The Catalog O' Riffs

The Catalog O' Riffs as it appeared in late 2002

The Catalog O' Riffs, sometimes abbreviated as C.O.R., documents riffs and songs that Rivers Cuomo has written since it's inception on January 1, 1999. In 2002, the C.O.R. was merged with "The Grand Schedule" and has been called "The Grand File" ever since. The C.O.R. was hosted on Cuomo's personal website, riverscuomo.com, until he took it down in 2002.

Cuomo explained the C.O.R. thusly in the liner notes for the 2008 compilation album Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo:

By the beginning of 1999, I had not managed to write any songs in which I felt any confidence, despite having devoted almost all of my time and energy to the effort since August, 1997. My band-mates each were pursuing other projects. Weezer's manager and record company rep stopped calling me regularly. Friends and family grew distant. I encouraged the space so that I could be alone. I determined that with enough concentration and effort, I could analyze my way out of the predicament I imagined myself to be in, the predicament of "poor songwriting". For the first time since I was a teenager, I now allowed myself to analyze my writing process in detail. I began to think of my writing sessions as experiments from which I could learn whether or not they turned out good. I disciplined myself to write a steady stream of these song-experiments, giving each a number, and keeping a log of my work called "The Catalog o' Riffs." I analyzed a large number of writing methods, varying what seemed to be every possible facet of the process: the order of the steps (guitar, melody, lyric, beat, riff, etc.); the tempo; the feel; the level of distortion on the guitar; whether I was composing aloud or in my head; the time of day; my emotional state; whether I had eaten or not; the number of drinks I had imbibed, if any. My goal was to ascertain the one method by which I could write the best songs.

The music I produced cycled through various styles, from extremely abrasive to light and folky, but in accord with my new post-Pinkerton values, almost none of the lyrics had any personal meaning. Many of the results appealed to me, but frustratingly, I did not feel satisfaction or confidence in any one of them for long. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking, maybe I should write a song with personal meaning–after all, that was what had always worked for me in the past (in the sense that it had generated songs that I loved). But the relatively low sales and critical reviews of the uber-personal Pinkerton convinced me that I had to learn to write songs that worked without personal meaning; I had to construct songs that were so compositionally perfect that no one could deny them. This was how I saw Nirvana's and Oasis's songs, the lyrics of which seemed largely impersonal and incomprehensible to me. So I kept trying.

The first entry was a song called "I Want You". The last one that was made public on Cuomo's website was #398 "The Ruler's Back" on October 1, 2002. The Recording History on weezer.com was still including the catalog numbers with the songs up until to the recording of Make Believe, making #669, "Beverly Hills", the last known entry for several years until the release of Alone IX: The Make Believe Years in 2020. Additional entries have since been made known via The 4 and 5 Star Demos of Rivers Cuomo in 2008 and 2010, as well as filenames listed on the demo storefront on riverscuomo.com in 2020. The song "Sappy Sweet" (which later became the piano intro to "All My Friends Are Insects"), from 2004, is the last presently-known entry, at #672.

It is unknown whether the dates indicate the day a song was written or when a demo recording was made.

Teenage Victory Songs, a music criticism blog reviewing all of Weezer's output, designates Weezer's just-below-best material as "The Grand Playlist" in reference to Cuomo's archive.

List of songs by C.O.R.#

Note: Because C.O.R. information is collated from multiple sources, there are occasionally discrepancies. The following key indicates where each song title is referenced.

Key:

• 

- Listed in the 2002 version of the Catalog O' Riffs

• - Listed in the Weezer Recording History
• - Listed in The 4 and 5 Star Demos of Rivers Cuomo
• 

- Listed on the riverscuomo.com demo storefront and/or featured on Alone releases

COR#	RC#	Other code	Name
1	304		I Want You
2	305		Doorbell
3	306		How Many Places
4	307		Sunshine
5	308		Bonfire
6	309		Go Leia
7	310		O.G.s
8	311		Hey Angel
9	312		Kitty Pettin'
10	313		Hey, Hey, Hey
11	314 -		She Won't Walk Away Wanted to Know
12	315		Lead Me On
13	316		Smokin' Crack
14	317		Movie Theater
15	318 -		Boston There's a Lucky One
16	319 -		Hangout Let It All Hang Out
17	320		Dumb
18	321
19	322 322		Stop, Drop Mergatroid
20	323
21	324		D-C-G-F
22	325		Pisspot
23	326		Open Your Arms
24	327		Hold My Mind Old Man Time
25	328 - -		|A ' ' B G|G A BF G A BG-G
26	329		She Won't Do It
27	330		Turn Your Love Away
28	331		|CCGGGF|FFFFAbAb|
29	332		|G |Ab | |:fast
30	333		Girlfriend
31	334		Evil
32	335		Stay
33	336		Daddy's Girl
24	337 -		The BlackRider The Black Rider
35	338		Sumeria
36	339		Sickboy
37	340		Don't You Criticize
38	341		Attack, Attack
39	342 -		No Intro You Wanna Be
40	343		Midwife
41	344 344		Now You're Turning Me Up Alpha-Beta
42	345		Brand Name
43	346		Labrador
44	347
45	348
46	349		Genie
47	350		Neto
48	351		Fits in the Blood
49	352		Cold and Damp
50	353		(unrecorded)
51	354		Turn Me On, Turn Me Out
52	355		Neto II
53	356		Hospital Error
54	357		Mine Today
55	358		Stand Up and Fight
56	359		Gay Song
57	360		Robinson's May
58	361		Shout It Out
59	362		Ask Anything
60	363		Destination Take Me Home
61	364		And If You Go It's Natural
62	365		Tryin' to Be Your Man
63	366		Jewess
64	367		Same Situation
65	368		Valley Forge
66	369		Ayleen
67	370		Down Down Diggity
68	371		Suicide Pilot
69	372		Been Down to Jesus
70	373		I G |VIIm7 Fm7 |
71	374 -		No More Confusin' Congratulations
72	375		Sepultura
73	- 376		Roommate New Joint
74	377		Kilimanjaro
75	378		Weapons Expert
76	379		Arps
77	380		Gone Sweater
78	381		E | F# | A | |
79	382		High Time
80	383 384		a. Jimmy McFarlane b. In the Night
81	385		Memphis
82	386		|a |G |
83	387		UB40 Take Me by the Hand
84	388		Jennifer Read
85	389		I Wanna Hold Your Hand
86	390		|G F|C Bb|
87	391		|A G|D A|
88	392		Somebody Save Me
89	393		Homeless
90	394		Birds
91	395		Sixth Xmas
92	- 396 - -		My Brain My Brain Is Working Overtime Do You Really Want Me Down? Losing My Mind
93	397		Phlegm Man
94	398		|G |D |a |e |
95	399		Stupendous
96	400		Take a Day
97	401		We Did It the Hard Way-yuh
98	402		Fate's Riff
99	403		Watch Wrigley
100	404		You Guys Are Pissin' Me Off
101	405		Daemon
102	406		Hurricane
103	407		Anybody Want Some
104	408		Undone Ripoff
105	409		Greyhound
106	410		One More Time
107	411		French Pop
108	412		"Wlid" Thing
109	413		Island in the Sun
110	414		Any Way the Wind Blows
111	415		Somebody Killed Me
112	416		Somebody Tell Me Why
113	417		Always
114	418		Love Me
115	419		Jodi
116	420		So You Sense It's a Sad Situation
117	421		C'mon Siobhan
118	422		Our Heaven's Son
119	423		You Got Me
120	424		I Hip
121	425		Left Foot Down
122	428 427 426		a. When Situations Piss You Off b. My Way or the Highway c. Misunderstood
123	429		Hey
124	430		When Situations Get You Down
125	431		She Says It's Not Enough
126	432 433		a. Fanny Bone b. Fanny Bone
127	434		Hold On
128	435		I Found My Blood Today
129	436		Sweet Talk
130	437		Everyday The Lights
131	438		And You Say You Want to Cry
132	439 -		|A |G |C |D | It's a Game
133	440 -		GCBCDD DD DCC Pleased to Meet You
134	441 -		And You Say You Want to Cry Coal Miner
135	442 442 445		Waiting For the Sun It's a Game Suddenly I Shot My Mouth
136	443		Pleased To Meet You
137	444		Coal Miner
138	445		Suddenly I Shot My Mouth
139	446		I Can't Live
140	447		Hide Into The Sun
141	448		You Test the Water
142	449		Mr. Docksider
143	450		(endless blues jamming)
144	451		Everybody Waits
145	452		INST
146	453		Tremendously Awful
147	454		Well It's a New Day
148	455
149	456		Big Strong Man
150	457 457		One More Time Chance Just to Do You
151	458		I'm Walking on Water
152	459		I'm Hungry, So Hungry
153	460		Gimme Something
154	461		Hey Sugar
155	462		Remember the Time
156	463		Rescue Me
157	464		You're the Victim Of
158	465		Secret Disease
159	466		Robot Man
160	467		In My World
161	468		Possessed, Obsessed
162	469		Let's Get Mellow
163	470		You Look So Free
164	471		I Screwed It All Up
165	472		You Got To Change The Locks
166	473 -		You're Fun to Play With Yer Fun to Play With
167	474 -		My Best Friends Are Gone Brightening Day
168	475		You Stupid Piece of Shit
169	476		I Underestimated You
170	477		O-Girl
171	478		Nobody's Calling Me
172	479		No More Disappointments
173	480		Vomit All of You
174	481		Stupid Bitch
175	482		I Wanna Make a Record
176	483		We Don't Have to Torture Ourselves
177	484		Dope Nose
178	485		I Hope You're Happy
179	486		I'm Sick
180	487		I'm Sick of Feeling Blue
181	488		Hash Pipe
182	489		Ev'ry Night
183	490		How Dare You Dis Me
184	491		Peace and Quiet
185	492		I've Got to Move On
186	493		Preacher's Son
187	494		Doin' Business
188	495		Slob
189	496		I Screwed Over My Best Friend
190	497		Modern Dukes
191	498		My Bones Are Always Break
192	499		Mad Kow
193	500		Everybody Go Away
194	501		Comin' Home
195	502		Too Late to Try
196	503		On the Edge
197	504		Superstar
198	505		The Sister Song
199	506		Don't Tell Nobody
200	507		I Thought I Was Smart
201	508		All the Way
202	509		Long Way to Rock
203	510		The One Left Behind
204	511		Swearing to You
205	512		The Christmas Song
206	513		Modified Memphis
207	514		Modified Waltz in A (ref205)
208	515		Hole in Time
209	516		Puzzle
210	517		4:2 Spector Strum
211	518		Teenage Victory Song
212	519		I Wish You Luck
213	520		After Band Practice
214	521		My Body Is Falling Apart
215	522		Move It On
216	523		Jewish Cat
217	524 -		If You Want It Photograph
218	525		Downtown
219	526 -		Gonna Make My Move b. Glorious Day
220	527		Stay With Me Tonight
221	528		Happiness Together
222	529		Crab
223	530 -		Inside a Smile Smile
224	531		I've Seen It Before + I've Seen It
225	532		Don't You Know Who You Are?
226	534 533		a. After the Love Has Gone Away b. After the Love Has Gone Away
227	535		Sugar Booger
228	536		Don't Let Go
229	537		Cryin' and Lonely
230	538		Take It Slow
231	539		Homely
232	540		I Hear Bells
233	541		Seeds Fall Down
234	542 -		Anytime That You Come No Way
235	543 -		Gimme Some Love Simple Pages
236	544		Oh Lisa
237	545		For Ev'ryone
238	546		Tough Guy Hat
239	547		Sugar Booger in A@118
240	548		|eb|Gb|Cb|Bb:||
241	549		Starlight
242	550		Castles In The Sand
243	551		| A| C |
244	552		Christmas Celebration
245	553 -		Oh Girlfriend O Girlfriend
246	554		|A G| D |
247	555		|G | D | e- | C |
248	557 556		a. Everybody Is Old Enough To Dance b. Kick Your Leader
249	559 558		a. Ev'rybody Love Your Body b. Inner Giant
250	560		Childhood Ties
251	562 561		a. All of the Times You Said You Used Voodoo b. Cope With Me
252	563		Sister-Brother
253	564		The Badger
254	565		Get Up and Down
255	566 567		a. Honey Dripping Runny b. D |e |f# |G |
256	568		Baby Doll
257	569		|A |G |D |C :||
258	570 -		Burning Sun Weekend Woman
259	571 572 573		a. Knock-Down Drag-out b. |C |F |C |F | c. Slow Starlight
260	575 576 574		a. |g#- |F# |E |D# |arps b. K.Y. leader in g#- c. There's No One Else Like You
261	577		Break Up
262	578		Mr. Taxman
263	579		Drink the Water
264	580		Letting Go
265	581 582 583		a. |B |D# |g# |F# | b. |Ab |Eb/3 |Db/3 |C/3 | c. Learn How To Die
266
267	584		|A |D |
268	585		|E |A |F# |B |
269	586 587		a. b. Don't Break Me
270	588		I Wanna Creep
271	589		Beetlebum
272	590		P'bell in D
273	591		Listen Up
274	592		White Disease
275	593		Keep Fishin'
276	594 595		a. I Do b. Let It Ride
277	596		Burndt Jamb
278	597		High Up Above
279	598		Happy Grunge
280	599		Saturday Night
281	600		American Gigolo
282	601		Take Control
283	602		I Can't Tell You
284	- 603		Puerta Vallarta Acapulco
285	- 604 -		I'm Not In Love The Zep Song Zep Jamb
286	605 -		December (Only Love) December
287	606 -		Adio A Dio
288	607		The Metal Song
289	- 608		We Go Together Little Songs
290	609		Rejuvenation
291	- 610		Anything but Love Diamond Rings
292	611		Through Other's Eyes
293	- 612		Do You Want Me to Stay? Love Explosion
294	614 613 - -		a. Faith in The Light b. The Port of Ecstasy a. Everybody Depends on a Friend b. Riff Version
295	- - 615		Take Back the Love So Low Mansion of Cardboard
296	617 616		a. How Long? b. How Long?
297	- 618		Love Canopy Broken Arrows
298	619		Don't Bring Me Down
299	620		On Holiday
300	621 -		I Wanna Know I Want to Know
301	622		Still in Love With You
302	623		The Dawn
303	- 624		Big Chip Don't Pick on Me
304	625		Your Room
305	626		Death and Destruction
306	627		Farmer John
307	628		Stupid Feelings
308	630 629		a. Song From Yesterday b. Song From Yesterday
309	631		Somewhere
310	632		Living Without You
311	633		You Can't Cope
312	635 634		a. Take Your Life b. Take Your Life
313	636		Jeepers Creepers Creepers
314	638 637		a. Gone to Stay b. Possibilities
315	639		Beg and Cry In Your Eyes
316	640		Change the World
317	642 641		a. Sandwiches Time b. Until You're Blue
318	643		Hendrix
319	- 644		Get Me on the Line Ain't Got Much Time
320	646 645		a. Fall Together b. Alt riff
321	647		Follow
322	648		Dream Warning
323	649		Warm For You
324	651 652 653 654		a. Down by the Tree b. Down by the Tree c. Down by the Tree d. Down by the Tree
325	- - - 655		It's Only Rock and Roll C'mon Let's Go Serendipitous Jam Serendipity
326	656		You Don't Love Me
327	657		Ever More
328	658		Lay Down
329	659		Your Right Man
330	660 661		a. I'm Gonna Crush You b. Get You What You Want
331	662 663 -		a. riff b. song c. Frozen Tears
	664
332	665 666		a. riff b. Song
333	667		I Admire You So Much
334	668		Poor Beggar's Son
335	669		All Around Me, Everywhere
336	670		I'll Study You
337	671		I'm Scared
338	672 -		My Weakness Seafaring Jamb
339	673		The Flowers in Your Hair
340	- - 674		Spend Some Time I Wanna Be with You Porcupine
	675
	676
	677
	678
	679
	680
341	681		First Riff
342	682		I Don't Believe
343	683		Blues Riff
344	- 684		Place the Blame Space Rock
345	685		Wake Up Dry
346	- - 686		Smiths Jam Smiths Jamb Cygnus X-1
347	687		Say You Will
348	- 688		Beneath the Sun The Victor
349	689		In Your Arms
350	690		Sick of All the Effort
351	691 -		D'ya Wanna Get High? You Wanna Get High
352	692		Flat Tire
353	693 - -		Sacrifice Flown Away You've Flown Away
354	694		Slave
	695
	696
	697
	698
355	699		Dusk
	700
	701
	702
	703
356	704		Give Me Your Blessings
	705
357	706		Message Board
358	707 - -		Motion to Me Kind Support Up Yours
359	708 -		Untenable Untouchable
	709
360	710 - -		Private Message Love Me for Who I Am Hand to Hold
361	711		This Bulging River
362	712 -		Queen of Earth Queen of Hearts
363	713		Garbage Can
364	714		Wool Cap
365	715		Sugar Cookie
366	716		What a Guy That You Are
367	717 -		untitled Lethe
368	718 - - - -		Prodigy Lover Kings of Money Show Me Who You Are Happy Robot I'm a Robot
369	719 - - - - - - - -		She Who Is Militant Tell Me What You Did What Is Going On Happy on Your Own On Your Own Funeral for Music All I Wanna' Do Sleeping All the Night This Is Such a Pity
	720
370	721 - -		Bad Blues Jamb Acoustic Blues Riff Simple Fisherman
	722
371	723 - -		Hey Domingo! Don't You Let My Heart Down c. Peace
372	724 -		Mo' Beats b. Keep It Safe
373	725		Booby Trap
374	726		Buttafuoco
	727
375	728		Weezer Feel
376	729		Steamroller Steamroller Action
377	730		Fool's Gold
	731
378	732 -		Running Man Spontaneous Clean Jamb
	733
379	734		Fontana
380	735		Lullaby The Damage in Your Heart
381	736		The Organ Player
382	737 -		Egg Beaters Strangling My Nook
383	738 -		Fourth of July Take Me Home
384	739		Perfect Situation
	740
	741
	742
385	743 744		a. Turn Me 'Round b. Turn Me 'Round
386	745		Everybody Let's Rock
	746
387	747 - -		I Don't Want You Give Me an Answer Yahoo
388	748		Climbing Clean Riff
389	749 -		Hyde - King of Earth King of Earth
390	750		Don't You Let My Heart Down
391	751		Cloudy Day
	752
392	753 -		Baby Come Back Sweetest One of All
393	754 755 - - - - -		a. Another Lover b. Pull on the Trigger Set Me Right The Sweetest One of All I Don't Believe the Children Came No Contact You're the One
	756
394	757		Frozen Tears
395	758 - - - -		This Is My Home Take Me Home Leave Me Alone Everything for Me Everyone and Everything for Me(?)
	759
396	760 - - -		History's Child Sugar Daddies What's Already Done d. Cold Glass of Water
397	- - 761		a. Furthest of Seas Darling, I Think It's Time That I Let You Go b. Everybody Wants a Chance to Feel All Alone
398			untitled The Ruler's Back Emotions Let You Down
399			Relax Come On
400
401
402			Love Is the Reason
403			Get Away Haunt You Every Day
404			I Don't Need You
405			Oh She Left Me There
406
407
408
409			Only Just This Once
410
411
412
413
414			IVmaj 7 I Love You Again
415			Rock and Roll Star
416			We Have Come Together
417			untitled Bill Withers Jamb
418
419			Tell Me What I Want
420			May Your Life Be Blessed
421			piano I iii IV V Hold Me Now
422			I'm So Alone
423			I vi ii V 1_2 strum
424			See You, Feel You Lover Lover
425			I IV ii V iii vi ii V
426			Poor Me Hold Me
427
428
429
430
431			I Want to Take You Home Tonight
432
433
434
435
436			I Don't Want Your Loving
437
438
439			I Don't Want Your Loving
440
441
442
443			The Formula Let Me Go
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500			I Wanna Be with You
501
502
503
504
505
506			Blowin' My Stack
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514			Let Go of Me
515
516			Pardon Me
517
518			My Life (Is My Life) My Life Is My Life
519
520			You're My Best Friend My Best Friend
521
522
523
524			I Was Scared
525
526			Et Tu Brute Over the Mountain They Are Stupid
527
528			We Are All on Drugs
529
530
531
532			Clearer Eyes All I Need to Know Is Where to Start All I Need to Know Where to Start
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544			Why Oh Why
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556			Stand Up Break Me You'll Never Break Me Ever Again You're Holding Me Back
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574			The Other Way
575
576
577
578			Purple Flowers Always, Forever The Strong Ones Our Last Chance Last Chance
579
580			Gimmie Gimmie
581
582			You're the One That Turns Me
583
584
585
586
587
588			Simple Fisherman Time Is Running Out Learning to Love
589
590			The Damage in Your Heart
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610			I Was Made for You Someone Who Can Love Save Me (2003) Save Me (2004)
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618			V. Carlton How Was I to Know
619
620
621			Me and My Posse
622			Take It Easy Love Is the Answer
623
624
625
626			You and Me Together
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667			Freak Me Out
668
669			Beverly Hills
670
671
672			Sappy Sweet

See also

• TK Demos

External Links

• Catalog of Riffs Version 1
• Catalog of Riffs Version 2