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"Undone – The Sweater Song" 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 band's self-titled 1994 debut album. It was released as their debut single in 1994. Weezer frontman
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 ...
has commented on the song, saying: Cuomo has also said that it was his attempt at writing "a
Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...
-type song," but later referred to the song as an inadvertent rip-off of
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
's " Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", with the band's
metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...
roots showing through.


Overview

Originally, the band intended to insert various sound clips into the song, but were wary of the cost of licensing them. Instead, the studio version of the song features a spoken introduction by then
bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...
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 ...
and longtime friend of the band Karl Koch, as well as an "intermission" set of dialogue between Karl and one of the founding members of Weezer's official fan club and early supporter of the band, Mykel Allan. This dialogue is frequently ad-libbed during concerts and other live recordings. During live performances in 2005, the band would often invite a fan up to play the acoustic guitar part of "Undone" with the band. On the last night of the Foozer tour,
Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...
came up and played it with the band.
The Fray The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut album, '' How to Save a Life'' released in 2005, was certified double platinum by the RIAA and platinum in Australia ...
, who toured with Weezer in 2005, played a cover version of this song live during 2007 touring.
The Offspring The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...
covered it in 1994 and 1995. NewFangled Contraption covered it at every show in 2002 and 2003.
The Bloodhound Gang The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as their career prog ...
covered it with a mix of
Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close aff ...
's "Ain't Nuttin To F Wit". Punk rock band
Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen as his attempt to emul ...
have covered the song multiple times on various tours; the band included one of these live covers on their
mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...
, ''Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol 1''.
Mac DeMarco MacBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco (born Vernor Winfield MacBriare Smith IV; April 30, 1990) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. DeMarco has released six full-length studio albums, his debut '' Rock and Roll Night ...
performed a version of the song in April 2013 for '' The A.V. Club'' A.V. Undercover series. In May 2013, UK Based Label Tiny Lights Recordings released a cover of the song recorded by a number of its artists to commemorate its second birthday. The song was also covered by
dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...
band
Beach House Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 t ...
live in 2015. On the 2008 Troublemaker Tour, Tom DeLonge – lead singer of the tour's opening act
Angels & Airwaves Angels & Airwaves (also written as Angels and Airwaves; stylized and abbreviated as ΛVΛ) is an American rock band, comprising Tom DeLonge (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), David Kennedy (guitars, keyboards), Ilan Rubin (drums, keyboards, ...
– sang it as a duet with Cuomo. On their tour in 2011, the song was performed with the members of
the Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (k ...
. In 2014
Mac DeMarco MacBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco (born Vernor Winfield MacBriare Smith IV; April 30, 1990) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. DeMarco has released six full-length studio albums, his debut '' Rock and Roll Night ...
performed a cover of the song for Onion's A.V. Undercover.


Composition

"Undone – The Sweater Song" is a mid-tempo
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 ...
song that runs for a duration of four minutes and fifty-eight seconds. Its musical arrangement utilizes dynamics and thick
distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signa ...
during the chorus in order to drive home the song's melody. According to the
sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, ...
published at Musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Music, it is written in the
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...
of
common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...
, with a moderately slow rock
tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
of 80
beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...
. "Undone – The Sweater Song" is composed in the key of
G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable com ...
. It has a basic sequence of G6–C7–D7–C7 during the intro and interludes, changes to G–C–D–C in the verses and follows G5–C5–D5–C5 at the chorus as its
chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
. The song opens with a circular
riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...
built from picked guitar strings. The spoken dialogue features adolescent characters engaged in frivolous conversation as the band's music gradually rises in the background.


Critical reception

Tom Maginis for
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
wrote, "The song is not only meticulously crafted, it's smart, quirky, poignant, and insanely catchy -- all characteristics that would go on to define Weezer as a band and their debut as one of the most successful alternative rock records of the '90s."


Music video

The music video for "Undone" was Weezer's first music video. According to ''Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story'' by John D. Luerssen, the band insisted that the video not have anything to do with a sweater. Yet Geffen received twenty-five treatments for the video, all involving sweaters. The video marks one of the early directorial efforts of
Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...
, whose pitch was simply "A blue stage, a
steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...
, a pack of wild dogs." The $60,000 video was shot on a
steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...
in one unbroken shot, featuring the band playing to a sped up version of the song. When played at a slower speed, the illusion is created that the band is playing the song in the correct time, yet moving in slow motion. The one shot was taken over twenty-five times and the final version is somewhere between take number 15 and take number 20, in which the band had abandoned the idea of taking the video seriously at all. The humor was brought on by the frustration of shooting the same shot over and over to a sped up version of the song as well as the fact that one of the dogs defecated on
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 ...
's bass drum pedal. The video became an instant hit on MTV. An alternate take of the video can be found on the band's ''
Video Capture Device Video capture is the process of converting an analog video signal—such as that produced by a video camera, DVD player, or television tuner—to digital video and sending it to local storage or to external circuitry. The resulting digital data ar ...
'' DVD. In the video, lead singer Rivers Cuomo is wearing a Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz jersey. At Weezer's first performance in Mexico City many fans wore the same jersey. For their official video for their cover of "
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
", Weezer used a parody of the "Undone" video with stand-ins for themselves, including
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...
as Cuomo's stand-in.


Track listings

US 7-inch and cassette single :A. "Undone – The Sweater Song" (LP version) – 4:55 :B. "Holiday" (LP version) – 3:26 Australian CD single # "Undone – The Sweater Song" (LP version) – 4:55 # "Mykel & Carli" – 2:33 # "Susanne" – 2:46 # "My Evaline" (erroneously listed as "Sweet Adeline") – 0:46 Australian cassette single # "Undone – The Sweater Song" (LP version) – 4:55 # "Mykel & Carli" – 2:33 UK CD, cassette, and 7-inch blue vinyl single # "Undone – The Sweater Song" (LP version) – 4:55 # "Mykel & Carli" – 2:53 # "Susanne" – 2:46 # "Holiday" (LP version) – 3:26 French CD single # "Undone – The Sweater Song" (LP version) – 4:55 # "My Name Is Jonas" (LP version) – 3:23


Personnel

*
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 vocals, lead and rhythm guitar *
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 guitar, 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 *
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 * Karl Koch – piano


Charts


References


Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Undone - The Sweater Song Weezer songs 1990s ballads 1994 debut singles 1994 songs Music videos directed by Spike Jonze Songs about suicide Songs written by Rivers Cuomo Song recordings produced by Ric Ocasek Alternative rock ballads