Living Without You

"Living Without You"
Album track by Weezer
Album	Maladroit (Japan/UK Version)
Released	May 26, 2002
Recorded	January 2002/April 2002
Length	2:40
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo
RC#	632
COR#	310
Producer(s)	Weezer
Status	Released
Live debut	October 24, 2001 in Los Angeles, CA
Last played	December 13, 2001 at the Kool Haus
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"Somewhere" (RC# 631) "Living Without You" (RC# 632) "You Can't Cope" (RC# 633)
Maladroit (Japan/UK Version) track listing
"Island in the Sun" (14) "Living Without You" (15)

"Living Without You" is a bonus track on certain international releases of Maladroit.

Appearances

• Maladroit (Japan/UK only)
• Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years (2020)

Overview

"Living Without You" was written by Rivers Cuomo in 2001. Cuomo recorded the initial demo to an Olympus handheld digital recorder. The song was first recorded by Weezer during late summer sessions at Sage and Sound Recording in Los Angeles (the first studio sessions to feature bassist Scott Shriner). The song was also demoed at Steakhouse Studios and Cello Studios in the following months. The band performed "Living Without You" live at various shows on the Midget Tour, as well as at several Goat Punishment shows later in 2001.

Various demos and soundboard recordings of "Living Without You" were distributed freely on weezer.com throughout 2001 and 2002. Earlier iterations of the song featured the line "I'll be your bestest friend," but this was changed to "I'll be your best of friends" for the final mix.

Weezer worked on "Living Without You" throughout January of 2001 during the studio sessions for Maladroit at Cello Studios, though it did not make the cut for the record. Recording on Maladroit concluded in February of that year and within the month the band began demoing songs for a fifth album. The band returned for one additional session in April to finish recording "Living Without You," which appears as a bonus track on certain releases of Maladroit in the United Kingdom and Japan.

Personnel

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

Lyrics

I wanna go
To see your house
And see how you're living
(Living without you)

And if you care
I'm wanting you
From such a distance
(Living without you)

And if you want to try
To speak to me again
I'll be your best of friends
Oh, and I want you, oh

The things you wrote
To cut me off
When I was tryin'
(Living without you)

To get with you
And be your friend
Made me feel so bad
(Living without you)

And if you want to try
To speak to me again
I'll be your best of friends
Oh, and I want you, oh

Yeah, sweet girl, I need you
Yeah, I think it could be so good

(Living without you)

And if you want to try
To speak to me again
I'll be your best of friends
Oh, and I want you, oh

Yeah, sweet girl, I need you
Yeah, I think it could be so good

I wanna know
I wanna go
Living without you
(Living without you)

And if you do
I'll be your friend
Living without you
(Living without you)

And if you want to stay
These stupid games you play
I'm not enough to say
On, on, on, and on now (on)
On, on, on (on)

I found a life
The things you like
Living without you
(Living without you)

Because it hurts
So very much
Living without you
(Living without you)

And if you want to stay
These stupid games you play
I'm not enough to say
On, on, on, and on now (on)
On, on, on (on)

Oh, girlfriend, I need you
Oh, you've got a lot to say now

And if you want to stay
These stupid games you play
I'm not enough to say
On, on, on, and on now (on)
On, on, on (on)

Oh, girlfriend, I need you
Oh, you've got a lot to say now

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	Living Without You	310 Living Without You.mp3	2001		3:42	Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years
Weezer	Living Without You		August 29—September 6, 2001	Sage and Sound Recording, Los Angeles, CA
Weezer	Living Without You		October 21, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			Instrumental (Take 3)
Weezer	Living Without You		October 23, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			Take 2
Weezer	Living Without You		October 23, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			Take 10
Weezer	Living Without You		October 23, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			Rough mix
Weezer	Living Without You		October 23, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			Rough mix
Weezer	Living Without You		October 24, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			"Very" rough mix (Round 2)
Weezer	Living Without You		October 24, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			"Very" rough mix (Round 3)
Weezer	Living Without You		October 24, 2001	The Knitting Factory, Los Angeles, CA			Filmed for HBO's Reverb. Did not air.
Weezer	Living Without You		October 25, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			Rough mix
Weezer	Living Without You		October 26, 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			Rough mix
Weezer	Living Without You		October 27(?), 2001	Steakhouse Studios, Los Angeles, CA			"Final CD" rough mix
Weezer	Living Without You		November 3, 2001	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Weezer	Living Without You		November 10, 2001	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2001-11-20-San-Diego11-Living_Without_You_310.mp3	November 20, 2001	Cox Arena, San Diego, CA	2:54	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2001-11-24-LongBeach11-Living_Without_You_310.mp3	November 23, 2001	Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA	2:53	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2001-11-29-StLouis13_Living_Without_You_310.mp3	November 29, 2001	Family Arena, St. Charles, MO	3:16	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2001-12-05-Columbus13_Living_Without_You_310.mp3	December 5, 2001	Value City Arena, Columbus, OH	2:50	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2001-12-06-Kalamazoo13_Living_Without_You_310.mp3	December 6, 2001	Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, MI	2:40	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2002-01-07_03Living_Without_You_310.mp3	January 7, 2002	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA	2:48	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2002-01-08_07Living_Without_You_310.mp3	January 8, 2002	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA	2:41	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2002-01-10_07Living_Without_You_310.mp3	January 10, 2002	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA	2:48	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	WEEZER-2002-01-12_11Living_Without_You_310.mp3	January 12, 2002	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA	2:47	Released on weezer.com
Weezer	Living Without You	weezer-2002-04-02_living_without_you_310.mp3	April 2, 2002	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA	2:40	Maladroit (UK/Japan)

See also

• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs