Dope Nose

"Dope Nose"
French promo single art
Single by Weezer
Album	Maladroit
Released	February 2002
Recorded	December 2001-February 2002
Length	2:17
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo
RC#	484
COR#	177
Producer(s)	Weezer, Rod Cervera, Chad Bamford
Status	Officially released
Live debut	June 16, 2000
Stream	Spotify
	Apple Music
Weezer singles chronology
"Photograph" (2001) "Dope Nose" (2002) "Keep Fishin'" (2002) The Lion and the Witch track listing "Dope Nose" (Live) (1) "Island in the Sun" (Live) (2)
Maladroit track listing
"American Gigolo" (1) "Dope Nose" (2) "Keep Fishin'" (3)
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"We Don't Have to Torture Ourselves" (RC# 483) "Dope Nose" (RC# 484) "I Hope You're Happy" (RC# 485)

"Dope Nose" is the first single and second track from Maladroit.

Appearances

• Songs from the Forthcoming Maladroit
• Maladroit
• The Lion and the Witch
• Weezer (The Red Album) - Japan Deluxe Edition bonus DVD
• Various official bootlegs

Overview

"Dope Nose", along with "Hash Pipe" and "Slob", is one of the few Summer Songs of 2000 tracks to be fully recorded and released on an album. The song went through a slight metamorphosis during the Maladroit sessions, as its arrangement tightened up and became a more streamlined power pop tune. Cuomo commented on the songwriting process during a 2002 interview:

CDNOW: What were the circumstances surrounding the composition of the first single, "Dope Nose"?

Rivers: It's not about anything. It's just a bunch of garbage lyrics. [It was] six in the morning. I had three shots of tequila, and I forget how many milligrams of Ritalin, and I just went in my backyard and sat down. In like half an hour I was just like foaming at the mouth, and I just wrote it in one manic burst of about three minutes. Sitting there in the chair, composing in my head. Not even with a guitar. Just all in my mind. Bam. There's "Dope Nose."

Early mixes of the song were delivered to radio prior to the album's release, when Rivers Cuomo took it upon himself to distribute material from the album during its mixing/mastering process. At least two different versions of the promo went out, with different mixes of "Keep Fishin'" and this song. These versions featured backup vocals in different sections, or no backup vocals at all, and its original, fade-in intro - as opposed to the isolated riff that begins the LP version.

"Dope Nose" is one of the songs playable in the PlayStation 2 video game Amplitude, developed by Harmonix. An interview in Electronic Gaming Monthly with the creators of the PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero (also developed by Harmonix) mentioned the game's early builds were based on "Dope Nose". The song also appears in an episode of the TV series Monk, "Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show" and on the TV series Psych in the episode "Romeo and Juliet and Juliet". The song is a playable track in Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

Music Video

Going back to the rock with Marcos, who dug up some wacky motorcycle gangs for a midnight romp thru Grifith Park in L.A. Pat always wanted to play hexagonal syn-drums back in his youth, so now he finally got the chance.

-Karl Koch on the "Dope Nose" music video, from the liner notes for Video Capture Device

The video was directed by Marcos Siega, who has directed numerous other Weezer music videos, including "Keep Fishin'" and "Beverly Hills".

Koch recounted, in a Discord message made March 19, 2022, that he had originally intended to direct the video himself. He claims it was meant to be low-budget, and would have featured the band appearing similarly to how they later would in SZNS: Spring photoshoots.

ha! i wish. But the look those guys had in the new photo is actually very much like what I envisioned for the "Dope Nose" video, long ago. I had a treatment, had bought and rented some props, had a set carpenter friend working for free with a plan, and a free location. At the last minute the label decided to go "high budget" and use Marcos Siega again. My plan would have cost about $1000 and in my opinion would have been a lot more entertaining lol - Karl Koch, [citation needed]

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Patrick Wilson – percussion
• Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Scott Shriner – bass guitar, backing vocals

Lyrics

Oh
Woah-oh-oh
Woah-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh

Debt on my head
Wasting time on my own (Oh yeah)
Sleep rescue me
Take me back to my home (Oh, take me home)

For the times that you wanna go and
Bust rhymes real slow
I'll appear, slap you on the face and
Enjoy the show

Oh
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh

Cheese smells so good
On a burnt piece of lamb (Piece of what?)
Fag of the year
Who could beat up your man

For the times that you wanna go and
Bust rhymes real slow
I'll appear, slap you on the face and
Enjoy the show

Oh, this dope nose
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh

(Take me back, take me home baby)

For the times that you wanna go and
Bust rhymes real slow
I'll appear, slap you on the face and
Enjoy the show

Oh, this dope nose
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh

See also

• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs