We all have songs that we claim ownership of. They seem to embed themselves in our lives. Each time we hear these songs we time travel back to when we first fell in love with the song. Fourteen years after hearing this song for the first time, it still floors me. Weezer's "Across the Sea" is one of the best rock songs of all-time.
If you don't have this album, then get it.
"Across the Sea" is Weezer's crowning moment with its closest competition coming from the incredible, ‘Say it Ain’t So’ from the “Blue Album”. On a purely musical level, it is satisfying. I love the drums, the bridge, the solo, and the fact that there's a piano hidden in all the noise. It's loud, textured and emotional. When you listen with headphones all the nuances shine though. Why can’t every album sound like this?
The strength of the song lies not so much in its lyrics (more on this later) but its theme. Cuomo's song displays pure, unadulterated, old-fashioned longing. Who can't relate to that?
“Across the Sea” is based on a true story. When Rivers was attending Harvard he started to attempt to write songs for the follow up to Weezer’s success debut album. Unfortunately, he came down with a case of writer’s block. Months rolled by with little to no songwriting until he received a letter in the mail from a girl in Japan. The first few lines of the song are exactly her letter, word for word. The lyrics are weird and frankly a little disturbing. But isn't it true that men become obsessive and a little odd about women? Later in his career, Cuomo grew away from personalized lyrics because he felt no one could relate to them....this was his first step towards the darkside.
Anyway, back to the lyrics. When I first heard the song in 96', the lyrics kept the song from "clicking" with me. I liked it, but it wasn't one of my all-time favorites.
A few years later, I was riding the stationary bike at the gym when the song came on. Suddenly the skies parted and as I pedaled I could finally discern the details behind all the noise. I could hear the aching of my own voice. I "got" it!
I was in a "relationship" where I was emotionally and geographically apart from my love interest. I wanted to scream, "Why are you so far apart from me?" I was longing for someone who might as well have been across the sea. I felt that even if I could touch her again, it wouldn't be right. For Rivers it was an innocent teen, a world away in Japan. This idealized version of love promised an end to both of our somewhat self-induced loneliness (I'm happy to report my "someone" was "of legal age" at the time!).
My lost relationship seemed out of reach and what I missed most were the little things, “words and dreams and million screams, oh, how I need a hand in mine to feel!" Due to what seemed a cruel or meaningless fate at the time, I was left alone – to wait and to remember. Even after my little soap opera escapade ended, the power of the song remained.
Our interpretations, our narratives are what keep songs as close to “alive” as an art object can be. But even this can fade. When I listen to the song today, I don't dwell on the details of my past. That aspect of the song is dead to me....
The song still remains alive because it expresses an even more universal feeling, the feeling of "Why me?" I'm secure enough in my masculinity (and I'm no emo guy either) that sometimes, when I'm in the right mood and I'm really listening - I still tear up a little listening to this song. "Across the Sea" poignantly shows the beauty behind suffering and longing.
By the way, the title of this blog entry implies there might be a part two - don't count on it, it's more a less a play on a later weezer song....
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