King of the World

"King of the World"
Single by Weezer
Album	Weezer (The White Album)
Released	January 15, 2016
Recorded	2015
Length	3:24
Label	Crush Music/Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo/Jarrad Kritzstein
Producer(s)	Jake Sinclair
Status	Officially released
Live debut	January 19, 2016
Stream	Spotify
	Apple Music
Weezer singles chronology
"Do You Wanna Get High?" (2015) "King of the World" (2016) "I Love the USA" (2016) Spotify Sessions track listing "Buddy Holly" (2) "King of the World" (3) "California Kids" (4)
Weezer (The White Album) track listing
"Do You Wanna Get High?" (5) "King of the World" (6) "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" (7)
Alternate cover
Cover of the international digital single

"King of the World" is the sixth track and third single from The White Album.

Appearances

• Weezer (The White Album) (2016)
• Spotify Sessions (2016)

Overview

"King of the World" is one of a handful of White Album songs to feature songwriting credits from outside Weezer, with songwriter Jarrad Kritzstein receiving credit alongside Rivers Cuomo. White producer Jake Sinclair expressed in an All Things Weezer post, however, that Kritzstein's contributions were minor.

The song concerns Cuomo's relationship to his wife, Kyoko Cuomo. It includes truthful references to her life, including her relationship with her husband, her views on life, and her upbringing in and relationship to Japan.

During Periscope rehearsals of the song^{[citation needed]}, Rivers Cuomo would sometimes sing "USA dropped an atom bomb" instead of "Uncle Sam dropped an atom bomb." He later explained that this was the original lyric, and it remained in the song until the mixing stage.

During the song's bridge (around the 2:18 mark) the bassline from "Only in Dreams" can be heard in the background.

Music video

The music video was directed by Scantron and premiered on January 15, 2016.

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Patrick Wilson – percussion
• Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Scott Shriner - bass guitar, backing vocals

Lyrics

You walk by the magazines
Sitting on the rack at the CVS
One more sad movie star divorce
Three hundred died in an airplane wreck
And you think of all the people suffering
And you bury that pain
But you can tell me everything
And we'll ride on that wave

If I was King of the World
You'd be my girl
You wouldn't have to shed one single tear
Unless you wanted to
'Cause yeah, I know what it's like
If I was King of the World
Yeah, girl
We could ride a Greyhound all the way to the Galapagos
And stay for the rest of our lives

Dad hit you on the hand
Just for holding your chopsticks wrong
Then your mom locked you in a shed
And Uncle Sam dropped an atom bomb
But you're not alone
You can let it go
And just weep on my breast
And cover me with your tenderness
And that pain will pass

If I was King of the World
You'd be my girl
You wouldn't have to shed one single tear
Unless you wanted to
'Cause yeah, I know what it's like
If I was King of the World
Yeah, girl
We could ride a Greyhound all the way to the Galapagos
And stay for the rest of our lives

We are the small fish
But we swim together
No prozac or valium
We'll face tsunamis together

If I was King of the World
You'd be my girl
You wouldn't have to shed one single tear
Unless you wanted to
'Cause yeah, I know what it's like
If I was King of the World
Yeah, girl
We could ride a Greyhound all the way to the Galapagos
And stay for the rest of our lives

External links

• Genius.com entry for "King of the World"

See also

• List of Weezer songs