr. Cuomo, a Jerry Mathers look-alike who was weaned on '80s heavy metal. "That's why we're so loud. But the Pixies and Nirvana were a big help escaping the metal sound."
Though they spent two years playing in Los Angeles, their current tour is their first traveling affair. They've seen all sorts of conditions, from the Plaza Park Suites Hotel in Seattle to numerous "crusty floors with pets wandering around licking your face."
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