The Other Way
| "The Other Way" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||
| Album track by Weezer | |||||
| Album | Make Believe | ||||
| Released | May 10, 2005 | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Recorded | Summer 2004 | ||||
| Length | 3:17 | ||||
| Label | Geffen | ||||
| Writer(s) | Rivers Cuomo | ||||
| COR# | 574 | ||||
| Producer(s) | Weezer, Rick Rubin, Chad Bamford | ||||
| Status | Officially released | ||||
| Live debut | October 3, 2005 in Rosemont, IL | ||||
| Last played | November 7, 2014 in Los Angeles, CA | ||||
| Stream |  Spotify |
||||
 Apple Music |
|||||
| Make Believe track listing | |||||
|
|||||
"The Other Way" is the tenth track from Make Believe.
Contents
Appearances
- Make Believe (2005)
Overview
"The Other Way" was written by Rivers Cuomo and demoed acoustically, directly to a Marantz CD burner recorder with Todd Sullivan, on November 8, 2003 at Weezer's office space . Cuomo has described the song as being about the desire to console his former-girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba, after the death of her then-current boyfriend, singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, while questioning his motives for wanting to do so. Smith passed away weeks earlier, from an apparent suicide, on October 21.
Band Commentary
- Pat: That song sounds like every note is placed exactly where it’s supposed to go, like…it’s one of those songs where nothing sounds out of place, it just sounds great to me.
- Rivers: I wrote that song for Jennifer Chiba after Elliott died, and I wanted to console her, but I was confused and skeptical about my own motives for wanting to do so, so I wrote that song about that.
The song continued to be demoed with Rick Rubin on November 28. By February of 2004, the song was on Cuomo's "B-list" of songs in consideration for the album. The song would not be added to the final track list until a year later, around February of 2005, only a few months before the album's release. The album recording features saxophone playing by Jason Freese, the brother of Josh Freese.
The song is only known to have been performed once during the tours in support of Make Believe, at a concert on October 3, 2005. The song is not known to have been played again live until 2014, when it was added to acoustic set lists during the Everything Will Be Alright in the End Tour.
Known performances
- Weezer concert: 10/03/2005
- Weezer concert: 10/25/2014
- Weezer concert: 10/26/2014
- Weezer concert: 10/27/2014
- Weezer concert: 11/02/2014
- Weezer concert: 11/06/2014
- Weezer concert: 11/07/2014 (b)
Personnel
- Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
- Patrick Wilson – percussion
- Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, piano, backing vocals
- Scott Shriner – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Jason Freese - saxophone
- Rick Rubin - producer
- Alan Moulder - mixing
Audio
Lyrics
I want to help you
But I don't know how
I want to soothe you
But I can't speak out
I have many fears
About rejection
I have many memories of pain
I have always been a little shy
So I'll turn and look the other way
Other way
Other way
I will turn and look the other way
I want to hold you
But I am afraid
I want to touch you
But I'm not that way
I have many doubts about my motives
I have many fears about my greed
I have always hurt the one that I love
So I'll turn and look the other way
Other way
Other way
I will turn and look the other way
I have many doubts about my motives
I have many fears about my greed
I have always hurt the one that I love
So I'll turn and look the other way
Other way
Other way
I will turn and look the other way
(Other way, other way)
I will turn and look the other way
(Other way, other way)
I will turn and look the other way
The other way (Other way)
The other way (Other way)
The other way (Other way)
The other way (Other way)
