Eulogy for a Rock Band
| "Eulogy for a Rock Band" | |||||
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| Album track by Weezer | |||||
| Album | Everything Will Be Alright in the End | ||||
| Released | October 7, 2014 | ||||
| Recorded | 2014, The Village, Los Angeles, CA | ||||
| Length | 3:25 | ||||
| Label | Republic Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Rivers Cuomo/Daniel Brummel/Ryen Slegr | ||||
| Producer | Ric Ocasek | ||||
| Status | Officially released | ||||
| Live debut | October 19, 2014 | ||||
| Stream |  Spotify |
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 Apple Music |
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| Everything Will Be Alright in the End track listing | |||||
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"Eulogy for a Rock Band" is the third track on Everything Will Be Alright in the End.
Contents
Overview
The liner notes for Everything Will Be Alright in the End groups songs by one of three themes. "The British Are Coming" is grouped under the category "Patriarchia" (songs about Cuomo's relationships with father figures). Ryen Slegr and Daniel Brummel of the band Ozma have writing credits on the song. Rivers Cuomo, when asked about the meaning of the song in an interview for the Wall Street Journal, said that the song was about one of Weezer's "forefathers":
- In that case, I was reflecting on one of Weezer’s musical fore-fathers who is in his late stage of his career. Reached the highest highs and I couldn’t help realize that as much as he achieved, there’s gonna come a time when the next generations don’t continue listening to his music. And he will be forgotten, along with the rest of us. And that’s a sobering thought for those of us who are striving now to achieve even a fraction of what he achieved.
When asked who, specifically, the song was about during a Reddit AMA in 2014, Cuomo replied "We'll tell you on the day he dies."
Shortly after EWBAITE's release, an instrumental-only version of the album was leaked online. In December 2017, an early version of the album was leaked.
The song contains a seemingly ambiguous lyric ("Fifteen/fifty years of ruling the planet"). Though the album version seems to use the lyric "fifteen", the earlier version of the song leaked online seems to use "fifty". The album's liner notes reinforces this ambiguity, displaying lyrics for the song with an ink blot over the word in question. Though not an explicit confirmation of the album's inspiration, Cuomo is known to have listened to the Beach Boys album That's Why God Made the Radio via Spotify a year prior to EWBAITE's release, an album released nearly fifty years into the band's career, suggesting that Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, known to have been a massive influence in Weezer's early sound, is the musician described in "Eulogy".
Personnel
- Rivers Cuomo – guitar, lead vocals
- Patrick Wilson – drums
- Brian Bell – guitar, backing vocals
- Scott Shriner – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Daniel Brummel - keyboard, piano
- Ric Ocasek - producer
Audio
Lyrics
Goodbye, heroes
You had a good run
Fifteen years of ruling the planet
But now your light is fading
Adios, rock band that we loved the most
This is a toast to what you did
And all that you were fighting for
Who could do more?
When time marches on
Worlds come and go
We will sing the melodies that you did long ago
Women were screaming
Guys were copying you
As you moved the people to sobbing, inspiring
You spoke for the world in your songs
Ooh, we'll never forget the jams you made
Ooh, let it fade
Ooh, it's time that we laid you in your grave
Ooh, let it fade
Ooh, goodbye
