Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori
"Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
|||||
Album track by Weezer | |||||
Album | Weezer (The White Album) | ||||
Released | April 1, 2016 | ||||
Recorded | 2015 | ||||
Length | 3:25 | ||||
Label | Crush Music/Atlantic Records | ||||
Writer(s) | Rivers Cuomo | ||||
Producer(s) | Jake Sinclair | ||||
Status | Officially released | ||||
Live debut | December 3, 2016 in Bethlehem, PA | ||||
Last played | April 9, 2017 in Seattle, WA | ||||
Stream | ![]() |
||||
![]() |
|||||
Weezer (The White Album) track listing | |||||
|
|||||
This song is part of the "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" lineage of songs
|
"Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" is the seventh track from The White Album.
Contents
Appearances
- Weezer (The White Album) (2016)
- Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years (2020)
- Alone XII: The White Year (2020)
Overview
The verse lyrics and melody for "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" originate in a demo written by Rivers Cuomo in 2002 (Catalog O' Riffs entry #405, "Don't Give Me Love"). Two demo recordings from this period were released in November of 2020 as part of the digital compilation Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years, labeled "oh she left me there" and "pachelbel strum." The latter suggests that the song's chord progression is based on Pachelbel's "Canon in D."
In April of 2016, however, Cuomo spoke of the song's origins on an episode of the podcast Song Exploder.[1] explaining that he compiles a Spotify playlist of songs with "cool chord-progressions," and that he lifted the chord progression from the song "Walk Away Renée" by The Left Banke. Cuomo titled an early version of the demo "Awaken Early" (a partial anagram of "Walk Away Renée). The final song's title came from an overheard conversation at a party at Rivers' daughter's school. One mother said that their husband called her "School-Year Elaine" during the year and "Summer Elaine" after the school year had ended, and another mother commented that her husband had two names for her as well, one of them being "Drunk Dori". Both mothers were thanked in the liner notes for The White Album. Cuomo went on to explain that he uses a spreadsheet to compile stream-of-consciousness lyrics by syllable. Cuomo has stated that "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" is his favorite song from The White Album.
The song's bridge melody was repurposed from previous demos titled "Back of Your Heart" and "Rest in Peace", written prior to the release of Everything Will Be Alright In The End. Short snippets of Cuomo working on "Back of Your Heart" in the studio with producer Shawn Everett were released in a short YouTube clip originally uploaded by Cuomo in January of 2011.[2]
Known recordings
Performer(s) | Title | Filename | Date of recording | Recording location | Length | Appeared on | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rivers Cuomo | 405 pachelbel strum.mp3 | 2002 | 1:53 | Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years | |||
Rivers Cuomo | Oh She Left Me There | 405 oh she left me there.mp3 | 2002 | 3:36 | Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Sad Skippyjon Jones | sad skippyjon jones 1.mp3 | 2011—2014 | 2:55 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | Bridge melody (on piano) | |
Rivers Cuomo | Sad Skippyjon Jones | sad skippyjon jones 2 in F major.mp3 | 2011—2014 | 1:23 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | Bridge melody (on piano) | |
For additional demos, see "Back of Your Heart" and "Rest in Peace" | |||||||
Rivers Cuomo | Don't Give It Up | Don't Give It Up 3.mp3 | February 26, 2014[3] | 3:28 | Alone XIII: The Pacific Daydream Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Untitled5 1.mp3 | 2015 | 1:09 | Alone XII: The White Year | |||
Rivers Cuomo | Untitled6 2.mp3 | 2015 | 0:31 | Alone XII: The White Year | |||
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | summer_Elaine_and_drunk_Dori 1.mp3 | 2015 | 0:31 | Alone XII: The White Year | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Awaken Early | Awaken Early.mp3 | 2015 | 0:16 | Alone XII: The White Year | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Awaken Early | Awaken Early 2 @118 melody.mp3 | 2015 | 0:34 | Alone XII: The White Year | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Awaken Early | Awaken Early 4 @118 90s dance.mp3 | 2015 | 0:32 | Alone XII: The White Year | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori 3 @11.mp3 | 2015 | 0:29 | Alone XII: The White Year | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | summer_elaine_5_verse.mp3 | 2015 | 1:33 | Alone XII: The White Year | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | elaine_6_dont_give_it.mp3 | 2015 | 1:00 | Alone XII: The White Year | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | elaine_7_be_my_steady.mp3 | ? | 1:06 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | Song sketch; chorus from "Be My Steady" | |
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | elaine_7_here_comes.mp3 | ? | 1:53 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | Song sketch; verse from "Here Comes the Girl" | |
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | elaine_8_ghost.mp3 | ? | 1:03 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | Song sketch; verse melody from "Byzantine" | |
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | elaine_8_rip.mp3 | ? | 1:12 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | Song sketch; bridge melody from "Rest in Peace" | |
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | elaine_9_fighters.mp3 | ? | 1:01 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | Song sketch; verse melody from "We Are Fighters" | |
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | elaine_9_post.mp3 | ? | 0:37 | Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | Summer Elaine 6 lyrics @118.mp3 | 2015 | 1:53 | Alone XII: The White Year | ||
Weezer | Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori | 2015—2016 |
|
3:25 | Weezer (The White Album) |
Live performances
- Weezer concert: 12/03/2016
- Weezer concert: 12/05/2016
- Weezer concert: 12/06/2016
- Weezer concert: 04/09/2017
Personnel
- Rivers Cuomo – guitar, lead vocals
- Patrick Wilson – percussion
- Brian Bell – guitar, backing vocals
- Scott Shriner - bass guitar, backing vocals
Audio
Lyrics
Oh, she left me there
She left me all alone
Oh, but I don't care
No, I don't mind at all
What really happened?
I got distracted
I suck at getting off the phone
Boy in the bubble
Saying "I love ya'"
I should have written her a note
Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori
When I'm feeling lonely
I don't want to go
Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori
Wish that they would show me
I can't let them go
Oh, she swam away
And flexed her mermaid tail
She was out too deep
When lightning struck the bay
Good witch or bad witch
God is a woman
I wish I hadn't played the prude
She touched my ankle
Paranoid Android
I felt it in my molecules
Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori
When I'm feeling lonely
I don't want to go
Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori
Wish that they would show me
I can't let them go
Slender and tall
They whisk my worries away
Sweet piano melodies play
Feet crushing Sauvignon grapes
I hear them whispering
Whispering out at the pool
Remember when we were only sixteen
You made me believe in God
But when I finally wake
Both girls are gone
Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori
When I'm feeling lonely
I don't want to go
Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori
Wish that they would show me
I can't let them go
See also
References
- ↑ "Weezer: Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" Song Exploder, 18 April 2016. http://songexploder.net/weezer
- ↑ "new demo for weezer" YouTube. (reupload) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beCV4NWGWpo
- ↑ File:Riversgrandfile-400.png