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"
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
"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[1]
- —Rivers Cuomo, Weezer concert, August 30, 2023[1]
"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.
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
Audio
Lyrics
[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"
Known recordings
Performer(s) | Title | Filename | Date of recording | Recording location | Length | Appeared on | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rivers Cuomo | Waiting on You | July/August 1993[2] | Piano-only, live to single track (take 1) | ||||
Rivers Cuomo | Waiting on You | July/August 1993[2] | Piano-only, live to single track (take 2) | ||||
Rivers Cuomo | Waiting on You | 10 Waiting on You.mp3 | January 1994[3] | 3:20 | Alone III: The Pinkerton Years 1994-1997 | ||
Rivers Cuomo | Waiting on You | 17 Waiting On You.mp3 | January 1994[3] | 3:21 | Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years | Same source recording as "10 Waiting on You.mp3" | |
Weezer | Waiting on You | August/September 1995[4] | Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY | ||||
Weezer | Waiting on You | September 4, 1995[4] | Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY | ||||
Weezer | Waiting on You | September 1995[4] | Fort Apache Studios, Boston, MA | 3:56 | Leaked online | Unfinished; Brian Bell vocals only | |
Weezer | Waiting on You | 1995—1996 |
|
4:13 |
|
||
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) |
See also
References
- ↑ Bootleg: Weezer 2023-08-30 - Arizona Federal Theatre, Phoenix, AZ https://archive.org/details/14-only-in-dreams/12+Waiting+On+You.flac
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Weezer Recording History - Page 4
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Weezer Recording History - Page 5
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Weezer Recording History - Page 8