Runner-Up

"Runner-Up"
Demo by Rivers Cuomo
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo
Status	demo

"Runner-Up" (previously titled "Fireball") is a song originally intended for Weezer (The Black Album). It has never been heard by fans.

Overview

In a November 2017 magazine interview with Vulture, Rivers Cuomo said:

One of my favorite songs right now, it’s called “Runner-Up,” and, I mean, when I wrote it on piano and vocal, it sounds — the first thing that comes to minds is Pinkerton-esque, but I hesitate to use that, because that means so much to people. It sounds very like that core, emotional Rivers that an old-school fan would love, but then the way it was produced — my piano is in there, but then there are all these electronic, dark elements that sound like nothing we’ve ever done.

In an entry for the song on Riverpedia in 2020, Cuomo suggested that the song was written at the same time as "QB Blitz". Cuomo confirmed later that the song was originally titled "Fireball", adding that the title "makes more sense with the lyrics." In 2021, early iterations of the song were included as untitled demos within the Alone XIII: The Pacific Daydream Years demo bundle.

See also

• List of Rivers Cuomo songs