This Is Such a Pity

"This Is Such A Pity"
Single by Weezer
Album	Make Believe
Released	May 10, 2005
Format	CD, Vinyl (album only)
Recorded	Summer 2004
Length	3:24
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo
RC#	719
COR#	369
Producer(s)	Weezer, Rick Rubin, Chad Bamford
Status	officially released
Stream	Spotify
	Apple Music
Weezer singles chronology
"Perfect Situation" (2005) "This Is Such a Pity" (2006) "Pork and Beans" (2008)
Make Believe track listing
"Perfect Situation" (2) "This Is Such A Pity" (3) "Hold Me" (4)
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"Prodigy Lover" (RC# 718) "She Who Is Militant" (RC#719) "?" (RC# ?)
This song is part of the "This Is Such a Pity" (COR# 369) lineage of songs "She Who Is Militant" (2002) "Happy on Your Own"/"On Your Own" (2003) "All I Want to Do" (2004) "Sleeping All the Night" (2004) "Tell Me What You Did"/"What Is Going On" (2004) "This Is Such a Pity" (2004)

"This Is Such a Pity" is the fourth single and third track from Make Believe.

Appearances

• Make Believe (2005)
• "This Is Such a Pity" promo CD (radio mix) (2005)
• Alone IX: The Make Believe Years (2020)

Overview

"This Is Such a Pity" shares an entry in the Catalog O' Riffs with the song "She Who Is Militant", originally demoed by Weezer in 2002 during early sessions for the band's planned fifth album, during which time the band shared in-progress studio demos on weezer.com. During preparation for the album that would eventually become Make Believe, "She Who Is Militant" was revised and rewritten, under multiple titles, from 2002 to 2004 before it became "This Is Such a Pity." As such, the latter bears little resemblance to its original form other than a similar chord progression. "This Is Such a Pity" was included on Rivers Cuomo's "A-List" of songs in consideration during pre-production in July of 2004.

Scott: That song was tough, and it was the first song we tried to track at Grandmaster, I think, it was like the first night, and we probably retracked the basic drums for that, like four or five different times and it was almost going to get thrown out. But somehow, at the last minute, it came together, and it sounds absolutely magical to me. And that’s one of my favorite songs on the album.

Pat: Yeah, it sounds awesome. Wicked melody.

Rivers: Yeah, that might be my favorite song on the record. I really like the solo Brian came up with too.

Brian: Ironically [laughs], I don’t play any of the guitars on it—but most all the guitars on it in the studio—and I don’t play of them live, which I think it kind of funny. It’s really fun to watch Bobby and Rivers play that song every night. It feels like—

Rivers: You’re the composer and we’re the performers

Brian: Yeah, yeah! It’s neat, it’s really cool. I love the notes that Rivers added to the solo. I feel that that song could be—that Weezer might—things that Weezer can do and go in the future, as far as texture, and the use of clean guitars. I don’t think there’s any distorted guitars on that song.

Rivers: All the keyboard sounds are from a $75 Casio.

Brian: We even tried using expensive Moogs and things, to try to, like, “this can’t be good enough, a $75 Casio?” and the tones just didn’t blend. And we ended up using the Casio.

Scott: It’s got a really cool, super consistent, like, kind of level from start to finish, which I think is really neat.

—Band commentary

There are several subtly different versions of "This Is Such a Pity" across various releases. The first mix, included on initial pressings of the album, contains less reverb than later versions, and includes a drum fill near the end of the song (around 3:03) that was removed from subsequent versions. The second version, initially released on iTunes and some pressings of Make Believe, notably lacks emphasis on the word "that" in the final verse. The final, "Radio Mix" of the song features more reverb on the vocals.

A partial clip of Rivers Cuomo's demo of the song was appended to the end of part 5 of the video series Let's Write a Sawng, the collaborative project in which Cuomo and fans created the song "Turning Up the Radio". This demo was later released in full, in 2020, as part of the digital compilation Alone IX: The Make Believe Years.

Multiple songs of Nordic origin have been accused of plagiarizing "This Is Such a Pity," including the song "Du Kommer Aldrig Mer Vara Ensam" by Swedish musician Lasse Lindh, as well as "Turhaa" by Finnish Anna Eriksson.

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
For previous iterations of "This Is Such a Pity," see 369.
Rivers Cuomo	This Is Such a Pity	05 This is Such a Pity.mp3	July 20, 2004	S.I.R. Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA	3:46	Alone IX: The Make Believe Years
Weezer	This Is Such a Pity		July 22—October 22, 2004	Grandmaster Recorders, Los Angeles, CA	3:24	Make Believe	Mix #1
Weezer	This Is Such a Pity		July 22—October 22, 2004	Grandmaster Recorders, Los Angeles, CA	3:24	Make Believe	Mix #2
Weezer	This Is Such a Pity		July 22—October 22, 2004	Grandmaster Recorders, Los Angeles, CA	3:24	Make Believe	Final mix

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Patrick Wilson – percussion
• Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, synth, backing vocals
• Scott Shriner – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Rick Rubin - producer
• Josh Abraham - mixing
• Chad Bamford - additional production

Lyrics

How is your heart, little darling?
I didn't mean to get so mad
Let me just hold you closely
How did things get so bad?
I know how to pick on you
You pushed me over the edge
We caused so much agony
We can't seem to move ahead

This is such a pity
We should give all our love to each other
Not this hate that destroys us
This is such a pity
(This is a pity)

What kind of future will we have?
Will we ever find peace?
Everybody thinks we're crazy
They're about to call the police
I don't wanna be a chump
You think I'm a fascist pig
Right now everything is black
I don't think we'll ever give

This is such a pity
We should give all our love to each other
Not this hate that destroys us
This is such a pity
(This is a pity)

This is such a pity
We should give all our love to each other
Not this hate that destroys us
This is such a pity
(This is a pity)
This is such a pity
We should give
We should give all our love (Destroys us)
All our love (Destroys us)
All our love (Destroys us)
All our love (Destroys us)
All our love (Destroys us)
All our love (Destroys us)

See also

• 369 (disambiguation)
• "She Who Is Militant"
• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs