Songs from the Black Hole

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Songs from the Black Hole

Unreleased Album by Weezer
Released	Unreleased
Recorded	December 1994 - August 1995
Genre	Alternative Rock Power Pop
Label	None
Producer(s)	Weezer

Songs from the Black Hole is an unreleased, unfinished Weezer album. A "space rock opera," it was originally intended to be a follow-up to The Blue Album, but over the course of recording, the album was eventually transformed into what is now Pinkerton. Some of the SFTBH songs ended up on Pinkerton (or as b-sides), but in different form and with different lyrics. SFTBH was, in the words of frontman Rivers Cuomo, "supposed to be a whole album of songs transed together," meaning a seamless flow from one song to the next (previous examples of this technique include the second side of The Beatles' Abbey Road and various Pink Floyd albums including The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here).

[edit] History

Most of the album was recorded by Cuomo in 8-track form at his home in Connecticut in 1994. On these tapes he wrote all the lyrics and music, and played all the parts himself. The characters were to be Jonas (played by Rivers), 'the good girl' (played by Rachel Haden of that dog.), Maria (played by Joan Wasser of the Dambuilders), Wuan & Dondo (played by Matt Sharp and Brian Bell of Weezer), and a robot, M1 (played by Karl Koch, a friend of the band and roadie at the time). Until recently, Joan was unaware of Rivers' intention of having her play a role on the album.

Over the course of writing the album, Rivers, who had enrolled at Harvard in the fall of 1995, changed his focus from the space rock opera theme of Songs from the Black Hole to the Madama Butterfly theme of Pinkerton. Pinkerton was released on September 24, 1996, and included the songs "Tired of Sex", "Getchoo", "No Other One", and "Why Bother?", which were left over from the Songs from the Black Hole concept. Further leftovers "Devotion", "Waiting on You", and "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" surfaced as b-sides to the Pinkerton singles. "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" is notable as it features Rachel Haden singing lead vocals. As it stands, this track is the ultimate showcase for how SFTBH may have sounded had it been completed.

In 2002, several Songs from the Black Hole demos were 'leaked' on the internet. These included "Blast Off!", "Oh No This Is Not For Me", "Come to My Pod", "Tired of Sex" and "Longtime Sunshine". Another demo, "You Won't Get With Me Tonight", was officially released on a Buddyhead compilation in 2003. Footage of the band rehearsing "Superfriend" in Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, in January 1996, was released on the Weezer DVD Video Capture Device in 2004, though the audio for this segment is inconsistent.

Sheet music and lyrics for several unreleased Songs from the Black Hole tracks were made available by Rivers on his MySpace blog starting on April 30, 2006. Lyrics were posted for "Blast Off!", "Who You Callin' Bitch?", "Oh Jonas", "Please Remember", "Oh No This is Not For Me", "She's Had a Girl", and "Now I Finally See", while sheet music was posted for "She's Had A Girl", "Who You Callin' Bitch?" and "Oh Jonas". It remains to be seen whether this will continue for the rest of the SFTBH material. He also posted that the song "Lisa", long thought to be part of tracklist 2 and the name of the second female character, was not actually part of SFTBH. This left the character's name to be unknown. Rivers could not recall the name, but referred to her as "the good girl."

In a recent interview with a Bloomfield Hills local radio station Pat Wilson told two students that he remembers being caught in Germany and Rivers using a recording studio to record what he wanted to be a rock album. Pat stated that he never knew more about SFTBH other than Rivers wanted to make a concept album.

Three copies of the album are known to exist in CD-R form. Two of them are in the care of Karl Koch, while the third copy is in Rivers' personal archive. These CDs contain the tracks from tracklist 2 (see below).

[edit] Track listing

Of the two tracklists composed for the album, the second tracklist is supposedly closer to what the finished album's tracklist would have looked like. ^{[citation needed]} Rivers compiled the second tracklist using several newly recorded songs and one mid 1994 demo that was not previously part of the album concept, and took out numerous songs that apparently were no longer needed, either due to their new status as 'real' second album songs, or due to simple creative changes of heart.

Tracklist 1

"Blast Off!"
"You Won't Get with Me Tonight"
"Maria's Theme"
"Come to my Pod"
"This Is Not for Me"
"Tired of Sex"
"Superfriend"
"She's Had a Girl"
"Good News!"
"Now I Finally See"
"Getchoo"
"I Just Threw out the Love of My Dreams"
"No Other One"
"Devotion"
"What Is This I Find?"
"Longtime Sunshine"
"Longtime Sunshine (reprise)"

Tracklist 2

"Blast Off!"
"Who You Callin' Bitch?"
"Oh Jonas" (renamed from "Maria's Theme")
"Please Remember"
"Come to My Pod"
"Oh No, This Is Not for Me"
"Tired of Sex"
"She's Had a Girl"
"Dude, We're Finally Landing" (renamed from "Good News!")
"Now I Finally See"
"I Just Threw out the Love of My Dreams"
"Superfriend"
"Superfriend Reprise"
"You Won't Get with Me Tonight"
"What Is This I Find?"

Other Songs

"Why Bother?"
"Waiting on You"
"Longtime Sunshine: Special 'Coda' Mix experiment"

Note: these songs are not officially on either tracklist but were worked on along with the rest of the SFTBH tracks at the time. The Special Coda Mix is an overlapping medley of vocals from "Longtime Sunshine", "Why Bother?", "Waiting on You", "Blast Off!", and possibly other songs.

Songs 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, and 16 on tracklist 1 are available online. "You Won't Get With Me Tonight" may also be found on the compilation disk "Gimme Skelter" by Buddyhead Records. "I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams" and "Waiting on You" may be found on "The Good Life" single and "Devotion" may be found on the "El Scorcho" single. A poor quality version of "Superfriend" can be found on the Weezer DVD, Video Capture Device. Formal studio versions of "Tired of Sex", "Getchoo", "No Other One", and "Why Bother?" are included on Pinkerton.

[edit] Tracks and Plot

[edit] Blast Off!

The leadoff track for Songs from the Black Hole is a dramatic rock song with a high-reaching melody and shifting dynamics. The lyrics are a conversation between the main character Jonas and his shipmates Wuan and Dondo. Jonas is excited yet reserved about the prospect of doing what he thinks is his dream job. Wuan and Dondo are much more upbeat about the experience. In the middle of the song M1 interjects via vocoder to remind them of the task at hand. In the last verse we find that a female character has entered the scene and that Jonas had a ‘relationship’ with her back at Star Corps Academy.

An interesting parallel in this song (and indeed the whole album) is the space mission concept being a metaphor for the rock star life that Rivers was about to embark upon.

[Jonas:] Blast off! Up to the stars we go and leave behind everything I used to know. Somebody's giving me a whole lot of money to do what I think I want to, so why am I still feeling blue? Oh Wuan and Dondo.

[Wuan and Dondo:] Goddamn, get your head out of your hands. Here's to all the times we're gonna have cooped up for a year with the two best-looking babes I've seen all year...

[Wuan:] Get me another bottle of beer, 'cos I'm feeling fine!

[Jonas:] Go ahead, waste your head, we've got the time. I hope you don't object if I speak my mind...

[M1:] Just don't forget the purpose of the mission, or Nomis will get swallowed by its sun. Each one of you is a top graduate of the Star Corps Academy. It's up to you set ‘em free (?) Oh Wuan and Dondo.

[Wuan:] Go ahead and waste your life on silly fears. I hope you don’t object if I crack another beer.

[Dondo:] Hold on, who is it here that I see? Wasn't she your favorite bitch in the Academy?

[Jonas:] I don't know if I wanna lead on this woman, you know I've done that before. She's actually a good girl...

[Dondo:] ...or at least a cheap ho.

[Maria:] Whooooo you… [Note: these lyrics are part of the released mp3 of Blast Off! but are actually from the next song]

[edit] Who You Callin’ Bitch?

The lyrics and music for this unheard song were made public by Rivers. The song is similar to the officially-released You Won’t Get With Me Tonight, though it is shorter. In it, Jonas and Maria continue the conversation started in Blast Off! Karl described the song as being “slow but huge, rocking.”

[Maria:] Who you callin' bitch?

[Jonas:] Oh, Maria, they don’t mean it. Don’t listen to them.

[Maria:] Oh, they make so mad and you do nothing, nothing to stop them.

[Jonas:] Oh, Maria, they mean nothing. Now you must chill out.

[Maria:] Especially Dondo. He acts like he knows that he has a big thing. I despise him. I despise him!

[edit] Oh Jonas (aka Maria's Theme)

In another unheard song, Maria reveals her feelings for Jonas.

[Maria:] Oh Jonas, I miss you. Nobody else loves you like I do. Oh Jonas, I need you. Nobody else, nobody else, loves me, loves me, like you.

[edit] Please Remember

The lyrics to this unheard song were released by Rivers on his blog, but he failed to note the order in which they are sung. It is likely that this song uses back and forth dialogue much like Who You Callin' Bitch. Like Who You Callin' Bitch, the lyrics are similar to those found in You Won't Get With Me Tonight.

[Jonas:] Please remember I'm only a friend. You're too crazy to settle down with. I dont love you but I can't help myself. Please Maria, it won't ever be. Won't ever be (2X). I love you. I do.

[Maria:] A friend who boinks me. Then why lead me on? I'll make you love me (3X) Love me

[edit] Come to My Pod

This is another one of the internet-released demos. A short song, it features acoustic guitars, sparse drumming, and some synthesizer, Electronic Music Laboratories Electrocomp 101. The song is a duet between Jonas and Maria, continuing their earlier conversation. Here, Maria convinces Jonas to come to her private chamber and be with her.

[Maria:] Come to my pod. There’s no one there, we’ll be alone. We can talk.... and if you want to, we'll get stoned and relax... Have fun... In my pod.

[Jonas:] In your pod, no one knows the things we do. We’ll get high... if you want to we’ll sniff glue and relax... Have fun... In your pod.

[Together:] In your/my pod, there’s no one there, we’ll be alone. We can talk... And make love the whole night through... and relax... Have fun... In your/my pod.

[Maria:] Now that we’re left all alone, touch me and kiss me and love me.

[edit] This Is Not For Me

In the song directly following Come To My Pod, Jonas realizes the mistake he's making and puts a stop to it. Maria tries to convince him to stay, but he's had enough.

[Jonas:] Oh no, this is not for me! I feel so empty! I feel the remorse. I've got to leave you.

[Maria:] No, don't go! You'll feel okay in the morning...

[Jonas:] Maria, I'm red with shame. There's no one to blame but myself. I know what is right but I do what is wrong. I do what is wrong...

[edit] Tired of Sex

Once Jonas pulls away from Maria, he realizes that his lifestyle is unfulfilling. He wants love, not sex.

[Jonas:]I'm tired, so tired. I'm tired of having sex. I'm spread so thin. I don't know who I am.

Monday night I'm makin' Jen, Tuesday night I'm makin' Gwen, Wednesday night I'm makin' Catherine, oh, why can't I be makin' love come true?

I'm beat, beet red. Ashamed of what I said. I'm sorry, here I go. I know I'm a sinner but I can't say no.

Thursday night I'm makin' Denise, Friday night I'm makin' Sharise, Saturday night I'm makin' Louise, oh, why can't I be makin' love come true?

Tonight, I'm down on my knees. Tonight, I'm beggin' you please. Tonight, tonight, please... Why can't I be makin' love come true?

[edit] She's Had a Girl

A significant amount of time has passed on the ship. Maria has given birth to Jonas' daughter. In this song, Jonas laments what has happened.

[Jonas:] She's had a girl, a child of mine. Her blood's my blood, her eyes my eyes. I can't believe she belongs to me. I belong to her. Even though... Now I finally see what it is I want. Only I'm too late. Surrender, she has won.

[edit] Dude, We're Finally Landing (aka Good News!)

The lyrics for this song are unknown.

[edit] Now I Finally See

This song has Jonas (presumably) echoing the sentiments from She's Had a Girl.

[Jonas:] Now I finally see what it is I want. Too late, too late... Surrender to her love. Now I finally see what it is I want.

[edit] I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams

In this officially-released song, the Good Girl is upset about throwing away her love. She is torn between what she thinks she wants and what she thinks is right. It is unclear whether this means she has rejected Jonas and is now doubting herself or if she's singing about someone else she may have left for Jonas ("I... see him every day, even though my love is a world away").

On the released version where Rachel Haden sings lead vocals, Rivers joins in on the last verse to make the song a duet. It is not known whether this represents Jonas, as the recording was completed after the scrapping of Songs from the Black Hole. This song makes extensive use of the Electrocomp 101.

[Good Girl:] I'm so tall, can't get over me. I'm so low, can't get under me. I must be all these things for I just threw out the love of my dreams. He's in my eyes, he is in my ears, he's in my blood, he is in my tears. I breathe love and see him every day, even though my love is a world away. Oh, he's got me wondering... My righteousness is crumbling...

Never before have I felt this way. I know what is right, but want for him to stay. I must be made of steel for I just threw out the love of my dreams

[edit] Superfriend

This song is one that has become a "most wanted" by Weezer fans. On Video Capture Device, you hear Weezer recording this song, though the sound quality his not very good, and it is interrupted by a phone call in the recording studio. You also hear a short clip of Rivers playing Superfriend acoustically with no lyrics at one point during VCD. The song is a conversation between Jonas and (presumably) the Good Girl character. In it, Jonas chides himself for giving into the seduction of Maria, even though he does not love her. The Good Girl urges Jonas to grow up and be better than that. Jonas finds himself smitten with the Good Girl, but she can see through his act and tells him to get real.

[Jonas:] What the hell am I doing, thinking with my willy? Knowing I don't love her, I tell her no, then kiss her toes.

[Good Girl:] What the heck are you doing leading on that poor girl? You know there's something better, deep in you. Now let it through.

[Jonas:] Turn away from weakness, turn to something better. Show me how to live right. I never noticed you, now I worship you.

[Good Girl:] Don't be talking silly. Save deceits for the young girls. You can talk for real to me. Close your eyes and leave the lies.

[Jonas:] Pain, pain go away. Come again another day. I got a friend tonight, a superfriend to make things right.

[edit] You Won't Get With Me Tonight

This officially-released 8-track demo recording was done completely by Rivers, who sings both parts. The song is a conversation between Jonas and Maria. The vocals are panned in order to differentiate them. In the Gimme Skelter liner notes, Karl wrote that Joan Wasser was to play the other character. The song is high-energy with a fast tempo and features a synthesizer/guitar duet during the instrumental break.

[Maria:] Who you callin’ bitch?

[Jonas:] Don’t you listen to a word they say.

[Maria:] They make me so mad.

[Jonas:] They don’t matter to me anyway. Chill out, baby; stay with me for awhile, but that don’t mean I’ll get with you tonight.

[Maria:] So pissed at those boys.

[Jonas:] Let me comfort you and hold your hand.

[Maria:] Especially that Dondo...

[Jonas:] Acting like he knows he’s got a big thing. I know his type; you’re safe with me for a while, but that don’t mean I’ll get with you tonight.

I want you so badly. Too bad that you’re too bad for me. You love me and I like you. But I got to, got to, getchoo.

[Maria:] Though I love you so

[Jonas:] Please remember that I’m just a friend.

[Maria:] A “friend” who’s in my pants.

[Jonas:] Never more, never ever again. You’re too crazy for me to settle down with so I won’t let me lead you on with a kiss.

I want you so badly. Too bad that you’re too bad for me. You love me and I like you. But I got to, getchoo, getchoo.

It hurts you so badly. I’m sorry you can’t have me. I won’t let me get with you tonight.

I want you so badly. Too bad that you’re too bad for me. You love me and I like you. But I got to, getchoo, getchoo.

It hurts you so badly. I’m sorry you can’t have me. It hurts you so badly. I’m sorry you can’t have me. I won’t let me get with, I won’t let me get with you tonight.

[Maria:] Who you callin’ bitch?

[Jonas:] Don’t you listen to a word they say.

[Maria:] They make me so mad.

[Jonas:] I don’t care about ‘em anyway. Chill out, babe, and stay with me for awhile, but that don’t mean I’ll get with you tonight. That don’t mean I’ll get with you tonight.

[edit] Demand for SFTBH

To this day, SFTBH tracks remain a holy grail for many Weezer fans. Over the years several petitions have been started with the aim of making the band release the lost "Black Hole" demos much in the same way the ss2k songs were released; the most recent petition was launched by Weezer fans on November 27th, 2005, with the goal of reaching 1000 signatures. It reached its goal of 1000 signatures on March 1st, 2006.

On October 4th, 2005 during a Weezer show at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, the band invited a fan up onstage to play the rhythm guitar for Undone - The Sweater Song. The fan took advantage of this moment to attempt to get the band to play "Blast Off!" by beginning to play the intro to the song and sang the first four lines of the song before Rivers laughed and jokingly pushed him away from the mic. After they finished "Undone", Weezer guitarist Brian Bell and Rivers all laughed at the fan's idea. In early 2006 a low-quality video bootleg of the show began to circulate around various Weezer message boards and included the fan's special performance of "Undone" and Rivers' subsequent reaction.

Once Rivers posted the lyrics and music for some of the SFTBH tracks, fans were able to cover the songs despite not having heard them. Rivers has even posted comments about the covers he has heard: "By the way, I'm very disappointed not to be hearing any women out there singing Maria's parts. What gives?" (on "Who You Callin' Bitch?") and "Good luck figuring out the time changes... No one's gotten it yet. Look at it this way: 3 beats in a 3/4 measure go by in the same amount of time as 2 beats in a 6/4 measure. Also, these last two sawngs (sic) are elided so that the pickup note of "Oh, Jonas" is the last beat of the last bar of "Who You Callin'" (on "Oh Jonas")."

[edit] The future

The image of the "Wonder Twins" that appeared on Rivers Cuomo's MySpace page leading to some fans to speculate that the long-awaited "Superfriend" was going to be released

Rivers Cuomo has stated on his blog that he is unable to release any of his demos (including Black Hole songs) because of his contractual obligations to Geffen Records. Geffen has the exclusive right to release his music:

"...Someday that may change but it won’t be anytime soon...Until I can figure out a way to compensate Geffen records (and in the case of covers songs, the songwriters) I can’t give away my recordings."

In his blog, Rivers also talked about playing his demos to Jordan Schur, the president of Weezer's label, Geffen Records:

"...when we were starting to work on Make Believe in 2003, I sat down with Jordan and played him hours of my old demos, going all the way back to the beginnings of Weezer. He didn’t think any of them were album-worthy. Neither did I. The one song he thought was good was “Blast Off” but it “needs a new chorus.” I agreed."

But Rivers did leave fans with some hope that the songs could eventually be heard:

"Thanks to all who have expressed their interest in my unreleased recordings. I hope that everything of quality is eventually made available."

In a recent interview, commenting on speculation that Make Believe would be Weezer's last album, Pat Wilson (the band's drummer) stated that he would be interested in releasing a compilation of "lost" Weezer tracks. This fueled rumours that the band would release previously unheard Black Hole songs or a completely re-worked version of the "Songs from the Black Hole" concept album in the near future.

Rivers' photo on his MySpace page on December 25th, 2005 was an image of the Wonder Twins, "sidekicks to the Super Friends in the Hanna-Barbera animated television series of the same name". Some fans believed that this was a sign that the 2005 holiday treat would be a high quality mp3 of "Superfriend" but this was later proved to be false.

On April 30, 2006, Rivers released this statement in his blog, and in the process confirmed that the home recordings of the Black Hole songs will be released sometime in the future:

"Thanks for your interest in these songs! I'm putting up the lyrics now because I suddenly realized that I can. I'll also put up the sheet music (when I have time) so that you can play them for each other! I'll release my home demos as soon as I am legally able."

It is unclear however if the recent online petition which garnered over 1000 signatures has influenced his decision.

[edit] Possible connection to The Rentals

When Rivers was asked on a chat room interview what the reason was for not releasing Songs From the Black Hole he simply stated "ROTR". He was referring to Matt Sharp's side project The Rentals whose first album was titled Return of the Rentals (ROTR). This album was released in 1995, in between Weezer's first two albums.

Some Weezer fans have theorized that originally both Matt and Rivers were writing songs for Songs From the Black Hole. Once Matt decided that he wanted that he wanted to take his songs to The Rentals, the weight of the album rested solely on Rivers shoulders, and eventually he decided to scrap the idea.

[edit] Lyrics

It should also be noted that a song Rivers and Matt wrote together, "Mrs. Young", found its way onto ROTR under the name "Please Let That Be You", with some altered lyrics. Some portions of the lyrics have some themes that could be linked to the space theme of Songs From the Black Hole.

	Lost out in the machinery/[...]/Walk around the complex/No visitors, no oxygen/Just me, no movement/[...]/Empty, everything's technical, sterile, and endless/Inside, a malfunction
	— "Please Let That Be You", Return of the Rentals

	The love I'm searching for in this machine/The systems failed, all the circuits blown, and the message lost in this machine Tried all the codes, all possibilities, all combinations, but still nothing/Called for backup from my assistants but no one seems to know anything/Disconnect, shut the main reactor down, and separate from this technology
	— "The Love I'm Searching For", Return of the Rentals

[edit] See Also

Pinkerton (album)

[edit] External links

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