My Best Friend
"My Best Friend" | |||||
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Album track by Weezer | |||||
Album | Make Believe | ||||
Released | May 10, 2005 | ||||
Format | CD, vinyl, digital | ||||
Recorded | Summer 2004 | ||||
Length | 2:48 | ||||
Label | Geffen | ||||
Writer(s) | Rivers Cuomo | ||||
COR# | 520 | ||||
Producer(s) | Weezer, Rick Rubin, Chad Bamford | ||||
Status | Officially released | ||||
Live debut | October 4, 2005 in Champaign, IL (only performance) | ||||
Stream | ![]() |
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Make Believe track listing | |||||
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"My Best Friend" (previously known as "You're My Best Friend") is the ninth track from Make Believe.
Appearances
- Make Believe (2005)
- Alone IX: The Make Believe Years (2020)
Overview
Scott: That’s a wild…that’s one song that’s, like, kind of, like a wild card on the record, I gotta say. Cuz…that was…yeah, that’s a wild track. And we left it -
Pat: No one thought about that song for the longest time, the next thing I know, ‘we’re doing that song!’
Scott: Yeah, and when we kind of went back and tightened everything up, it was one of the songs that I think I left all of the bass from when we tracked it. That’s just nuts.
Pat: It’s on fire. That song sounds like it’s on fire to me.
Rivers: I’m trying to think of something interesting…
Pat: That it didn’t go with Shrek?
Rivers: It’s such a complicated story, I don’t know if it’s that interesting.
Scott: I’m glad that it didn’t, I can say that much.
Rivers: Yeah, that song has some weird karma with Shrek. I remember I originally wrote it about some guy I met, and then [the producers of the sequel to the film] Shrek asked us if we had a song, and then I thought, ‘oh yeah, I remember that song, let me think about showing it to them’, and they actually thought it sounded too much like it was written for Shrek. ‘Cuz this guy was kind of ogre-ish, and he made me laugh…
Brian: And you changed the lyrics for them, right?
Rivers: So I had to change the lyrics so it sounded less Shrek-like
Pat: Shrek-y?
Rivers: Shrek-ish!
Pat: Shrek-ish? Puck-ish?
Scott: It will live on longer than Shrek 2 will.
Rivers: I don’t know if it’s that interesting.
Brian: But it was also…I think at the moment when the Shrek people wanted it, it wasn’t complete either. And that would have been the version that would have been the first Weezer song people heard in 3 years, and it wasn’t actually finished to the best it could have been, so it’s a blessing that we got to work on it a little longer.
Rivers: Yeah, I feel the same way. It got so much better. I resang it, put the organ on it, it sounds way better. We put the drum sounds on it…
- —Band commentary[1]
"My Best Friend" was written by Rivers Cuomo and demoed by Weezer in 2003 in contention for what would eventually become the band's fifth album, Make Believe. wrote and was in contention for the album that would become Make Believe, but was shelved for several months during the album's production. It was excluded from the final track list until being brought back mere months before the album's release.[2] When the band was asked to submit a track to the soundtrack to the animated film Shrek 2, Cuomo offered up the song, believing that a song written about a big, funny, "kind of ogre-ish" friend of his was perfect for the film. The producers, however, felt that the song was too obvious, so Cuomo rewrote the lyrics. Karl Koch has expressed preference for the song's original lyrics,[3] Ultimately, the song was not used (the film instead featuring the song "Accidentally in Love" by Counting Crows). The band would, however, contribute a cover of the Monkees song "I'm a Believer" to the soundtrack of the 2010 film Shrek Forever After.
The song has been performed live only once, at a concert in Champaign, Illinois in October of 2005.
"My Best Friend" appears during the credits to the 2010 film Yogi Bear.
Personnel
- Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
- Patrick Wilson – percussion
- Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, synth, backing vocals
- Scott Shriner – bass guitar, vocals
- Rick Rubin - producer
- Josh Abraham - mixing
Audio
Lyrics
When everything is wrong I'll come talk to you
You make things alright when I'm feeling blue
You are such a blessing
And I wont be messing
With the one thing that brings light to all of my darkness
You're my best friend
And I love you
And I love you
Yes, I do
There is no other one who can take your place
I feel happy inside when I see your face
I hope you believe me
'Cause I speak sincerely
And I mean it when I tell you that I need you
You're my best friend
And I love you
And I love you
Yes, I do
I'm here right beside you
I will never leave you
And I feel the pain you feel when you start crying
You're my best friend
And I love you
And I love you
Yes, I do
You're my best friend
And I love you
And I love you
Yes, I do
Yes, I do
Yes, I do
Known recordings
Performer(s) | Title | Filename | Date of recording | Recording location | Length | Appeared on | Notes |
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Weezer | You're My Best Friend | June 21, 2003[4] | 8295 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA | Acoustic demo | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | August 3, 2003[4] | Rod Cervera's studio, Los Angeles, CA | Acoustic demo | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | October 5, 2003[4] | 8295 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA | Acoustic demo, verses 4 and 5 | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | October 5, 2003[4] | 8295 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA | Acoustic demo, verses 7 and 6 | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | October 7, 2003[4] | 8295 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA | Acoustic demo, verses 4 and 5 | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 5, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | ||||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 5, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | ||||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 5, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | Selected as best take | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 6, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | ||||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 6, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | Selected as best take | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 7, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | Selected as best take | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 11, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | Version 1 | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 11, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | Version 2 | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 11, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | Version 3 | |||
Weezer | You're My Best Friend | November 11, 2003[4] | Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA | Version 4 | |||
Rivers Cuomo | You're My Best Friend | You're My Best Friend (voc intro).mp3 | 2004 | S.I.R. Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA | 0:34 | Alone IX: The Make Believe Years | |
Rivers Cuomo | You're My Best Friend | You're My Best Friend (voc intro) (c.mp3 | 2004 | S.I.R. Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA | 0:34 | Alone IX: The Make Believe Years | Duplicate file |
Rivers Cuomo | You're My Best Friend | 12 520 You're My Best Friend.mp3 | April 23, 2004 | S.I.R. Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA | 3:53 | Alone IX: The Make Believe Years | |
Weezer | My Best Friend | December 2003—Spring 2005[1] |
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2:48 | Make Believe |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Weezer Recording History - Page 15
- ↑ File:Amazon_screenshot_(1).jpg
- ↑ Popular Sounds interview with Karl Koch which remain unheard by fans. 11 February 2011. Archived original: https://web.archive.org/web/20110824234612/http://popularsounds.blogspot.com/
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 Weezer Recording History - Page 14
External links
- Apple Music-link page
- Known recordings table
- Weezer songs
- Rivers Cuomo songs
- Songs that appeared on the 4 and 5 Star Demos of Rivers Cuomo list
- Songs on Make Believe
- Songs on Alone IX: The Make Believe Years
- Self-produced Weezer songs
- Weezer songs produced by Rick Rubin
- Weezer songs produced by Chad Bamford
- Catalog o' Riffs