Meaning of Songs Series: Weezer's Say It Ain't So

Posted over 3 years ago

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Weezer
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Weezer
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Say It Ain't So

Oh yeah, all right Somebody's Heine' Is crowdin' my icebox Somebody’s cold one Is givin' me chills Guess I'll just close my eyes Oh yeah, All right, Feels good Inside Flip on the telly, Wrestle with Jimmy Something is a-bubbling Behind my back The bottle is ready to blow... Say it ain't so Your drug is a heartbreaker Say it ain't so My love is a lifetaker I can't confront you I never could do That which might hurt you Just try and be cool And I say - this way is a waterslide away from me That takes you further every day (day) So be cool Say it ain't so Your drug is a heartbreaker Say it ain't so, My love is a lifetaker Dear Daddy, I write you in spite of years of silence. You've cleaned up, found Jesus, things are good or so I hear This bottle of Steven's awakens ancient feelings Like father, stepfather, the son is drowning in the flood Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah Say it ain't so. Your drug is a heartbreaker. Say it ain't so My love is a lifetaker

Starting point: This song is about a son confronting his cold and distant father, who has recently reformed but not yet made amends with his son, about the pain he has caused.Questions: What's with the Heine crowding the icebox? Why does he have to close his eyes? How old is the son? What does "My love is a lifetaker" mean? What does "like father, stepfather, the son is drowning in the flood" mean? Is there importance in the difference between the two types of beers mentioned?

Comments (9)

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Torch says I'm going to go with the father is cold and distant because of alcoholism. Heine, Icebox - Beer in the fridge Closed eyes - Trying to escape that situation Drowning in the flood - Becoming an alcoholic himself

Permalink posted 09/22/2006
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cardmagic says Nice, thanks Torch, good insight. But the Heine, Icebox – Beer in the fridge is the surface level interpretation, I am wondering if there is more to it. For example, maybe his dad's favorite beer is Heineken and "someone's Heine is crowding my ice box" is saying that his dad's influence is always near him.

Permalink posted 09/22/2006
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justcheez says 'Your drug is a heartbreaker.' 'My love is a lifetaker' these lines are all about the detrimental effect alcohol abuse can have on relationships and physical health. i think. also, when he says: 'Guess I’ll just close my eyes' i suppose this is about the narrator of the song (presumably Rivers himself) turning a blind eye to his fathers alcoholism.

Permalink posted 09/22/2006
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cardmagic says Yes, that makes sense, so this song is much more about alcohol abuse than about the son confronting his father. "Flip on the telly, Wrestle with Jimmy" Trying to ignore what is going on. "Something is a-bubbling Behind my back The bottle is ready to blow" His father is getting into a rage. "This bottle of Steven’s awakens ancient feelings" The son falling off the horse.

Permalink posted 09/22/2006
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cardmagic says Or he is remembering all the pain associated with it. Or both?

Permalink posted 09/22/2006
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RWKotulski says I think the phrase cardmagic meant was "falling off the wagon", which refers to beginning to drink again after a period of not drinking. For a detailed explanation of the phrase: The Maven's Word of the Day, Random House Publishing I think the line "my love is a lifetaker" can also be expanded to refer both to the fact that the father has died (will die) from alcohol abuse, but also that if a child is in that position they could be killed (purposely or accidentally) by a father who is blazed out of his mind. It's also interesting to note that for much of the 20th century a parent who killed their child by abuse was usually not convicted of murder. They usually were convicted of a much lesser crime. One case, that I can personally recall, involved a father that killed his twelve month old son by throwing him against a wall. The child died from internal injuries and the father was charged with second degree manslaughter and served less than one year in jail. This case took place in Oregon, and led to a law equating death by abuse with murder.

Permalink posted 10/04/2006
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lisj27 says i used to be such a "weezer head" its embarassing how many pointless things i know... rivers' real father, of whom he was astranged(sp?), was an alcoholic... rivers' step-dad steven, the only father he ever knew, "never drank" but one day when rivers was 10 or so he found one of his step-dad's beers in the fridge and was scared that his step-dad would fall into the same downward abusive spiral his dad did... he was scared to confront his step-dad or tell anyone about it... jimmy is reference to rivers' brother leaves... basically the song is about this fear that alcohol would consume everyone in this vicious cycle and the fear of speaking out against it... rivers' claims he wrote the bulk of this song when he was really young... it his way of dealing with the situation...

Permalink posted 12/18/2006
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cardmagic says Wow, that's fantastic trivia that makes the song much more meaningful! Thanks!

Permalink posted 12/18/2006
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gijibae03 says great post. i always thought this song alluded to a child being sexually abused because of the word choice (crowding the icebox, givin’ me chills, bottle is ready to blow) and the description of references (Wrestle with Jimmy, Something is a-bubbling, Behind my back). but after reading the other comments, maybe i read too much into it. alcoholism definitely fits the bill, but i still wonder about some of the innuendos in word choice. in any case, this is all very interesting so thanks. :)

Permalink posted 03/10/2007