"Pork and Beans" is a song from alternative rock band Weezer's 2008 album, The Red Album. It was released in digital form on April 24, 2008.[1] The track debuted at #19 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart, and would go on to spend eleven weeks at #1.
The song was written by Rivers Cuomo as a reaction to a meeting with Geffen executives where the band was told they needed to record more-commercial material.[2] Cuomo remarked, "I came out of it pretty angry. But ironically, it inspired me to write another song."[3]Jacknife Lee produced the track with the band in early 2008.[4]
A music video of the song, which incorporated many YouTube celebrities and memes with the band, was premiered first on YouTube and was one of the most popular videos in the weeks following its release.
Track listing
UK Retail CD / US Indie Retail 7" (Red Vinyl)[5]
- "Pork and Beans"
- "Are 'Friends' Electric?" (Gary Numan)
UK Retail 7" #1[5]
- "Pork and Beans"
- "Love My Way" (Richard Butler, John Ashton, Tim Butler, Vince Ely)
UK Retail 7” #2[5]
- "Pork and Beans"
- "Oddfellows Local 151" (Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe)
Reception
The song has been generally well received by critics and fans alike.[4][6] Many reviewers were pleased with what they saw as a return-to-form to the sound of the group's earlier power pop sound, which was present on The Blue Album and Pinkerton.[7][8][9][10] Pitchfork Media writer Marc Hogan gave the song a positive review and described the song as, "a catchy, self-referential rocker, with the buzzsaw guitars and big choruses of Weezer's glory days, and that familiar, self-assured lameness."[11] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly also gave the song a positive review, "That chunka-chunka guitar hook is pure gold, so much so that I didn't focus on Rivers Cuomo's very clever lyrics at first."[12] Stereogum was also impressed with the song stating it was a "sweet, savory dose of self-referential, self-deprecating Weezer rock...This stuff sounds very familiar in a good, good way."[13] In terms of chart performance, "Pork and Beans" is Weezer's most successful single in their 16 year career. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts in only its third week on the charts. It became their ninth Top 10 hit on this chart and third Number One overall and spent 11 weeks at #1,[14] making it one of only 17 songs to ever sit at #1 on that particular chart for 10 weeks or longer and one of 3 songs to have spent 11 weeks at #1. It also represented their fastest rising single ever, reaching #1 after a mere 11 days after release.[4] It debuted at #39 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it is currently at a peak of #25 and debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 at #84 with 17,000 downloads of the song on iTunes and has so far peaked at #64 on this chart.[15][16]
Music video
The music video for "Pork and Beans" was directed by Mathew Cullen[18] of Motion Theory and prominently features many internet phenomena and YouTube celebrities.
On May 23, 2008, the video premiered on YouTube. It features the band interacting with many YouTube stars and Internet memes,[19][20][21]
including Gary Brolsma ("Numa Numa guy"), Matt McAllister, Mark Allen Hicks ("Afro Ninja"), Caitlin Upton, Judson Laipply, Chris Crocker, Kicesie, Tay Zonday, Kevin Federline (stock footage), Kelly, Ryan Weiber, Michael "Dorkman" Scott, Jeong-Hyun Lim, Dramatic Prairie Dog (including lookalikes of J-Pop group Mini Moni, who were in the original TV clip the Dramatic Prairie Dog originated from), Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz's Diet Coke and Mentos eruptions, parody G.I. Joe PSAs, catching Raybans with one's face, the Dancing Banana, Will It Blend?, All Your Base Are Belong to Us, One Man Band by Connor Berge, Daft Hands, Daft Bodies, the Soulja Boy dance (listed on YouTube as "Crank That Soldier Boy"), a CGI Donald Duck and King Kong, Charlie the Unicorn, and the UFO sighting in Haiti Hoax video. The video shares some thematic similarities with the music video for the Barenaked Ladies single "Sound of Your Voice", which also featured multiple YouTube celebrities. According to Cullen, the video was to be a "celebration of that creativity",[22] an idea that went over well with the members of the band.[23] In contrast to an earlier South Park episode, "Canada on Strike!" which parodied the YouTube celebrities, Cullen wanted to embrace the concept of "about being happy with who you are".[22] Cullen hopes that the video will be "a living thing on the Internet"; as the video itself was a mash-up of Weezer's "favorite stuff", Cullen hopes others will use the video to create their own mash-ups.[24] The YouTube celebrities were flown into Los Angeles, California to work with the band for the four-day shooting of the video.[23]
Dan Dzoan, current world record holder for solving a Rubik's Cube with one hand, was present for the shooting but does not appear in the video, though there are Rubik's Cubes in the video, and Dan is present in another video posted by Weezer to YouTube.[20] Neil Cicierega's Potter Puppet Pals were slated to be in the video but were left out due to problems with shipments of props. A mock-up of the Dumbledore puppet can be seen in the video nonetheless.[25]
The video had over 1.2 million views in its first 24 hours up on YouTube[26] and 3.6 million by May 27, 2008.[22] As of May 29, 2008 it has reached four million views.[23] The video quickly became the most-watched video on the internet of the weekend following its release.[24] It was the most popular video of the month in June, reaching 7.3 million views by June 16, 2008.[27]
The video was nominated for "Best Editing" for the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.[28]
Personnel
References
- ^ Koch, Karl (2008-04-18). "04/18/08 Triunfa Del Fjord". Weezer.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ "Weezer Make First New Album Track Available". Uncut. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ "Spring Album Preview", Issue #1050, Rolling Stone, p. 32. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ a b c "Weezer CD Coming 3 Weeks Early". antiMUSIC.com (2008-05-13). Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ a b c Kharas, Kev (2008-05-23). "Watch: New Weezer Video Plus Exclusive Single Details". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved on 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Pork and Beans By Weezer: Reviews and Ratings". Rate Your Music. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ Gresehover, Ehren (2008-04-14). "Weezer Return to Their Blue Period". New York Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ "Hear It Now: Weezer's Single "Pork and Beans"". The Herald (2008-04-16). Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ Goodman, William (2008-04-21). "New Weezer Album Out June 24". Spin. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ Ritter, David (2008-04-19). "Track Reviews: Weezer: Pork and Beans". Coke Machine Glow. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ Hogan, Marc (2008-04-17). "Pitchfork Forkcast: New Music: Weezer: "Pork and Beans"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (2008-04-17). "Snap Judgment: Weezer's Delectable 'Pork and Beans'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ "New Weezer - "Pork and Beans" (Full-Length Track)". Stereogum (2008-04-17). Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ a b Hasty, Katie (2008-05-08). "Leona Lewis Holds Onto Hot 100 No. 1". Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
- ^ Molanphy, Chris (2008-05-02). "Forever Leavin' Pork & Beans: Big Chart Moves By Summer Single Contenders". Idolator.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
- ^ Hasty, Katie (2008-05-01). "Leona Lewis Regains No. 1 On Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
- ^ allmusic ((( Weezer > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))
- ^ Koch, Karl (2008-05-12). "05/12/08 the immensity of the pork and the bean". Weezer.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ Carlson, Nicholas (2008-05-24). "Weezer understands how to work YouTube: allude to these 24 viral videos". Valleywag. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
- ^ a b "Spot the memes in Weezer's Pork and Beans". News Limited (2008-05-28). Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ Sarno, David (2008-05-30). "Mathew Cullen, director of Weezer's 'Pork and Beans,' shares some secrets". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ a b c Wortham, Jenna (2008-05-27). "Weezer's Memetastic Video Director Spills the 'Pork and Beans'". Wired. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ a b c Snider, Mike (2008-05-29). "YouTube stars, Weezer dine out on 'Pork & Beans'". USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ a b Wang, Cynthia (2008-05-27). "Viral YouTube Hit 'Pork and Beans' Shoots to No. 1". People Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ Cicierega, Neil (2008-05-23). "Pork 'n' Beans". Neil Cicierega. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ Wallace, Lewis (2008-05-24). "Net Gorges on Weezer's 'Pork and Beans' -- but Will It Blend?". Wired. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
- ^ Frommer, Dan (2008-06-16). "Who Pulled The Plug On Weezer's "Pork And Beans" YouTube Video?". Silicon Valley Insider. Retrieved on 2008-06-18.
- ^ Harris, Chris (2008-08-27). "Kanye West, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Katy Perry Videos Pick Up More VMA Nominations". MTV. Retrieved on 2008-08-28.
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