Mykel and Carli (Weezer song)
| "Mykel and Carli" | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| B-side by Weezer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Album | Undone (UK Retail CD/UK Retail Cassette/UK 7" Single (Blue Vinyl)) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | June 24, 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 2:53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Geffen | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Cuomo | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| RC# | 144 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| COR# | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Ric Ocasek | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Officially released, demo circulating | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rivers Cuomo song chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Undone (UK Retail CD/UK Retail Cassette/UK 7" Single (Blue Vinyl)) track listing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternate cover | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Cover of 2004 double-CD deluxe edition |
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- This article is about the Weezer song. For more uses of "Mykel and Carli," see Mykel and Carli (disambiguation).
"Mykel and Carli" (originally known as "Please Pick Up the Phone" and "A Letter to Mykel and Carli (from a High School Friend)", is the first track from the deluxe edition of Weezer's self-titled debut album and is a b-side to "Undone".
Contents
Appearances
- Undone (Australian Retail CD) (1995)
- Undone (UK Retail CD/UK Retail Cassette/UK 7" Single (Blue Vinyl)) (1995)
- Hear You Me! A Tribute to Mykel and Carli (1998)
- Weezer (Deluxe Edition) (Disc 2) (2004)
- Death to False Metal (2010)
Overview
"Mykel and Carli" was originally written as "Please Pick Up the Phone" in February of 1993. However, as Mykel and Carli Allan began to play a larger role in the band members' lives, Rivers decided it would be fit to write a song for them.
The sisters Allan revealed the story of the writing of the song to fans at an official fan club gathering in the summer of 1996 at the Pasadena, California home of two fans. Supposedly, the sisters received a brief call from Rivers asking them what high school they went to. As the Allan family was somewhat nomadic at times, they replied that they went to several different ones. He asked them to pick one, so they decided to mention Wilson High (located in Hacienda Heights, California). "Great", Rivers said, then abruptly hung up the phone. Okay, that was weird, they thought, but let it go. Minutes later, he called back, asking them to name a street they once lived on. "Eagle Court" was the reply. Another "Thanks", and dial tone. On it went for some time, with the sisters increasingly curious, yet Rivers refused to reveal his motives for the desired info.
He then wrote "To Mykel and Carli (From a High School Friend)". Rivers' demo of this track is circulating. It is slightly different from the final version, noteably featuring a banjo track.
Days later, Mykel and Carli were invited out to a gig the band had in Hollywood, which was normal. However, the band stressed that it was important to make sure to come to this particular show. During the set, the band debuted the reworked version of "Please Pick Up The Phone", now of course rewritten and renamed in honor of the band's biggest fans. There was reportedly not a dry eye among the sisters.
When the band began recording for The Blue Album, they worked extensively on "Mykel and Carli", but never felt satisfied with it. When the "Undone" single was released, the band re-recorded the song in a session with engineer Paul duGre. The other "Undone" B-sides, "Susanne" and "My Evaline", were also recorded during this session.
For years following the untimely passing of the sisters in the summer of 1997, rumors spread that they were hit by a school bus, hence the lyrics. However, the song was of course written and recorded well before this tragic event, and had nothing to do with the circumstances.
Weezer's tribute is not the first song to be written about the Allan sisters, nor would it be the last. A Los Angeles-based band called Black Market Flowers first wrote a song of their own called "Mykel and Carli". Friends of the sisters, and acquaintences of Weezer, they were asked to open the tribute/benefit show in honor of the sisters, headlined by Weezer, and also featuring that dog., at the Palace Theater in Hollywood, August 15, 1997. The benefit show was the last time "Mykel & Carli" was played live for many years, played solely by Rivers. "Mykel & Carli" was finally played again by the full band on January 20, 2012 during the first indoor show on the Weezer cruise.
The song's chorus of Hear You Me! not only provided the name for the 1997 tribute/benefit album in honor of the sisters (on which both Weezer's and Black Market Flowers' songs are featured), but inspired the song "Hear You Me" by Jimmy Eat World, which was featured on their successful Bleed American album in 2001.
Live performances
- Weezer concert: 08/15/1997 - Hollywood, CA
- Weezer concert: 01/20/2012 - The Weezer Cruise
- Weezer concert: 02/14/2014 - The Weezer Cruise 2
Tribute show performance
First encore song of the memorial concert for Mykel and Carli Allen, the band's fan club presidents, and their sister Trysta, all of whom were killed in a tragic auto accident while en route to a Weezer show in Salt Lake City. The saddest yet perhaps most uplifting stage moment in the band's career. The girls' father, Wayne, delivers a touching speech to introduce the performance.
- -Karl Koch on a live performance of "Mykel and Carli," from the liner notes for Video Capture Device
Personnel
- Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, harmonica, lead vocals
- Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Matt Sharp – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Patrick Wilson – percussion
- Paul duGre - engineer
Audio
B-side version
Early versions
Lyrics
Back in Wilson High
I had two best friends
They lived down the block
Where Eagle Ct. bends
One she cared for my bones
Fed me ice-cream cones
One she cared for my happiness
And wouldn't leave me alone
Back in Wilson High
Said I had these two best friends
'Til the school bus came
And took my friends away
Now I'm left alone at home
To sit and think all day
Hear you me, Mykel
Hear you me, Carli
They gave me a hat
The hat was awful rad
Wore it everyday
Made my teacher mad
She tore it off my head
Now my head's well-read
My head gets cold at night sometimes
But I can't be misled
Hear you me, Mykel
Hear you me, Carli
She tore it off my head
Now my head's well-read
My head gets cold at night sometimes
But I can't be misled
Back in Wilson High
I had two best friends
They lived down the block
Where Eagle Ct. bends
'Til the school bus came
And took my friends away
Now I'm left alone at home
To sit and think all day
Hear you me, Mykel
Hear you me, Carli
Oh-oh-no, Mykel
Oh-oh-no, Carli
