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Can't Stop Partying
| "Can't Stop Partying" | ||||||||||||||
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| Album track by Weezer | ||||||||||||||
| Album | Raditude | |||||||||||||
| Released | November 25, 2008 (Alone II) November 3, 2009 (Raditude) |
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| Length | 2:19 (Alone II) 4:22 (Raditude) |
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| Label | Geffen | |||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Rivers Cuomo, Jermaine Dupri | |||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Polow Da Don (Raditude) | |||||||||||||
| Status | Officially released | |||||||||||||
| Stream |  Spotify |
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 Apple Music |
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| Professional reviews | ||||||||||||||
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| Raditude track listing | ||||||||||||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||||||||||||
 Alone II cover |
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"Can't Stop Partying" is the fourth track from Raditude. A demo by Rivers Cuomo was released prior as the thirteenth track on the compilation album Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo in 2008.
Contents
Appearances
- Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (2008)
- Not Alone: Rivers Cuomo & Friends Live at Fingerprints (2009)
- Raditude (2009)
- iTunes Pass: The Weezer Raditude Club (2009)
- Official Bootleg series
- iTunes Originals: Weezer (2010)
Overview
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On September 10, 2007, Jermaine Dupri sent me a demo of a song he had started writing, "Can't Stop Partying" (Track 13). He also sent me his number to discuss where we could take the song. I gave him a call. He told me that he had noticed that the rock world and the hip-hop world were really the same: they were both all about partying. He wanted to write a song–and to find an artist to cover that song–to show the unity between these two apparently disparate worlds. He thought Weezer was the perfect artist.
I thought about it long and hard. I had been a great admirer of Jermaine's songs, especially Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together", which had been a big influence on my recent composition, "Heartsongs". And I loved the demo he sent me of "Can't Stop Partyin'". It was so fun and catchy. But the music sounded a little cheesy to me, like generic punk rock. And worst of all, the lyrics were clearly a celebration of drinking and drug-taking, which I could not sing without qualms. I tried to expand the lyrics to make them more in line with my values. That's when I realized what a true genius Jermaine is. His lyrics had seemed so simple to me, as if any seventh-grader could have written them, but when I tried to write a second verse, I couldn't manage to write anything one-tenth as good as his first verse! His lyrics were all about celebration. They were totally inclusive. My lyrics couldn't indicate confidence or joy without being at the expense of someone else. Every line of Jermaine's was so strong, so iconic, like a song title. My lyrics were awkward and strained. I set the song aside. In October, in another Vipassana course, it suddenly occurred to me that I could change the meaning of the song, not by changing the lyrics, but by changing the music under the lyrics. When I got to my wife's family's house in Japan after the course, I picked up a guitar and strummed the four chords that you hear on my demo of the song. These chords suggested sadness and resignation in the face of something ineluctable, something fated, a drug-habit, a drinking addiction. Suddenly, "I Can't Stop Partying" might be a sad thing to say, and this was the undertone which, I believed, allowed me to sing the song with conviction. Was it a celebration? Or an elegy for one lost? I didn't know. But I thought it was beautiful. And that's all I've ever really cared about as a writer. The happiness of the creative moment. It has always been mine.
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"Can't Stop Partying" was originally written by musician/producer Jermaine Dupri. Dupri gave the lyrics to Rivers Cuomo, but Cuomo was dissatisfied with his attempts to create something predictably upbeat, instead opting to juxtapose the lyrics with a more somber tone. This acoustic demo was released in 2008 as part of the compilation album Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo. Cuomo performed the song with fans at a "hootenanny" at Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California, scheduled to coincide with the release of Alone II. The song was Cuomo's personal pick for the set list, and Cuomo named it his favorite song from the album.
In December of 2008, a few weeks after the release of Alone II, Cuomo performed "Can't Stop Partying" (alongside the songs "I Was Scared" and "Don't Worry Baby") for Decomposed, a series of studio sessions for the internet publication Stereogum. For "Can't Stop Partying," Cuomo was accompanied by Dupri on vocals; Greg Vail on flute; acoustic guitarists Ryan Key (of Yellowcard), Jose Galvez (of Ozma), Sean O'Donnell (of Reeve Oliver), Ricky Sans (of Mêlée); and percussionist Derek Grant (of Alkaline Trio), among others.[1]
Despite Cuomo's misgivings about recording "Can't Stop Partying" as a rock song, the song was revisited as a rock song for Weezer's seventh album, Raditude, in 2009. Weezer first premiered a new arrangement of the song (with a new bridge and some modified lyrics) on July 24, 2009 at Jisan Valley Rock Festival in Icheon, South Korea. Weezer also unveiled the songs "The Girl Got Hot" and "I'm Your Daddy" at this concert. This arrangement was later recorded in the studio during production on Raditude, but was ultimately scrapped in favor of an arrangement featuring Lil Wayne. The studio arrangement of this live version was released as a bonus track on the "iTunes Pass" version of Raditude, with the parenthetical "Coconut Teaser Mix." Bassist Scott Shriner has named this version as his favorite.[citation needed]
Another version of "Can't Stop Partying" was recorded with producer Jacknife Lee between November of 2008 and January of 2009.[2] Ultimately, only four tracks produced by Lee would be included on the final version of Raditude, but Lee's version of Raditude leaked online in 2017.
The version that appeared on Raditude was produced by Polow da Don, and featured a more upbeat, hip-hop sound compared to previous versions, as well as a rap verse by Lil Wayne, reportedly included at the suggestion of Dupri.[3]. Despite including a high-profile collaborator in Lil Wayne, "Can't Stop Partying" would not receive a music video and was not released as a single. An alternate mix of Polow's version of the song was released on Weezer's Myspace page and eventually appeared on the band's iTunes Originals compilation album.
On October 22, 2009, a week prior to the release of Raditude, Weezer performed "Can't Stop Partying" for studio sessions at AOL's West Coast studio. This version featured an original rap verse performed by rapper Chamillionaire. Chamillionaire also accompanied Weezer on the song two days later, during a concert in Los Angeles. During most live performances throughout 2010 (including a televised appearance on Lopez Tonight, Cuomo performed the Lil Wayne rap himself. In subsequent years, the band has performed the song without any bridge.
Band Commentary
Rivers: "Can't Stop Partying" I wrote with Jermaine Dupri who's like a Hip-Hop/R&B guy. So it was really fun for me. He came in with this total "Woohoo, we're partying" type of vibe. And it wasn't 100% right for me so I wrote some different chords and changed some melodies and gave it a little bit of dark undertone to it. So it had some complexity. [1][citation needed]
Known recordings
Personnel
Alone II
- Rivers Cuomo — acoustic guitar, vocals, percussion
Raditude
- Rivers Cuomo — vocals, guitar
- Lil Wayne — vocals
- Pat Wilson — drums
- Brian Bell — backing vocals, synth
- Scott Shriner — synth, backing vocals
- Polow da Don — production
Audio/video
Alone II version
Raditude
Other performances
Lyrics
RaditudeI can't stop partying, partying |
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I can't stop partying, partying |
Chamillionaire verseI’m a rockstar, not a pop star |
See also
References
- ↑ "Rivers Cuomo - "Can't Stop Partying"" Stereogum. 22 December 2008. Archived by Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20090129224656/http://stereogum.com:80/decomposed/performance/rivers_cuomo_cant_stop_partyin.php
- ↑ Karl's Corner - 05/26/2009
- ↑ Johnson, Alexandra. "Weezer ‘Icons of a Generation Return to their Roots’" The Waster. 8 August 2010. https://www.thewaster.com/interview/weezer-icons-of-a-generation-return-to-their-roots/
- ↑ Rogulewski, Charley "Weezer Run With Chamillionaire, Sara Bareilles and ... Kenny G?" Spinner. 23 October 2009. Archived by Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20111117112349/http://www.spinner.com/2009/10/23/weezer-run-with-chamillionaire-sara-bareilles-and-kenny-g/ from the original
