Tag Archives: Weezer

Weezer, “I’m Just Being Honest” (Weezer [Black Album], 2019)

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By Allesandro Rotondi

Honesty is a hard thing to come by these days. In the current political and social media climates, it’s hard to know who to believe, who to trust, and who’s actually telling the truth. For these reasons, Weezer’s “I’m Just Being Honest” is refreshing, relevant, and necessary. The song’s truth-telling scenarios are light, relatable, and deal with everyday happenings. Whether it’s telling a significant other what you think about their new haircut, or giving an honest opinion about a band’s new music, Rivers Cuomo & Co present it tastefully in an interesting and comedic way.

When asked about his opinion on his S.O.’s new haircut, Cuomo sings “I thought you looked better before,” before receiving the reply “Hope you like sleeping on the floor.” He also has the nerve to hilariously tell a new band looking for critique that they “sound like shit.” This line alone will likely make smaller artists think twice about handing their mixtape to Cuomo.

During the chorus, Cuomo states “I should have lied / Don’t get mad at me, I’m just being honest.” And that’s the fact of the matter: the truth hurts, and Weezer is here to give you the cold, hard truth.

Musically, the song is not particularly interesting. The upbeat drums drive the song, pushing forward without second thought, and representing the blatant and unfiltered brain of Cuomo. The chord progression is unchanging and repetitive, until the bridge. Luckily though, the vocal melody is diverse, and production techniques like vocal double-tracking and synth layering keep the choruses interesting, and varied from the thinner texture of the verses. The synthesizers and electronic drum beat during the choruses make the song feel sugar-coated and dancy, quite the opposite of the non-sugar-coated lyrics. But hey, maybe that’s what they were going for. After all—I’m just being honest.


Weezer’s “Piece of Cake” (2019)

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By Mina Wiebe

I’m not usually a huge fan of pop songs brimming with “do-do-do-do” fillers, but for Weezer I’ll make an exception.  Their new 2019 “Black Album” has faced some pretty harsh critiques so far, and despite loving the band, I’ll admit I’m not particularly amazed by the album as a whole. I wanted to love it, but instead I decided to go with my gut and give the band a break since they’ve managed to push out an impressive thirteen albums. And “Black Album” does have good moments; for me, the album’s hidden gem is the fourth track: “Piece of Cake”.

The light, cheery title pairs with the song’s opening outpour of “do-do-do-do’s” to make you think you’re about to hear another upbeat Weezer tune. But in typical Weezer fashion, don’t be fooled by first impressions. Suddenly the opening lyrics pop up and your hear Rivers Cuomo’s tenor vocals declare “Let’s do hard drugs/ Fix our problems/Let me swing by/Tears in my eyes” leading in to the song’s hook: “She cut me like a piece of cake”. So yeah, not the sweetness you’re expecting.

Lyrically, the song is pretty simple, but I couldn’t help but enjoy the cynical wittiness of some of the lines. Near the end of the song for example, the lyrics “Hey man, cheer up/Make your own luck/Have a nice life/Have some more Sprite” made me absolutely giddy because if you’ve ever been sad, there’s always that one asshole who tells you to just “stop being sad”, and here he sounds exactly like that asshole. I could hear the sarcasm dripping off of Cuomo’s tongue in this line, and I appreciated the subtle yet brilliant self-awareness that I’ve come to expect from the band.

So no, “Black Album” wasn’t a win for me, but I guess you could say that “Piece of Cake” definitely…takes the cake (should I hold for applause, or let myself out?). But in all seriousness, it’s worth giving the album a listen to form your own opinions, and I really think that “Piece of Cake” in all of its bleak, sarcastic glory wins my vote for best track of the album.