"Pork and Beans" is a song by the American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

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, backing ...

, released on the group's 2008 self-titled album ''

'', also known as the Red Album. It was released to radio on April 22, 2008 and released in digital form on April 24. The track debuted at number 19 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

''s Modern Rock chart, and spent eleven weeks at number one. The song charted in many countries such as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

of the song, which incorporated many

YouTube celebrities YouTubers are people mostly known for their work on the video sharing platform YouTube. The following is a list of YouTubers for whom Wikipedia has articles either under their own name or their YouTube channel name. This list excludes people wh ...

and memes with the band, was premiered on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and was one of the most popular videos in the weeks following its release. The video won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

at the

51st Annual Grammy Awards The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the b ...

Writing and inspiration

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 ...

, lead singer and guitarist for Weezer, wrote the song in reaction to a meeting with Geffen executives, who told the band members that they needed to record more commercial material. Cuomo remarked, "I came out of it pretty angry. But ironically, it inspired me to write another song." Jacknife Lee produced the track with the band in early 2008 in what was the third and final recording session for the album. The many references to popular culture in the song are said to be a "statement of defiance" according to Internet reviewer David Ritter, who later describes it to be an "anti-anthem anthem" that opens up a "broad space for critical exploration of what it means to be an aging band in the major label system".

Composition

According to the director of the video for "Pork and Beans", the song is about "the idea of being yourself, of being happy with who you are". In the album notes, Cuomo compares this to

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

's music, "It actually sounds like a Timbaland kind of production; he has little baby crying type of sounds."'' Weezer (The Red Album) Deluxe Edition'' album notes. A reference is also made to Timbaland in the second verse with the line "Timbaland knows the way to reach the top of the chart". The song similarly refers to items such as Rogaine and Oakley

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names Sunglasses#Other names, below) are a form of Eye protection, protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damagin ...

Reception

The song has been generally well received by critics. Many reviewers were pleased with what they saw as a return-to-form sound reminiscent of the '' Blue Album'' (1994) and '' Pinkerton'' (1996) albums.

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

writer Marc Hogan gave the song a positive review and described the song as, "a catchy, self-referential rocker, with the buzzsaw guitars and big choruses of Weezer's glory days, and that familiar, self-assured lameness." Simon Vozick-Levinson of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' also gave the song a positive review, "That chunka-chunka guitar

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

is pure eezergold, so much so that I didn't focus on Rivers Cuomo's very clever lyrics at first."

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

was also impressed with the song stating it was a "sweet, savory dose of self-referential, self-deprecating Weezer rock ... This stuff sounds very familiar in a good, good way." '' NME'' described the song as having " uomo'sbest chorus in ages". However, Internet reviewer David Ritter suggested that the song was either "voided by the wholesale capitulation involved in going home and writing said commercial material" or "a calculated attempt to boost record sales by wrapping faux-defiance in pretty paper," going on to compliment its " Scorcho-y acoustic guitar," he then said that this, along with the "

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...

twinkles" and "squeals and squeaks", has little effect on the song and that they barely register on top of the much more noticeable

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 the ...

and

power chord A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on ...

Commercial performance

In terms of chart performance, "Pork and Beans" is one of Weezer's most successful singles in its 25-year career. Debuting at number 19, the song reached number one on the ''

Hot Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

charts in only its third week on the charts. It became the group's ninth Top 10 hit on this chart and third number one overall and spent 11 weeks at number one, making it one of only 17 songs to ever sit at number one on that particular chart for 10 weeks or longer and one of three songs to have spent 11 weeks at number one. It also represented its fastest rising single ever, reaching number one after a mere 11 days after release. It debuted at number 39 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in ...

chart, where it is peaked at number 25 and debuted in the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

at number 84 with 17,000 downloads of the song on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

and peaked at number 64. "Pork and Beans" was voted number one on Toronto radio station 102.1 the Edge's list of Top 102 Songs of 2008. This song was number 30 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.

In popular culture

The song was featured in the 2009 film trailers for '' Yes Man'' and '' Whip It!'', and is a playable 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 ...

'' video game series. It is also a featured song in ''

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 ''Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3'', released in Japan as ''Dance Dance Revolution: Music Fit'' (ダンスダンスレボリューション：ミュージックフィット, ''Dansu Dansu Reboryūshon: Myūjikku Fitto''), is a rhythm-base ...

'' and in the

Spill.com Spill.com was a movie and video game review, discussion and news website. It was the continuation of the 9-year-old Austin, Texas-based public-access television cable TV show called '' The Reel Deal''. There were four main film critic contributo ...

podcast "The League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen".

Music video

The

for "Pork and Beans" was directed by Mathew Cullen of the video production company Motion Theory and was first released on

by the band on May 23, 2008. The video features many

internet phenomena Social and cultural phenomena specific to the Internet include Internet memes, such as popular themes, catchphrases, images, viral videos, and jokes. When such fads and sensations occur online, they tend to grow rapidly and become more wides ...

. Many

joined with the band to film in the video, including Mark Allen Hicks (the "Afro Ninja"),

Gary Brolsma "Numa Numa" () is an Internet meme based on a video by American vlogger Gary Brolsma made after the song "Dragostea Din Tei" as performed by Moldovan pop group O-Zone. Brolsma's video, entitled "Numa Numa Dance", was released on December 6, 20 ...

, Tay Zonday, Cara Cunningham,

Caitlin Upton Caitlin Upton or Caite Upton (born Lauren Caitlin Upton on born March 27, 1989 in Lexington, South Carolina) is an American fashion model and beauty queen. Career 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant Upton became Miss South Carolina Teen USA for 2007 in ...

, Liam Kyle "Kelly" Sullivan, Kicesie, Ryan Wieber, Michael Scott, Judson Laipply, and Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz performing

Diet Coke and Mentos eruption A Diet Coke and Mentos eruption (also known as a soda geyser) is a reaction between the carbonated beverage Diet Coke and Mentos mints that causes the beverage to be expelled from its container. The candies catalyze the release of gas from the ...

s. In addition, the video references other YouTube personalities such as Kevin Federline and

Lim Jeong-hyun Lim Jeong-hyun (born July 5, 1984), also known by the online alias funtwo, is a South Korean guitarist known for his cover of the piece Canon Rock. Canon Rock cover Lim played and recorded his cover of "Canon Rock" by JerryC on October 23, 20 ...

. Other internet memes mimicked in the video include the

Dramatic Chipmunk Dramatic Chipmunk is a viral Internet video. The video is a 5-second clip of a prairie dog (erroneously referred to as a chipmunk) turning its head while the camera zooms in and dramatic music is played. Origins The clip became widely known t ...

and Mini Moni, parodies of ''G.I. Joe'' public service announcements, catching Raybans with one's face, " All Your Base Are Belong to Us", the Dancing Banana, " Will It Blend?", the Soulja Boy dance, "Daft Hands" and "Daft Bodies", the Sneezing Panda,

Charlie the Unicorn ''Charlie the Unicorn'' is a 2005 Flash animated comedy short film and viral video created by Jason Steele of independent film company FilmCow in Orlando, Florida. The short follows Charlie, a lethargic and pessimistic unicorn, who is taken by ...

, the Dancing Baby, DoctorLegua's dancing CGI

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

and gorillas, and the hoax UFO sighting in Haiti. Dan Dzoan, former world record holder for solving a

Rubik's Cube The Rubik's Cube is a Three-dimensional space, 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarians, Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik t ...

with one hand in 17.90 seconds, was present for the shooting but does not appear in the video, though there are Rubik's Cubes in the video, and Dan is present in another video posted by Weezer to YouTube.

Neil Cicierega Neil Stephen Cicierega ( ; born August 23, 1986) is an American comedian, actor, filmmaker, singer, YouTuber, musician, songwriter, puppeteer, artist, and animator. He is known as the creator of a genre of Flash animation he termed " Animutatio ...

's ''

Potter Puppet Pals ''Potter Puppet Pals'' is a puppet show web series parodying the ''Harry Potter'' novel series by J. K. Rowling, created by Neil Cicierega. The first two episodes were animated, both released in 2003 on Newgrounds. On September 26, 2006, the s ...

'' were slated to be in the video but were left out due to problems with shipments of props. A mock-up of the Dumbledore puppet can be seen in the video nonetheless. Tay Zonday at the 2010 Streamy Awards

The video shares some thematic similarities with the music video for the

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached ...

single "Sound of Your Voice", which also featured multiple YouTube celebrities. According to Cullen, the video was to be a "celebration of that creativity", an idea that went over well with the members of the band. Cullen wanted to embrace the concept of "about being happy with who you are". Cullen hopes that the video will be "a living thing on the Internet"; as the video itself was a mash-up of Weezer's favorite stuff, Cullen hopes others will use the video to create their own mash-ups. The YouTube celebrities were flown into

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to work with the band for the four-day shooting of the video. The video, which quickly became popular, reached more than four million viewers in its first week and was that week's most-watched video. It was the most popular video of the month in June, reaching 7.3 million views by June 16, 2008. It was nominated for Best Editing for the 2008

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Video Music Awards and for Favorite Online Sensation at the

35th People's Choice Awards The 35th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2008, was held on January 7, 2009 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Queen Latifah in her third straight year as host, and was broadcast ...

. The video won a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video at the 51st Grammy Awards Show. On June 2, 2008, a video of an acoustic version of the song, with

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 ...

on guitar and Tay Zonday on vocals, was released on Weezer's official YouTube channel.Pork & Beans Acoustic - Tay Zonday and Brian Bell
posted June 2, 2008 On January 12, 2009, a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

version of the "Pork and Beans" video was released to YouTube, which included additional footage not previously used in the original video. The new video, in addition to including footage of Dan Dzoan and Potter Puppet Pals, adds in more internet memes and celebrities, including "

Badger Badger Badger ''Badgers'', also known informally as ''Badger Badger Badger'' or ''The Badger Song'', is a Flash animated meme by British animator Jonti Picking. It consists of 12 animated cartoon badgers doing calisthenics, a mushroom in front of a tree, and ...

Little Superstar ''Little Superstar'' is a video uploaded on YouTube, which is a clip from the 1990 Tamil film '' Adhisaya Piravi'', starring Rajinikanth. The clip features the Tamil actor King Kong (not to be confused with Thavakalai), and another Indian dw ...

, Philippine prison inmates dancing to "Thriller",

Leeroy Jenkins Leeroy Jenkins is a player character created by Ben Schulz in Blizzard Entertainment's MMORPG ''World of Warcraft''. The character became popular in 2005 from his role in a viral video of game footage where, having been absent during his group's ...

Ronald Jenkees Ronald Jenkees is an American composer and musician best known for his YouTube keyboard performances. , his YouTube videos had been viewed over 84 million times and he has 400 thousand subscribers. He has released five independent albums: his ...

BigDog BigDog is a dynamically stable quadruped military robot that was created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It was funded by DARPA, but the pro ...

Ask a Ninja Ask A Ninja is a series of comedy videos about the image of ninja in popular culture available in podcast and vodcast form, as well as in mov and WMV file formats. The episodes were released between 2005 and 2011. In December 2007, television i ...

, Back Dorm Boys, '' Line Rider'', "I Like Turtles",

Techno Viking Techno Viking is an internet phenomenon or Internet meme, meme based on a video from the 2000 Fuckparade in Berlin, Germany. Summary The four-minute video shot by experimental video artist Matthias Fritsch at the Fuckparade on 8 July 2000Matthias ...

, and Pickle Surprise, and ends with the viewer being rickrolled.

Track list

Radio only promo CD # "Pork and Beans" – 3:09 UK retail CD #"Pork and Beans" – 3:09 #" Are 'Friends' Electric?" – 5:24 (

Tubeway Army Tubeway Army were a London-based new wave band led by lead singer Gary Numan. Formed at the height of punk rock in 1977 the band gradually changed to an electronic sound. They were the first band of the electronic era to have a synthesiser ...

cover) UK retail 7″ #1 #"Pork and Beans" – 3:09 #"

Love My Way ''Love My Way'' is an Australian television drama series. It won the AFI award for Best Television Drama Series for each of its three seasons (2004–2007). Premise Set in Sydney, ''Love My Way'' was about a group of 30-somethings dealing wit ...

" (

The Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk sc ...

cover) UK retail 7″ #2 #"Pork and Beans" – 3:09 #" Oddfellows Local 151" (

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

cover)

Personnel

;Weezer *

– rhythm guitar, keyboards,

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 ...

–

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 featu ...

Scott Shriner Scott Gardner Shriner (born July 11, 1965) is an American musician best known as a member of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded twelve studio albums. Joining the band in 2001, Shriner is the band's longest serving bass guitarist. Pri ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals *

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 ''Oklahoma ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, backing vocals ;Additional personnel * Jacknife Lee –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

"Go Behind-the-Scenes With Weezer's 'Pork and Beans'"
- Wired * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pork And Beans (Song) Weezer songs 2008 singles Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video Viral videos Songs written by Rivers Cuomo Song recordings produced by Jacknife Lee 2008 songs Internet memes introduced in 2008