Sheila Can Do It

"Sheila Can Do It"
Album track by Weezer
Album	Van Weezer
Released	May 7, 2021
Recorded	2020
Label	Crush Music/Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo, Kevin Ridel
RC#	218
Producer(s)	Suzy Shinn
Status	Released (Weezer version) live bootleg circulating (Homie version)
Stream	Spotify
Van Weezer track listing
"1 More Hit" (7) "Sheila Can Do It" (8) "She Needs Me" (9)
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"Butterfly" (RC# 217) "Sheila Can Do It" (RC# 218) "Sunshine O" (RC# 219)
Promotional cover art

"Sheila Can Do It" (likely originally titled "Rachel"; sometimes rendered as "Sheila Can Do (It)") is the eighth track from Van Weezer. It was originally written by Rivers Cuomo in early 1996.

Appearances

• Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years (2020)
• Van Weezer (2021)

Overview

"Sheila Can Do It" was written early in 1996 during Cuomo's time spent at Harvard University. Cuomo's handwritten lyrics for the song (under the title "Rachel") are dated February 22. The song, along with "Sunshine O", was notably written around the same time as Pinkerton tracks "Across the Sea", "The Good Life", "Falling For You", and "Butterfly". In a 2020 entry on the Riverpedia section of Cuomo's personal website, Cuomo confirmed that the song was partially inspired by Rachel Haden. The song never appeared on an album, but was performed at Homie shows in 1997, and rehearsed for the intended (albeit scrapped) Homie album.

During a Homie performance of the song at The Middle East in Cambridge, a woman exclaimed “That’s me!” upon Cuomo’s announcement of the song title. During a performance at T.T. The Bear’s Place a few weeks later, Cuomo asked if the same Sheila was there (she wasn’t)

The song was allegedly considered by Cuomo for inclusion on Weezer's planned ninth album (that eventually became Everything Will Be Alright in the End), but the idea was quickly scrapped.

A rehearsal recording from September of 1997 was included among hundreds of demos leaked online through the demo storefront on riverscuomo.com on November 7, 2020. A single copy of the song was sold to a user upon the storefront's launch on November 9, whereupon it was made freely available for other users. The recording was briefly available as part of the digital compilation Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years, but was removed due to the presence of performers other than Cuomo.

In a Riverpedia entry on September 3, 2020, Cuomo confirmed that the song "Eventually came out on Van Weezer." Cuomo noted in the same entry a few days later that the song's hook resembled the Ridel High song "Monsters Under Your Bed". "Sheila Can Do It" was released on Van Weezer on May 7, 2021. Kevin Ridel is a credited songwriter, due to the song's resemblance to the aforementioned Ridel High song. "I was like, 'I'm sure I ripped off some of your stuff along the way. It's all in the family dude.'" Ridel later said of the similarity, "But he split part of the publishing for that song with me. I mean, that's just so cool."

Weezer performed "Sheila Can Do It" live for the first time at a concert in Santa Ana, California on April 29, 2024.

Live performances

• Homie concert: 11/05/1997
• Homie concert: 11/21/1997
• Weezer concert: 04/29/2024

Lyrics

Handwritten lyrics, as they appear in The Pinkerton Diaries.

If Sheila can do it, I can do it
I don't see the problem with that
She is my other, a sister to a brother
And look at the thing that she's done
She looks like she's havin' fun
And I don’t see the problem with that

She's shaving her legs and she's feelin' all right
She's puttin' on jeans of the type that are tight
She's gettin' herself ready to take on the night

If I feel my heart is getting watered down
If I feel my heart is getting watered down
If I feel my heart is getting watered down
Then I'll stop, and I'll turn, and I'll say

Man, if you’d seen this girl about two years ago
Seen her then and seen her now
I swear you’d never know
That who you was seein' was the same pistachio

If I feel my heart is getting watered down
If I feel my heart is getting watered down
If I feel my heart is getting watered down
Then I'll stop, and I'll turn, and I'll say

If Sheila can do it, I can do it
I don't see the problem with that
She is my other, a sister to a brother
And look at the thing that she’s done
She looks like she's havin' fun
And I don’t see the problem with that

If I feel my heart is getting watered down
If I feel my heart is getting watered down
If I feel my heart is getting watered down
Then I'll stop, and I'll turn, and I'll say

If Sheila can do it, I know that I can do it
I don't see the problem with that
She is my other, a sister to a brother
And look at the thing that she’s done
She looks like she's havin' fun
And I don’t see the problem with that
She looks like she's havin' fun
And I don’t see the problem
I don’t see the problem with that

(Bye, Sheila!)

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	Sheila Can Do It		September 1997				DA-88 demo
Homie	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It.mp3	September 1997		2:59	Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years	Rehearsal, removed from Alone IV on November 25, 2020
Homie	Sheila Can Do		November 5, 1997	The Middle East, Cambridge, MA			Audience bootleg
Homie	Sheila Can Do It		November 21, 1997	T.T. the Bear's Place, Cambridge, MA			Audience bootleg
Rivers Cuomo	Sheila Can Do It	SHEILA make one for me while you're at it 2019-11-08 12.29.mp3	November 8, 2019
Rivers Cuomo	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It    1.m4a	?
Rivers Cuomo	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It 3 @135 -6 shavinghead	?
Rivers Cuomo	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It 4 @135 -6 lily	?
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It 02102020	February 10, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It 02122020	February 12, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It 021820_13-01	February 18, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It 022420_16-01	February 24, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It 030620	March 6, 2020
Rivers Cuomo/Weezer(?)	Sheila Can Do It	Sheila Can Do It 030620_20-01	March 6, 2020
Weezer	Sheila Can Do It		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	2:57	Van Weezer
Weezer	Sheila Can Do It	08. Sheila Can Do It (Instrumental).flac	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	3:01	Leaked online	Instrumental version of final mix. Leaked online in 2021.

See also

• Homie
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs
• Van Weezer
• List of Weezer songs
• HOMiE - Volume 1