[047] Pinkerton

Album: Pinkerton
Artist: Weezer
Release Date: September 1996
Label: DGC/Geffen
Producers: Weezer

“Everywhere in the world, the roving Yankee takes his pleasure and his profit, indifferent to all risks. He drops anchor at random…”
- English translation of original Italian lyrics from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, printed around the edge of the Pinkerton CD.

Dear Livejournal,
I’m so happy that it’s Friday. I’m going to a party tonight at Mike DeMasco’s house. I think he’s got a built-in pool which is sweet cuz it hasn’t gotten cold out yet. All the cool people are gonna be there, and I think his friend Jesse’s band is gonna play in the garage. The best part that I’m really excited about is that I think Jenny Stevens from my English class is gonna be at the party. Oh man, she’s so cute.
[10.05.07]

Dear Livejournal,
The party was really good. I got to talk to Jenny! I’m glad she doesn’t think I’m a freak. We talked about music and movies. She really liked Superbad and that’s like my new favorite movie. I really like her, but she says ‘like’ too much. She looked really, really pretty. At one point, she touched my arm and I felt warm.
[10.06.07]

Dear Livejournal,
Mr. R., my English teacher, said that we were going to talk about how classic stories influence modern art, and then we got to talk about emo! Well, I tried to get him to talk about My Chemical Romance, but he just wanted to talk about Weezer’s Pinkerton, which is like so played out…well, I never heard it, but it’s like, from the 90’s, and the newer Weezer has sucked for years. Maybe it’s good, cuz Jenny said she likes it. I guess it’s better than reading Ethan Frome like last month. He assigned us the story of the opera Madame Butterfly by some guy named Puccini, then handed out burned CDs of the Weezer album. He said that we had to read the opera’s story and listen to the album, and write a report on how Weezer was influenced by Puccini.
[10.09.07]

Dear Livejournal,
I have to say, that Weezer album is pretty good. It’s really loud which is cool. Mom says I have to start turning down my iPod though cuz I’m gonna go deaf. I blast “Tired Of Sex” when she’s not around. Pat Wilson is a sick drummer, but I wish Rivers Cuomo would scream more though. It’s named after the Lieutenant in the opera, and there’s all this stuff about Japan. I called my cousin cuz I know she used to be into them, and she said that it’s their best album because it sounds like they way they sound live. She also said that when it came out, Pinkerton was a disaster. No one liked it, but that all the emo kids loved it, so it got big on the underground scene. She started naming all these other albums I should check out, like Clarity by Jimmy Eat World and one named Diary by some band called Sunny Day. I don’t know, all the emo she likes doesn’t sound like the emo I like, but she says that’s how it goes – like, all the best emo albums aren’t really emo like it is today. Oh, and I dyed my hair black, and Jenny said she really liked it. I wish I could have the courage to ask her out. It’s like in that Weezer song, “El Scorcho”, where Rivers can’t talk to the girl he likes, so he writes a song about it instead. I would write Jenny a song, but I’m not that good at cello yet. Maybe I’ll try and talk to her in the hall tomorrow.
[10.10.07]

Dear Livejournal,
OMG, I hate school!!! Screw this crap!! I’m never going back again!! I asked Jenny out, and she said no. I was so embarrassed. She was already dating someone, but I never see her with anyone but that girl Patty from my 8th period Math. I think maybe she’s a lesbian like the girls on the album, like in “Tired Of Sex” and “Pink Triangle”. Why can’t Jenny just like me instead of Patty? I guess Patty kinda looks like a boy, but I’d be a better boyfriend. I wonder if they’re having sex. I’d be good at sex, especially with Jenny. What’s wrong with me that I like a lesbian?? I’m so dumb! Rivers is so right when he says, “If everyone's a little queer, why can't she be a little straight?” Maybe that’s why all the emo kids loved this CD, cuz Rivers totally gets it. When he asks, “Why can’t I be making love come true”, I think of Jenny and I get a little sick. Or like, “Why Bother?” Exactly! I should’ve known Jenny wouldn’t like me, and I’d just get hurt.
[10.11.07]

Dear Livejournal,
I haven’t talked to Jenny in four days. I think she knows I’m hurt. She kept looking back at me in class today, like trying to get my attention, but I just ignored her. Mr R. kept me after class today because he saw that I wrote “feeling is pain” on my arm with a marker. He said he’s glad I’m identifying with the assignment, but that I shouldn’t get too wrapped up in it. He said it took Rivers a long time to get over his regrets over making Pinkerton, because he wrote it after some leg surgery which he was on painkillers for, and he felt like he said too much cuz he was high. That’s what “The Good Life” is about Mr. R. said, trying to get back to normal after so much pain. He said I’d be alright, but I don’t know. I listened to Weezer all weekend, thinking it might make me feel better, cuz Rivers feels like I do. But just seeing Jenny hurts me so much right now.
[10.15.07]

Dear Livejournal,
I turned in my English paper today. I guess Rivers is like Pinkerton in a way. Actually, I read a quote from him where he said the album is like his struggle with his inner Pinkerton. When he says he needs fantasies, “a life of chasing butterfly”, I think he means he’s into Japanese girls. And “Across The Sea” is definitely about that, but I don’t know, it just seems weird for a rock star in his 20’s to be into one of his teenage fans who wrote him a letter. He’s a weird dude, like smelling and licking her envelope and stuff, and thinking about a fan touching herself. That’s kind of sad, but I guess that’s Mr. R.’s point in having us study the opera and write a paper, cuz Madame Butterfly is sad too. I wonder if I’ll turn out like Rivers. I’ve been really mean to Jenny, and I feel really sorry. I think I should talk to her and apologize, cuz I don’t want to be like Pinkerton, and leave Jenny and never come back. Even if she is a lesbian, she’s still cool, and I guess it would suck if she saw me hanging out with another girl. Pinkerton was a dickhead for marrying Kate. He totally pwned Butterfly, and all she ever did was love him. At least Rivers said he was sorry to his Japanese girl. I have to stop writing cuz Mom says I have to practice my cello first, and I can’t play Halo 3 until after. Maybe I’ll learn a Weezer song and play it for Jenny. That’s what Rivers would do.
[10.17.07]

Tracklist:
01. "Tired Of Sex"
02. "Getchoo"
03. "No Other One"
04. "Why Bother?"
05. "Across The Sea"
06. "The Good Life"
07. "El Scorcho"
08. "Pink Triangle"
09. "Falling For You"
10. "Butterfly"

"Tired Of Sex" [live in Lupos]


"The Good Life" [video]


- BONUS: "Getchoo" [live at the 1995 Glastonbury Festival]
- BONUS: "Why Bother?" [live in Lupos]
- BONUS: "Across The Sea" [audio/fan video]
- BONUS: "The Good Life" [live & acoustic on MuchMusic, 1996]
- BONUS: "El Scorcho" [video]
- BONUS: "Pink Triangle" [video]
- BONUS: "Pink Triangle" [live & acoustic, 06.97]
- BONUS: "Butterfly" [audio/fan video]