Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me

From Weezerpedia
"Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me"
Demo by Weezer
from the album Weezer (The Blue Album) (30th Anniversary Deluxe)
ReleasedNovember 1, 2024
RecordedAugust 1992
Length3:26
Songwriter(s)Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson
RC#123
Producer(s)Weezer
StatusOfficially released
Live debutMarch 19, 1992
Last playedAugust 12, 1992
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"My Oh My"
(RC# 122)
"Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me"
(RC# 123)
"Paperface"
(RC# 124)
Weezer (The Blue Album) (30th Anniversary Deluxe) track listing
18 tracks
Disc 2
  1. "Say It Ain't So" (Kitchen Tape Demo)
  2. "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" (Kitchen Tape Demo)
  3. "Paperface" (The Kitchen Tape Demo)
  4. "Undone - The Sweater Song" (Kitchen Tape Demo)
  5. "Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me" (Kitchen Tape Demo)
  6. "My Name Is Jonas" (Kitchen Tape Demo)
  7. "Let's Sew Our Pants Together" (Kitchen Tape Demo)
  8. "Only in Dreams" (Kitchen Tape Demo)
  9. "I Can't Forget the Way" (Third Practice)
  10. "Undone - The Sweater Song" (Third Practice)
  11. "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" (Third Practice)
  12. "Windows Down" (Garage Practice)
  13. "My Name Is Jonas" (Garage Practice)
  14. "Only in Dreams" (Garage Practice)
  15. "Superman" (Garage Practice)
  16. "Dawn Sets upon Us" (Garage Practice)
  17. "Just What I Needed" (Rehearsal Demo)
  18. "Buddy Holly" (Rehearsal Demo)
Weezer's first demo track listing
The Kitchen Tape track listing

"Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me" is an early song by Weezer.

Appearances

Overview

"Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me" was written and demoed by Rivers Cuomo and Patrick Wilson to 8-track in February of 1992 as part of Cuomo and Wilson's "50 Song Project." The song was rehearsed in the days following Weezer's formation on February 15,[1] and is known to have been recorded during this period on the 16th. The song continued to be performed at various Weezer shows throughout the spring, and was one of three songs recorded for the band's first demo in May of 1992. The song was sometimes mislabeled as "Silent Dreams" during this period. The recording from this demo was long believed to be the same that appears on Weezer's second demo (The Kitchen Tape), however Karl Koch confirmed in 2024 that they are different recordings entirely.[2] The song is not known to have been performed by Weezer after the summer of 1992.

Despite the inclusion of other tracks from The Kitchen Tape, "Thief" does not appear on the compilation Dusty Gems & Raw Nuggets from the Deluxe release of The Blue Album, as it was purportedly considered too "sloppy" by Todd Sullivan, Weezer's former Geffen A&R representative who produced the deluxe release of Blue.[3] It was instead distributed online in the early 2000s after fans acquired a copy of the Kitchen Tape. This version was officially released on the 30th Anniversary Deluxe version of The Blue Album on November 1, 2024.

A demo of the song was released on the digital compilation Patrick & Rivers on December 9, 2020.

Personnel

Known live performances

Lyrics

Thief of silent dreams
With golden scenes(?)
You stole away
All that was in me
It wasn't me
Who slipped away

And now I stand, with skin and bones
Without a dime to call my home
Only a voice to tell you, Thief,
You've taken all that was me

Rain, you laugh so hard
You cry on me
You rain on me
Cleanse, cleanse my soul
My soul to be
I need to be(?)

Now I stand with skin and bones
Without a dime to call my home
Only a voice to scream at you
And now I stand with skin and bones
Without a dime to call my home
Only a voice to scream at you

Thief, you've taken all that was me
You've taken all that was me
You've taken all that was me
You've taken all that was me!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

And now I stand with skin and bones
Without a dime to call my home
Only a voice to scream at you
Thief, you've taken all that was me
Thief, you've taken all that was me

Known recordings

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Rivers Cuomo Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me Thief You've Taken All That Was M.mp3 February 1992 1:48 Patrick & Rivers
Rivers Cuomo Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me 11 Thief, You've Taken All That Was.mp3 February 1992 1:48 Patrick & Rivers Duplicate of Thief You've Taken All That Was M.mp3
Weezer Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me February 16, 1992 T.K. Productions & Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA Weezer rehearsal
Weezer Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me April 7, 1992 8121 Club, Los Angeles, CA Live acoustic performance, taped by Karl Koch
Weezer Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me April 13, 1992 Whisky a Go Go, West Hollywood, CA Live performance, taped by Karl Koch
Weezer Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me May 21, 1992 8121 Club, Los Angeles, CA Live acoustic performance, taped by Karl Koch
Weezer Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me May 1992 2226 Amherst Ave., Los Angeles, CA Weezer's first demo
Weezer Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me June 11, 1992 8121 Club, Los Angeles, CA Live acoustic performance, taped by Karl Koch
Weezer Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me August 1992[1] 2226 Amherst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 3:26
Weezer Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me August 12, 1992 Coconut Teaszer, Los Angeles, CA Live performance, taped by Karl Koch
about this table

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Weezer Recording History - Page 3
  2. Karl Koch [Karlophone]. (August 9, 2024). Message sent to the Weezerpedia Discord Server channel #project-forums. Transcribed at Weezerpedia Discord Q&A with Karl Koch - August 2024.
  3. All Things Weezer. 2 December 2009. File:Atw-karl-bde-toddsullivan.png