Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me

"Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me"
Demo by Weezer
Album	Weezer's first demo
Recorded	May 1992
Length	3:26
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson
RC#	123
Producer(s)	Weezer
Status	unofficially released
Live debut	April 7, 1992
Weezer's first demo track listing
"Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me" (1) "Let's Sew Our Pants Together" (2) The Kitchen Tape track listing "Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me" (1) "My Name Is Jonas" (2)
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"My Oh My" (RC# 122) "Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me" (RC# 123) "Paperface" (RC# 124)

"Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me" is an early song by Weezer.

Appearances

• Weezer's first demo (1992)
• The Kitchen Tape (1992)
• Patrick & Rivers (2020)

Overview

"Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me" was written and demoed by Rivers Cuomo and Patrick Wilson to 8-track in February of 1992 as part of Cuomo and Wilson's "50 Song Project." The song was rehearsed in the days following Weezer's formation on February 15, and is known to have been recorded during this period on the 16th. The song continued to be performed at various Weezer shows throughout the spring, and was one of three songs recorded for the band's first demo in May of 1992. The song was sometimes mislabeled as "Silent Dreams" during this period. The recording from this demo is the same that appears on Weezer's second demo (The Kitchen Tape). The song is not known to have been performed by Weezer after the summer of 1992.

Despite the inclusion of other tracks from The Kitchen Tape, "Thief" does not appear on the compilation Dusty Gems & Raw Nuggets from the Deluxe release of The Blue Album, as it was purportedly considered too "sloppy" by Todd Sullivan, Weezer's former Geffen A&R representative who produced the deluxe release of Blue. It was instead distributed online in the early 2000s after fans acquired a copy of the Kitchen Tape.

A demo of the song was released on the digital compilation, Patrick & Rivers on December 9, 2020.

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me	Thief You've Taken All That Was M.mp3	February 1992		1:48	Patrick & Rivers
Rivers Cuomo	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me	11 Thief, You've Taken All That Was.mp3	February 1992		1:48	Patrick & Rivers	Duplicate of Thief You've Taken All That Was M.mp3
Weezer	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me		February 16, 1992	T.K. Productions & Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA			Weezer rehearsal
Weezer	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me		April 7, 1992	8121 Club, Los Angeles, CA			Live acoustic performance, taped by Karl Koch
Weezer	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me		April 13, 1992	Whisky a Go Go, West Hollywood, CA			Live performance, taped by Karl Koch
Weezer	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me		May 21, 1992	8121 Club, Los Angeles, CA			Live acoustic performance, taped by Karl Koch
Weezer	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me		May 1992		3:28	Weezer's first demo The Kitchen Tape
Weezer	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me		June 11, 1992	8121 Club, Los Angeles, CA			Live acoustic performance, taped by Karl Koch
Weezer	Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me		August 12, 1992	Coconut Teaszer, Los Angeles, CA			Live performance, taped by Karl Koch

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Jason Cropper – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Matt Sharp – bass guitar
• Patrick Wilson – percussion

Known live performances

• Weezer concert: 04/07/1992
• Weezer concert: 04/13/1992
• Weezer concert: 05/21/1992
• Weezer concert: 06/11/1992
• Weezer concert: 08/12/1992

Lyrics

Thief of silent dreams
With golden scenes(?)
You stole away
All that was in me
It wasn't me
Who slipped away

And now I stand, with skin and bones
Without a dime to call my home
Only a voice to tell you, Thief,
You've taken all that was me

Rain, you laugh so hard
You cry on me
You rain on me
Cleanse, cleanse my soul
My soul to be
I need to be(?)

Now I stand with skin and bones
Without a dime to call my home
Only a voice to scream at you
And now I stand with skin and bones
Without a dime to call my home
Only a voice to scream at you

Thief, you've taken all that was me
You've taken all that was me
You've taken all that was me
You've taken all that was me!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

And now I stand with skin and bones
Without a dime to call my home
Only a voice to scream at you
Thief, you've taken all that was me
Thief, you've taken all that was me

See also

• "The 50 Song Project"
• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs