Negativland

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"Negativland"
Negativland cover
Demo by Rivers Cuomo
Recorded May 1993
Length 0:59
Writer(s) Rivers Cuomo
RC# 161
COR# N/A
Producer(s) Rivers Cuomo
Status Released
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"A Final Tear of Red"
(RC# 160)
"Negativland"
(RC# 161)
"Chess"
(RC# 162)
Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997 track listing
"Lisa"
(3)
"Negativland"
(4)
"You Gave Your Love To Me Softly"
(5)

This song is part of the "El Scorcho" (RC# 213) lineage of songs

"Negativland" is a song written by Rivers Cuomo in 1993. It is the fourth track on Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997. Its lyrics address the avant-garde band of the same name.

Appearances

Overview

In 1991, experimental music band Negativland released the EP U2, featuring the title "U2" in large type and the name "Negativland" in very small type. The EP parodied the band U2 and sampled the band's music, as well as a profane rant by disc jockey Casey Kasem. Negativland was subsequently sued by U2's label, Island Records, nearly bankrupting Negativland.[1]

The Rivers Cuomo song "Negativland" was recorded in May of 1993[2] and is known best as an early prototype of another Cuomo song, "Blast Off!". Cuomo had been a fan of Negativland at the time that he first started writing material for Weezer's eponymous debut album.[3] Karl Koch described the song in a post on the Albumsix message boards in August 2009 saying: "it's lyrics were actually about the band Negativland, specifically how they got sued into oblivion by Casey Kasem and U2 for the song 'U2', which sampled U2 and Kasem's voice. It was a sad song -- commiserating with a band he'd never met about their severe problems."[4] The song was heard by fans for the first time when it appeared on the compilation CD Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997 in 2011.

Though the song's lyrics were eventually completely rewritten when the song became "Blast Off!", elements from the lyrics from "Negativland" are still present in the earliest draft of Songs from the Black Hole ("I'm so sorry Wuan and Dondó"[...]"I'm off to the corner of the room I don't wanna face another living soul")

Known recordings

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Rivers Cuomo Negativland May 1993 0:59 Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997 (CD)
Rivers Cuomo Negativland 01 Negativland.mp3 May 1993 1:04 Alone III: The Pinkerton Years (Alone IV) Same as above recording + snippet of "Mykel and Carli"
Rivers Cuomo Negativland 04 Negativland.mp3 May 1993 1:03 Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years Same as above recording
For subsequent demos, see "Blast Off!"
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Lyrics

I'm so sorry, Negativland
Here's to all the times we could have had
Somebody's givin' me a whole lotta money
And I'm doin' what I know you would too
I'd pull my britches down for you
Oh, Negativland

I'm so sorry, little ???
Here's to all the plans we made yesterday
I'm off to the bottom of my world
What I'm doin' is I'm looking for an attitude
I'd pull my britches down for you
Oh, Negativland

See also