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Say It Ain't So

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This article is about the song by Weezer. For other uses, see Say It Ain't So (disambiguation).
"Say It Ain't So"
Single by Weezer
from the album Weezer (The Blue Album)
B-side
  • "No One Else" (live acoustic)
  • "Jamie" (live acoustic)
ReleasedMay 15, 1995 (1995-05-15)
StudioElectric Lady (New York City)
Genre
Length4:18
LabelDGC
Songwriter(s)Rivers Cuomo
Producer(s)Ric Ocasek
Weezer singles chronology
"Buddy Holly"
(1994) 		"Say It Ain't So"
(1995) 		"El Scorcho"
(1996)
Music video
"Say It Ain't So" on YouTube

"Say It Ain't So" is a song by American rock band Weezer. It was released as the third and final single from the band's self-titled 1994 debut album on May 15, 1995. Written by frontman Rivers Cuomo, the song came to be after he had all the music finished and one line, "Say it ain't so".[4] Cuomo made a connection to an incident in high school where he came home and saw a bottle of beer in the fridge. He believed his mother and father's marriage ended because his father was an alcoholic, and this made him fear the marriage between his mother and step-father would end this way as well.[5]

"Say It Ain't So" is widely considered one of the band's best songs. In 2015, Loudwire ranked the song number three on their list of the 10 greatest Weezer songs,[6] and in 2021, Kerrang ranked the song number two on their list of the 20 greatest Weezer songs.[7] In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked "Say It Ain't So" number 72 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time."[8] Pitchfork included the song at number 10 on its "Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s".[9]

Background and composition

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"Say It Ain't So" is an alternative rock, power pop and emo song with a duration of 4 minutes and 18 seconds.[2] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Music, it is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderate rock tempo of 76 beats per minute.[2] "Say It Ain't So" is composed in the key of E-flat major (E♭). The song has a basic sequence of Cm7–Gadd♯9–A♭–E♭ in the verses and interludes, changes to C5–G5–A♭5–E♭5 at the chorus and follows B♭5–B♭5/A–E♭5–G♭5 during the bridge as its chord progression.[2]

In an official Genius annotation made by Rivers Cuomo himself, he said that Patrick Wilson helped him to write the song; he asked Pat what a two syllable word for refrigerator was and Pat immediately said "Icebox!"[10]

Music video

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The music video for "Say It Ain't So", directed by Sophie Muller, met with less success than the previous two Weezer videos directed by Spike Jonze, but the song still successfully climbed to the top 10 of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. As noted in the Weezer DVD collection Video Capture Device and the slip cover of the re-released special edition of the group's debut album, the band filmed the music video at the house where the band used to rehearse and record. The video also features a cameo by the band's webmaster/band photographer/archivist and close friend for many years, Karl Koch. A small poster of Mercyful Fate/King Diamond frontman King Diamond is visible several times throughout the video, most clearly during the final chorus, just as Rivers Cuomo turns his mic around.

Song mixes

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Two mixes of the song exist. The original album pressings had a mix with slightly different sounding drums, bass and no guitar feedback. However, when the band released the single, the mix that kept the guitar feedback in the song was used. The band liked this mix so much that the members asked for it to replace the version on the album, after the album had sold 3 million copies. The album now features the version with the feedback. The deluxe version features both mixes.

Track listing

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Standard CD, 10-inch, and cassette single[11][12][13]

  1. "Say It Ain't So" (remix) – 4:17
  2. "No One Else" (live and acoustic) – 3:15
  3. "Jamie" (live and acoustic) – 3:53

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart (1995) Peak
position
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[14] 11
Scotland (OCC)[15] 43
UK Singles (OCC)[16] 37
US Radio Songs (Billboard)[17] 51
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[18] 7

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[19] 2× Platinum 60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[21] 5× Platinum 5,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States May 15, 1995 Alternative radio DGC [22]
June 27, 1995 Contemporary hit radio [23]
July 10, 1995
[24]
United Kingdom
  • 10-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Geffen [25]

Covers

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The band Further Seems Forever covered the song on the Weezer tribute album Rock Music: A Tribute to Weezer. An episode of "One Tree Hill" featured a cover by MoZella, Wakey!Wakey!, and Juliana Hatfield. Deftones, the Sleeping, Young Guns, Finch, Real Estate and Dashboard Confessional have also covered the song live. Asher Roth sampled the song for his debut rap single "I Love College". After the song leaked onto the internet, Rivers Cuomo reportedly refused to clear the sample, which prompted Roth to debut a remixed version of his song as his official debut single.[26] Canadian Hip hop artist K-OS has also covered "Say It Ain't So" for his live EP "Much Music Presents: k-os Live", featuring vocals from Benjamin Kowalewicz of Billy Talent in 2011. Foster the People also covered the song in August 2011, after Weezer did a version of "Pumped Up Kicks". Chiptune artist Inverse Phase parodied the song on a Commodore 64, titling it "Say It Ain't Sixty-FO"[27] Calpurnia covered the song for Spotify's Under Cover podcast in 2018[28]

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"Say It Ain't So" is a playable track in the video games Rock Band[29] and Rocksmith 2014[30] in addition to appearing on an episode of Hindsight. In October 2024, "Say It Ain't So" was added to the Epic Games rhythm-based game Fortnite Festival.

References

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  1. ^ "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995". Spin. August 6, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Cuomo, Rivers (20 August 2012). "Weezer 'Say It Ain't So' Sheet Music in C Minor – Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. Hal Leonard Music Publishing. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  3. ^ Sigur, Matthew (June 19, 2018). "'Say It Ain't So': Weezer's Scott Shriner on how the band has stayed relevant for nearly 25 years". The Advocate. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  4. ^ "Wireless". Archived from the original on July 9, 2006.
  5. ^ Luerssen, John D. (2004). Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story. ECW Press. pp. 110–111. ISBN 978-1-55022-619-5.
  6. ^ Cornell, Jeff (March 6, 2015). "10 Best Weezer Songs". Loudwire. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Law, Sam (August 9, 2021). "The 20 greatest Weezer songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. p. 30. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  9. ^ "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 20-01". Pitchfork. September 3, 2010. p. 2. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  10. ^ "Somebody's Heine / Is crowding my icebox / Somebody's cold one / Is giving me chills / Guess I'll just close my eyes". Genius. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  11. ^ Say It Ain't So (UK CD single liner notes). Weezer. Geffen Records. 1995. GFSTD 95.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ Say It Ain't So (UK 10-inch single sleeve). Weezer. Geffen Records. 1995. GFSV 95.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ Say It Ain't So (UK cassette single sleeve). Weezer. Geffen Records. 1995. GFSC 95.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 2728." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  16. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  17. ^ "Weezer Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  18. ^ "Weezer Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  19. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Weezer – Say It Ain't So". Radioscope. Retrieved December 19, 2024. Type Say It Ain't So in the "Search:" field.
  20. ^ "British single certifications – Weezer – Say It Ain't So". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  21. ^ "American single certifications – Weezer – Say It Ain't So". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  22. ^ "New Music for May" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1092. April 28, 1995. p. 70. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  23. ^ "Selected New Releases" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1100. June 23, 1995. p. 24. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  24. ^ "New Single for July". Radio & Records. No. 1101. June 30, 1995. p. 65.
  25. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. July 10, 1995. p. 27.
  26. ^ "Weezer Frontman Refuses To Clear Asher Roth Single". XXL. November 18, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  27. ^ "Inverse Phase on Bandcamp: Say It Ain't Sixty-FO". Inversephase.bandcamp.com. September 18, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  28. ^ "Calpurnia – Say It Ain't So (Spotify Session Cover)". YouTube. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  29. ^ "Rock Band – Say It Ain't So by Weezer". rockband.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  30. ^ "Rocksmith 2014 – Say It Ain't So by Weezer". rocksmith.com. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
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