Waiting on You

"Waiting on You"
B-side by Weezer
Released	Fall 1996
Recorded	June 1996 (demo recorded during February 1995 in Hamburg Germany)
Length	4:13
Label	DGC Records
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo
RC#	177
COR#	N/A
Producer(s)	Weezer
Status	Released
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"Suzanne" (RC# 176) "Waiting on You" (RC# 177) "Getchoo" (RC# 178) The Good Life track listing "The Good Life" (1) "Waiting on You" (2) "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" (3) Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997 track listing "Let Me Wash at Your Sink" (9) "Waiting on You" (10) "Oh No, This Is Not For Me" (11)

"Waiting on You" is a B-side by Weezer, originally released on EP CD releases of "The Good Life".

Appearances

• "The Good Life" (CD, EP; 1996)
• Not Alone: Rivers Cuomo & Friends Live at Fingerprints (DVD, 2009)
• Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition, 2010)
• Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997 (2011)
• Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years (2020)

Overview

Summer of '93, the very last day of making The Blue Album, our producer Ric Ocasek came into the studio with his wife, Paulina. Paulina brought a beautiful young lady with her. And so I hung out with her for the rest of the night. We'd walk around New York City, I'd listen to the rough mixes of The Blue Album. That Christmas, when I came back to see my mom, this girl visited me for a day. We had a great time, I was like, "She's the one! This is so cool!" Just like that, you make The Blue Album, you turn it in, you get a sweet girlfriend. Next day I woke up thinking "I'm really looking forward to talking to her again." She never called. Next day, she didn't call. [...] Day by day it went on like that. Every day my loneliness and my love grew exponentially. We got to day nineteen—loneliness at 1019, one with nineteen zeros after it—puffy eyes, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. What'd I do? I sat down at my mom's piano and I wrote this song. - Rivers Cuomo, Weezer concert, August 30, 2023

"Waiting For You" was originally written by Rivers Cuomo and demoed on his mother's piano in the summer of 1993, shortly after recording Weezer's debut album. Cuomo recorded a full 8-track demo the following January. During the writing of the ultimately-scrapped concept album, Songs From the Black Hole, Cuomo retrofitted the song to be sung from the perspective of one of the musical's female characters, Maria, who becomes pregnant with the child of the main character, Jonas. After the Songs from the Black Hole concept was scrapped, the song (with its original lyrics) was recorded by Weezer in the studio and released as a B-side for the European CD single release of "The Good Life" (also released as an EP in Australia) in 1996, as well as the Deluxe Edition of Pinkerton in 2010.

Though the song has never been performed live as a full band, Cuomo performed the song with fans at a "hootenanny" in 2008 to promote the release of Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo. Cuomo also performed the song acoustically at Weezer concerts in 2023. Cuomo's 1994 demo was released as part of the 2011 compilation Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997 (also appearing on Alone IV.

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	Waiting on You		July/August 1993				Piano-only, live to single track (take 1)
Rivers Cuomo	Waiting on You		July/August 1993				Piano-only, live to single track (take 2)
Rivers Cuomo	Waiting on You	10 Waiting on You.mp3	January 1994		3:20	Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997
Rivers Cuomo	Waiting on You	17 Waiting On You.mp3	January 1994		3:21	Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years	Same source recording as "10 Waiting on You.mp3"
Weezer	Waiting on You		August/September 1995	Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY
Weezer	Waiting on You		September 4, 1995	Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY
Weezer	Waiting on You		September 1995	Fort Apache Studios, Boston, MA	3:56	Leaked online	Unfinished; Brian Bell vocals only
Weezer	Waiting on You		1995—1996	Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY Fort Apache Studios, Boston, MA Sunset Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, CA	4:13	"The Good Life" (CD single, 'OZ EP') Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition)
Rivers Cuomo et al.	Waiting on You		November 25, 2008	Fingerprints Music, Long Beach, California	3:37	Not Alone: Rivers Cuomo & Friends Live at Fingerprints (DVD)

Live performances

• Rivers Cuomo concert: 11/25/2008
• Weezer concert: 08/30/2023 (Cuomo-only)
• Weezer concert: 10/06/2023 (Cuomo-only)

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Patrick Wilson – percussion
• Brian Bell – rhythm guitar
• Matt Sharp – bass guitar

Lyrics

Official lyrics Why haven't you called me? Did you forget me? I need to know When were you intending To break the silence And let me know? Mine is the loneliest of numbers, oh Now is the loneliest of times, oh yeah You're 19 days late But still I sit and wait, oh Waiting and waiting Waiting and waiting Waiting and waiting Waiting on you Who have you been seeing That made you forget me? I bet you call him Where, Oh where does he come from? I bet he lives close by I bet he's just a friend Oh, mine is the loneliest of numbers, woah Now is the loneliest of times, oh yeah You're 19 days late But still I sit and wait, oh Waiting and waiting Waiting and waiting Waiting and waiting Waiting on you Waiting and waiting Waiting and waiting You got me waiting Waiting on you I asked you if you had a good heart You answered, "Yes, I'll never do you harm" I asked you if you had a good heart You answered, "Yes, I'll never do you harm"

Songs From the Black Hole, draft 2 [MARIA:] Why haven't you called me did you forget me I need to know When were you intending to break the silence and let me know mine is the loneliest of numbers and now is the loneliest of times I'm 19 days late but still I sit and wait Waiting and waiting Waiting and waiting Waiting and waiting Waiting on you Who have you been seeing That made you forget me I bet you call her Where where does she come from I bet it's New England I bet she's just a friend I asked you if you had a good heart [JONAS:] I answered "Yes I'll never do you harm"

See also

• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs