"My Name Is Jonas" is a song by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backin ...

. It is the first track on the band's self-titled 1994 debut album, also known as ''The Blue Album''. It was written by guitarist/vocalist

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

, drummer

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in '' The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and '' Okla ...

and guitarist

Jason Cropper Jason Rosanoff Cropper (born June 27, 1971) is an American musician. He was a founding member and the guitarist of the American alternative rock band Weezer. He left the band before the release of their debut album ''Weezer''. Biography Weezer C ...

, and produced by

Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...

. Cropper wrote the song's acoustic intro; it is one of his only Weezer songwriting credits, as he left the band before the release of its first album.

Background

The song was inspired by Cuomo's brother, who was having insurance problems after a serious car crash while at college. According to Cuomo, the song "explains how The Plan is reaming us all, especially my brother." "My Name Is Jonas" was written in the key of B major. However, as the song is played with guitars tuned a half-step down, it is played as if it were in the key of C.

Reception

Melissa Bobbitt at LiveAbout named "My Name is Jonas" the seventh best Weezer song, writing that its lyric "the workers are going home" was "a righteous way to kick off a weekend". Michael Gallucci from Diffuser named it the third best Weezer song. In his 2010 book '' Music: What Happened?'', Scott Miller describes the song as "musicality everywhere, theatrical dynamics, little golden lyric details where the subplot reveals the whole mood."

In other media

This song is featured in the video game '' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock'' as a playable track, and was released as a downloadable song for the ''

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two gui ...

'' series and ''

Rocksmith 2014 ''Rocksmith 2014'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft. It is a followup to the 2011 game '' Rocksmith'', but has been described as a replacement to the original game rather than a sequel. Like its predecessor, the game allows players to plu ...

''.

Covers

Affinity covered the song on the album '' Rock Music: A Tribute to Weezer''. In 2021,

Taking Back Sunday Taking Back Sunday is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. The band was formed by guitarist Eddie Reyes and bassist Jesse Lacey in 1999. The band's members currently are Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), John Nolan (lead guitar, key ...

released a cover of the song as a single.

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Brian Bell Brian Lane Bell (born December 9, 1968) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded f ...

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

Matt Sharp Matthew Kelly Sharp (born September 22, 1969) is an American songwriter and musician. Until 1998, he was the bassist for the alternative rock band Weezer, which he cofounded in 1992. He appears on their first two albums, the '' Blue Album'' (199 ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

, backing vocals *

– producer *Chris Shaw -

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

References

{{authority control Weezer songs 1994 songs Songs written by Rivers Cuomo Song recordings produced by Ric Ocasek Songs written by Jason Cropper Songs written by Patrick Wilson (musician)