Hold Me

From Weezerpedia
"Hold Me"
Album track by Weezer
from the album Make Believe
ReleasedMay 10, 2005
FormatCD, Vinyl
Recorded2004
Length4:23
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)Rivers Cuomo
COR#426
Producer(s)Weezer, Rick Rubin, Chad Bamford
StatusOfficially released
Live debutApril 26, 2005 in Vancouver, BC
Last playedAugust 22, 2005 in London, United Kingdom
Stream Spotify
Apple Music
Make Believe track listing
12 tracks
  1. "Beverly Hills"
  2. "Perfect Situation"
  3. "This Is Such a Pity"
  4. "Hold Me"
  5. "Peace"
  6. "We Are All on Drugs"
  7. "The Damage in Your Heart"
  8. "Pardon Me"
  9. "My Best Friend"
  10. "The Other Way"
  11. "Freak Me Out"
  12. "Haunt You Every Day"
This song is part of the "Hold Me" (COR# 426) lineage of songs

"Hold Me" is the fourth track from Make Believe.

Appearances

Overview

Pat: It’s just beautiful; it’s huge-sounding

Rivers: I think I was trying a foolish experiment of fasting and seeing how that would affect my songwriting. So, I think I was extremely hungry when I wrote that song.

Brian: I can’t say anything better than that! But it’s a powerful song dynamically. It’s really ballsy to play that song, to have Rivers do an intro that long before the band kicks in is a little bit frightening. And it seems to work; it has a very grandiose impact.

Rivers: When the back-up vocals come in in the second verse, that’s one of my favorite moments ever on a Weezer record.

Scott: It’s just an example, for me, of playing as little as possible and it sounds so much bigger by playing the tiniest amount of bass. As light and small as I could, winds up being just twice as big.

Brian: For some reason I liken it to ‘Say It Ain’t So’….and I don’t know why. I think it’s just the mellow verse into the huge chorus. It’s a great change.

—Band commentary[1]

In February of 2003, producer Rick Rubin gave Rivers Cuomo a copy of Daniel Ladinsky's book The Gift: Poems of Hafiz, which inspired Cuomo to explore various spiritual poetry (e.g. the works of Hafiz, Rumi, and Kabir) and texts such as the Tao Te Ching.[2] Hoping to connect with his musical creativity through self-effacement, Cuomo wrote "Hold Me" during a period of fasting.[1][3]

Weezer fans first heard "Hold Me" as an acoustic demo, recorded by Rivers Cuomo at his home on March 6, 2003, and shared with fans online sometime thereafter. It was one of the last demos Cuomo shared with fans during this period. A partial demo from later that same month, featuring a fully electric version of the song recorded at S.I.R. Rehearsal Studios in Los Angeles with Scott Shriner and two fill-in players,[4] was also distributed to fans online by Cuomo. Another S.I.R. demo, from June of 2004, was released as part of the digital compilation Alone IX: The Make Believe Years in 2020, alongside a variation on the song titled "Poor Me."

"Hold Me" was often played live during the Make Believe Tour.


Personnel

Audio

Lyrics

I am terrified of all things
Frightened of the dark, I am
You are taller than a mountain
Deeper than the sea, you are

Hold me, hold me
Take me with you 'cause I'm lonely

I was closer to you back then
I was happier, I was
You are fading further from me
Why don't you come home to me?

Hold me, hold me
Take me with you 'cause I'm lonely

I am
I am cold
Hold me

Hold me, hold me
Take me with you 'cause I'm lonely
Hold me, hold me
Take me with you 'cause I'm lonely
Hold me, hold me

Known recordings

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Rivers Cuomo Hold Me 426_Hold_Me.mp3 March 6, 2003[4] 4:06 Released online Acoustic home demo
Hold Me March 2003[4] S.I.R. Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA 1:40 Released online Partial, full-band, electric rehearsal
Rivers Cuomo Hold Me 12 426 Hold Me.mp3 June 4, 2004 S.I.R. Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA 4:18 Alone IX: The Make Believe Years
Weezer Hold Me November 7, 2003[4] Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Weezer Hold Me November 19, 2003[4] Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Weezer Hold Me November 20, 2003[4] Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Weezer Hold Me November 28, 2003[4] Swing House Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Weezer Hold Me December 2003 Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA 4:23 Make Believe
For other songs from this lineage, see "Poor Me"
about this table

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Weezer Recording History - Page 15
  2. ↑ Cuomo, Rivers. "What I've Been Up to Since I Left School" Harvard readmission essay, 2004
  3. ↑ Riesman, Abe J. "Rivers' End: The Director's Cut" The Harvard Crimson. 26 April 2006. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/4/26/rivers-end-the-directors-cut-the/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Weezer Recording History - Page 14
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