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Rock and Roll
Have derived much pleasure in Rivers' band, Weezer, since my first year at university. My brother Stephen is a bigger fan, so I asked him to write a small piece:
What's the difference between Rivers Cuomo and almost any other songwriter out there? Melody. More specifically dissonance in his melodic shapes. If we think about music vertically, the melodic note can either duplicate a note that is in the chord or it can be a non-chord tone instead. 95% of pop music has melodies that stick with chord tones. Cuomo is the 5% that doesn't. ¶ I met Rivers Cuomo once in 1996 after a concert of theirs in Toronto. Adrenalin pumping. I'm talking a mile a minute. Eventually I calm down enough to let him speak. We discuss his favorite chord sequences, Chopin preludes, and the prevalence of major sevenths in his songs. I will say this for the man: yes, he is shy and very reserved, but he was also gracious and open to talk about music. Hell, I met my rock idol. My rock idol. How many people can say that? ¶ Recounting this now makes me think how funny it is that some of our life-changing experiences are just fleeting moments for the other party involved.
—Stephen Hare, August 2001. |
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