Basketball

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"Basketball"
Basketball cover
Album track by Weezer
Album SZNZ: Winter
Recorded 2022
Length 2:49
Label Crush Music/Atlantic Records
Writer(s) Rivers Cuomo
Status Release forthcoming
Live debut September 19, 2022 in West Hollywood, CA
SZNZ: Winter track listing
"Iambic Pentameter"
(2)
"Basketball"
(3)
"Sheraton Commander"
(4)

This song is part of the "Basketball" lineage of songs

"Basketball" is the third track on SZNZ: Winter.

Appearances

Overview

Rivers Cuomo stated in 2021 that musical elements from the verses of his unrecorded 1995 demo "Hello, Concubine" would be used for the verses in "Basketball."[1] The chorus melody borrows from the first gavotte movement of Bach's Cello Suite no. 6 in D major.[2]

Weezer (under the Goat Punishment moniker) performed SZNZ: Winter in its entirety (including "Basketball") at a secret show in West Hollywood on September 19, 2022, months ahead of the EP's release.

A demo of "Basketball" was leaked online in December of 2022.

Known recordings

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Rivers Cuomo Basketball Basketball 2021-06-22 16.40.mp3 June 22, 2021 3:28 Leaked online
Weezer Basketball 2022
  • Groove Masters, Santa Monica, CA
  • The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, CA
  • Funkhaus Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2:49 SZNZ: Winter
about this table

Personnel

Audio

Lyrics

Album lyrics

Under the bleachers hiding for an hour
Coach is looking for me 'cuz his job is to empower
I don’t want to go in; I won't make a difference
I don’t need a stupid award

I’m still in my parka watching condensation
I’d be glad to stay here 'til the end of all creation
I wish you would cue me, give a little whistle
Maybe just a wink of your eye

I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team?
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball

I was counting on you, you’re the one who gets me
When I try my best, you shoot a cannon of confetti
I’ve been growing colder
You’ve been getting bolder
But I believe I still have a shot

I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team?
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball

Down to the buzzer
I'll go in for a jumper
But ooh, alley-oop-oop-oop
Don’t make me go alone
Ohh, I'm alone
Over and over and over, and over, and over

I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team?
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Over and over and over, and over, and over

Early lyrics (live debut)

Under the bleachers hiding for an hour
Coach is looking for me 'cuz his job is to empower
I don’t want to go and I won't make a difference
I don’t need a stupid award

I’m still in my parka watching condensation
I’d be glad to stay here 'til the end of all creation
I wish you will cue me, give a little whistle
Maybe just a wink of your eye

I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball

I was counting on you, you’re the one who gets me
When I try my best, you shoot a cannon of confetti
I’ve been growing older
You’ve been getting colder
But I believe we still have a shot

I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball

Ooh alley-oop
Don’t make me go alone
Ooh alley-ooop
Don’t make me go alone

Down to the buzzer
I’m going for the jumper
And ooh alley-oop
Don’t make me go alone

Ohh, ohh
Over and over and over, and over, and over
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball

Demo version

Under the bleachers, I've been hiding out
Coach is looking for me 'cuz his job is to empower
I don’t want to go in; I won't make a difference
I don’t need a stupid award

I’m still in my parka watching condensation
I know I got skills, but I can't seem to face the nation
I wish you would cue me, give a little whistle
Maybe just a wink of your eye

'Cause I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team?
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball

I was counting on you, you’re the one who gets me
I can't even swim, but they will put me on a jet ski
Pulling down my 'didas
Laughing in the hallway
Kids can be so heartless sometimes

I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team?
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball

We could have won it all, but

I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Could you be there for me
And tell me that you want me on the team?
I can’t throw this basketball into my own arms
Basketball
Basketball

See also

  1. Cuomo, Rivers. (October 31, 2021). Riverpedia. Archive of the original entry, Riverpedia archive - 10/31/2021
  2. Gavriel Lipkind "Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: V. Gavotte I-II" YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH3CLu-TyHA