Is “Heart Songs” The Worst Weezer Song Yet?

anthonyjmiccio | May 15, 2008 2:15 am
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My personal feeling about Weezer is that they made two of the best rock albums of the ’90s, two good albums that traded lyrical coherence for good hooks, and Make Believe, a near-abortion that revealed how lucky we were to have Rivers Cuomo babble about hash pipes and dope noses instead of starkly announcing “We Are All On Drugs.” “Pork And Beans” has a Blue Album-worthy chorus hook and distortion pedal push, but the lyrics are a pretty embarrassing attempt to seek sympathy for his “uncool” songs. Now “Heart Songs” offers a star’s sequel to “In The Garage,” name-dropping the artists who helped him throughout the gestative years of his career (before Nirvana changed his life) over a creepily tepid backdrop featuring acoustic guitar, strings and what sounds like a glockenspiel.

Musical acts referenced: Gordon Lightfoot, Cat Stevens, Joan Baez, Eddie Rabbitt, Abba, Devo, Pat Benatar, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Grover Washington, Quiet Riot, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Rick Astley, Terence Trent D’Arby, Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, and of course, Nirvana, whose appearance in Cuomo’s life helps the song build to a climax worthy of a Daughtry demo.

Then we played our first rock show And watched the fan base start to grow Signed the deal that gave the dough to make A record of our own The song come on the radio Now people go this is the song

These are my heart songs They never feel wrong And when I wake, for goodness sake These are the songs I keep singing

Please tell me it couldn’t get worse than this.

Weezer – Heart Songs [YouTube]