Can't Stop Partying
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| Album track by Weezer | ||||||||||||||
| Album | Raditude | |||||||||||||
| Released | November 3, 2009 - Raditude November 25, 2008 - Alone II |
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| Length | 4:22 - Raditude 2:19 - Alone II |
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| Label | Geffen | |||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Rivers Cuomo & Jermaine Dupri | |||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Polow Da Don - Raditude Rivers Cuomo - Alone II |
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| Status | Officially released | |||||||||||||
| Live debut | July 24, 2009 - full band version November 25, 2008 - Alone II Hootenanny |
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| Stream |  Spotify |
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 Apple Music |
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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. The song was previously released in demo form on Alone II in 2008.
Contents
Appearances
- Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (Demo)
- Not Alone: Rivers Cuomo & Friends Live at Fingerprints (Live)
- Raditude
- Weezer Raditude Club: iTunes pass (Coconut Teaser Mix)
- iTunes Originals - Weezer (iTunes Originals Version)
Alone II version
"Can't Stop Partying" was written by Rivers Cuomo and Jermaine Dupri. Dupri wrote the lyrics and gave them to Cuomo claiming that, as the Alone II liner notes say, "the rock world and the hip-hop world were really the same: they were both all about partying." Initially, Cuomo would give the song what he called a predictable upbeat, "punk rock" sound. After being dissatisfied with the results (and for the song's message, something Rivers took issue with), he opted to juxtapose the "party" lyrics with a more somber feel, musically, employing a minor key, acoustic guitars, and organs. The previous upbeat take on the song has not been released.
"Can't Stop Partying" was first performed live at the Alone II hootenanny before the album was released. It was Cuomo's personal pick for the set list, naming it as his favorite song from Alone II.
A few months after the release of Alone II, a similar arrangement of the song was performed live for Stereogum.com by Cuomo, Dupri, Ryan Key of Yellowcard, Jose Galvez of Ozma, Derek Grant of Alkaline Trio, Sean O'Donnell of Reeve Oliver, Greg Vail (a saxophonist), and Ricky Sans of Melee. A flutist is also featured.
Alone II liner notes
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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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While headlining a festival in Korea in the summer of 2009, Weezer performed a new and very different arrangement of the song, featuring a rock drum beat, distorted guitars, a new bridge. The chorus lyric was also slightly altered, replacing, "I gotta have Patron, I gotta have the E" with "I gotta have the boom, I gotta have the beat," seemingly stemming from Cuomo's previously stated objection to the original's glorification of drugs. A studio version with a very similar arrangement, with the addition of a children's choir, was released (with the notation "Coconut Teaser mix" in the title) as part of the Weezer Raditude Club: iTunes pass bundle. This version was named as the favorite version of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner.
Raditude version
The "rock" version underwent a heavily altered remix by Polow da Don, featuring only the vocals and very minimal guitar over a more hip-hop oriented sound, as well as an entirely new bridge featuring a rap verse by Lil Wayne. Brian Bell stated in a 2010 interview with TheWaster.com that the Lil Wayne verse was suggested by Jermaine Dupri, and was added as they needed "something different for the third verse"[1]. The lyrics in the chorus were again subtly alterered, restoring the "Patron" lyric but keeping the "beat" lyric. The demo's stripped-down, acoustic qualities were scrapped entirely.
Band Commentary
Rivers: "Can't Stop Partying" I wrote with Jermain 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. [2]
iTunes Originals version
In November 2010 the iTunes compilation album iTunes Originals - Weezer was released featuring a 4th version of "Can't Stop Partying". Even though not specifically labeled, this version is similar to the Raditude version, but with real drums and bass guitar and more electric guitars in the mix. It has the same vocals, lyrics and bridge as the Raditude version. This version was previously heard on Weezer's MySpace page and therefore is sometimes referred to as "MySpace Mix", or "MySpace version".
Audio/Video
Alone II version
Raditude
YouTube (North America)
YouTube (International)
Raditude sessions
Other performances
Personnel
Alone II version
- Rivers Cuomo – acoustic guitar, vocals, percussion
Raditude version
- Rivers Cuomo - vocals, guitar
- Lil Wayne - vocals
- Pat Wilson - drums
- Brian Bell - backing vocals, Synth
- Scott Shriner - Synth, backing vocals
- Polow da Don - production
Lyrics
These lyrics are for the full album version featuring Lil Wayne. The version released on Alone II is the exact same without Lil Wayne's verse, and the line "I gotta have the beat" was originally "I gotta have the e", and "I got the real big posse with me, yeah I'm deep" was originally "I got the real big posse with me, yeah I'm ???" [as quoted from the Alone II liner notes]
I can't stop partying, partying
I can't stop partying, partying
I gotta have Patrón, I gotta have the beat
I gotta have a lot of pretty girls around me
Oh, I can't stop partying, partying
I can't stop, partying, partying
I gotta have the cars, I gotta have the jewels
and if you was me, honey, you would do it too
Monday to Sunday I hit all the clubs
And e'rybody knows me when I pull up
I got the real big posse with me, yeah I'm deep
And if you lookin' for me I'm in VIP
Just follow the smoke; they're bringing bottles of the Goose
And all the girls in the corner getting loose
Screw rehab I love my addiction
No sleep, no sleep, I am always on a mission 'cause
I can't stop partying, partying
I can't stop partying, partying
I gotta have Patrón, I gotta have the beat
I gotta have a lot of pretty girls around me
Oh, I can't stop partying, partying
I can't stop, partying, partying
I gotta have the cars, I gotta have the jewels
and if you was me, honey, you would do it too
[Lil Wayne:]
Party like tomorrow is my funeral
Gotta stop mixing alcohol with pharmaceuticals
And the unusual is the fucking usual
Man, my life is beautiful and my girls are mutual
Okay bitch, it's Weezer and it's Weezy
Upside down MTV
Please don't shoot me down because I'm an endangered species
It's the days of our lives but my night just started
I pray the killer doesn't take the life of the party
I can't stop partying, partying
I can't stop partying, partying
I gotta have Patrón, I gotta have the beat
I gotta have a lot of pretty girls around me
Oh, I can't stop partying, partying
I can't stop, partying, partying
I gotta have the cars, I gotta have the jewels
and if you was me, honey, you would do it too
Oh
Can't stop, can't stop the partying
Can't stop, can't stop the partying
Can't stop, can't stop the partying
Can't stop, can't stop the partying
Can't stop, can't stop the partying
Can't stop, can't stop the partying
Can't stop, can't stop the partying
Can't stop, can't stop the partying
I hope this party never ends, oh, oh oh
Keep partying with my best friends, oh, oh oh
This is the crunkiest night in my whole lifetime
Keep partying with me tonight
Chamillionaire’s Verse
I’m a rockstar, not a pop star
Pay the toll and hop on my freeway
I’m up in the club tryna purchase love like I couldn’t find it on eBay
And she feeling freaky
Light some candles like it’s her B-Day
She wanna hear Weezer on replay
For Pete’s sake do I like I’m a DJ?
Wanna be on TV
What you think I got my camera for?
Grab the Patrón and I stand on the bar
Cuz I already sipped on a gallon or more, more
Reach and she grab my guitar
Walk to the exit grabbin’ the door
Tryna get her and her friend to car
And I’m tryna get her to dismantle the bra, c’mon
See also
References
- Spotify-link page
- Apple Music-link page
- Weezer songs
- Songs that appeared on the 4 and 5 Star Demos of Rivers Cuomo list
- Featured song
- Songs on Raditude
- Demos turned album tracks
- Revisited songs
- Weezer songs produced by Polow da Don
- Songs on Alone II
- Self-produced Rivers Cuomo songs
- Alone series
- Co-writing credit
