Beginning of the End

"Beginning of the End"
Album track by Weezer
Album	Van Weezer
Released	May 7, 2021
Recorded	2020
Label	Crush Music/Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo, Billy Joel
Producer(s)	Suzy Shinn
Status	Released
Stream	Spotify
Van Weezer track listing
"I Need Some of That" (4) "Beginning of the End" (5) "Blue Dream" (6)
Promotional cover art
This song is part of the "Beginning of the End" lineage of songs "Rock and Roll Cockroach" (2011) "Volunteers" (2012-2013) "No Bars" (2013) "The Beach Boys" (2015) "Beginning of the End" (2021)

"Beginning of the End (Wyld Stallyns Edit)"
Single by Weezer
Album	Bill & Ted Face the Music Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Released	August 14, 2020
Recorded	2020
Length	3:27
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo, Billy Joel
Status	Released
Stream	Spotify
Weezer singles chronology
"Hero" (2020) "Beginning of the End (Wyld Stallyns Edit)" (2020) "All My Favorite Songs" (2021)

"Beginning of the End" is the fifth track from Van Weezer.

Appearances

• Bill & Ted Face the Music Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2020) (Wyld Stallyns Edit)
• Van Weezer (2021)

Overview

"Beginning of the End" is a re-working of the song "Rock and Roll Cockroach". The bridge is a modified version of the chorus for the song "Volunteers".

The song was originally revealed to be a track for Van Weezer in a leaked review of the album from an issue of the publication Guitar Player released in June of 2020. In early August, Rivers Cuomo made a post to the chatroom Riverchat "Video tomorrow" along with the lyric "Nostradamus predicted a bomb would drop and all the guitars would be hung in an old pawn shop" , suggesting that the band was in the process of recording a new music video. When asked about it, Cuomo implied that the video would be for "Beginning of the End." On August 12, Weezer's official Twitter account tweeted "Time to be Excellent, dudes" with an accompanying video of Cuomo performing a heavy metal guitar riff in his home. The song was released alongside its music video on August 14 in the form of "Beginning of the End (Wyld Stallyns Edit)" as part of the soundtrack to the film Bill & Ted Face the Music. This version of the song removes the intro, removes a line in the first verse, removes two lines from the bridge, and has a slightly different ending.

Musician Billy Joel is a credited writer on "Beginning of the End". When asked about it on Riverchat, Cuomo clarified: "Just a clearance thing. Very common in recent years. I don't think Billy Joel's written a song since the 90's." The film credits for Bill & Ted Face the Music note that the song "Contains an interpolation of 'The Longest Time' (B. Joel)"

Jonathan Leahy, music supervisor for Bill & Ted Face the Music, spoke about the process of selecting the song in an interview with Stereogum:

When Leahy reached out to Weezer’s management, he learned that Rivers Cuomo was a fan of Bill & Ted. Conveniently, the band had a trove of unreleased material for Leahy to consider. When Leahy heard “Beginning Of The End” (recorded for the forthcoming Van Weezer), he was struck by one lyric: “Watch us brush off the dust/ In heavy metal we trust.”

“When I heard that line, I was like, ‘OK, I think this might be the song,'” Leahy says. “Then 30 seconds later, when it goes into the guitar solo and it’s just epic, two-handed tapping, I was like, ‘OK, this is definitely the song.'"

The song was added to the BMI/ASCAP repertoire in April 2021, wherein it listed a writing credit for British composer Patrick David Wilson. This was apparently in error, as it has since been corrected.

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Scott Shriner – bass, backing vocals
• Pat Wilson – drums
• Suzy Shinn – producer
• Matty Green – mixing
• Joe Laporta – mastering

Video/Audio

Wyld Stallyns Edit

The music video for "Beginning of the End" was directed by Brendan Walter with cinematography by Eric Bader, and produced by Carling French. It was released alongside the song on August 14, 2020.

Lyrics

Knockin' on my door, they tell me it's time to go on
Last check in the mirror to see if anything's wrong
The writing's up on the wall
A warning shot to them all
It looks like this volcano is gonna blow

My head is spinning
It's the beginning of the end
The people freak out when I walk out there, so scared

Nostradamus predicted a bomb would drop
And all the guitars would be hung in an old pawn shop
Watch us brush off the dust
In heavy metal we trust
Then kick back and read The Sunday Times

My head is spinning
It's the beginning of the end
The people freak out when I walk out there, so scared

Fifteen-hundred-thousand years
Wouldn't be enough to dry these tears
I'll still be here hanging on
And on and on
Things will never be the same
Save the pieces of your brain
Scrounging and scavenging down in the dirt
Better enjoy what you got

My head is spinning
It's the beginning of the end
The people freak out when I walk out there, so scared

Knockin' on my door, they tell me it's time to go on
Last check in the mirror to see if anything's wrong
The writing's up on the wall
A warning shot to them all

My head is spinning
It's the beginning of the end
The people freak out when I walk out there, so scared

Nostradamus predicted a bomb would drop
And all the guitars would be hung in an old pawn shop
Watch us brush off the dust
In heavy metal we trust
Then kick back and read The Sunday Times

My head is spinning
It's the beginning of the end
The people freak out when I walk out there, so scared

Fifteen-hundred-thousand years
Wouldn't be enough to dry these tears
I'll still be here hanging on
And on and on
Things will never be the same
Save the pieces of your brain

My head is spinning
It's the beginning of the end
The people freak out when I walk out there, so scared

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	The Beginning of the End	The Beginning Of The End 6 btweaks@132 +1 BG Van Weezer 20	?
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Beginning of the End	beginning of the end ex 012220_03-01	January 22. 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Beginning of the End	beginning of the end ex 012320_05	January 23, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Beginning of the End	beginning of the end ex 012820_07	January 28, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Beginning of the End	beginning of the end 020920_03	February 9, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Beginning of the End	beginning of the end 022520_15	February 25, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Beginning of the End	beginning of the end 030620_20-1	March 6, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Beginning of the End	beginning of the end 031020	March 10, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Beginning of the End	beginning of the end 031520	March 15, 2020
Weezer	Beginning of the End		2020	4th Street Recording, Santa Monica, CA United Recordings, Los Angeles, CA Redstar Recording, Los Angeles, CA The Lair, Los Angeles, CA Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, CA	3:15	Van Weezer
Weezer	Beginning of the End		2020	United Recordings, Los Angeles, CA Redstar Recording, Los Angeles, CA The Lair, Los Angeles, CA Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, CA	3:27	Bill & Ted Face the Music Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	Wyld Stallyns edit

See more

• Van Weezer
• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs