Weezer's Feels Like Summer Deserves a Revaluation
Pacific Daydream is a loose concept album. To understand what Weezer's trying to do on this album, look to the Red Album's The Greatest Man That Ever Lived. That song features Weezer paying homage to multiple genres in a singular song. The Greatest Man That Ever Lived was critically acclaimed upon release and a lot of fans consider it one of their better songs.
Weezer is pulling the same trick with Pacific Daydream, but they are stretching the length of the genre-hopping concept from only one song to an entire album. Each song attempts to pair Weezer's formula with a different production style. The songs themselves are a bit hit and miss, but you can forgive some of the weaker tracks with this loose concept in mind.
Some loose song examples that fit my genre-hopping concept album theory:
Sweet Mary: Phil Spector production
Happy Hour: contemporary adult production
QB Blitz: theatrical? Definitely a sound unlike any other Weezer song
And then there's Feels Like Summer. It's the 2017 EDM successor of Undone (the Sweater Song) and Island in the Sun. Undone and Island in the Sun follow the same pattern of sounding catchy with depressing lyrics that slip through the cracks.
Undone (the Sweater Song) Lyrics:
And it makes me feel so fine
I can't control my brain
Climbing up the towerJust a boy and his computerI'm still in my bathrobeHiding in the shadowsI'm not used to losingBye, bye, sugar blue eyesYou're home with the angelsThank you for being so kind
Interpretation: A surreal, rose-tinted memory of the character's first love. Their love ended with the partner's death or breakup. It doesn't matter.
Feels Like Summer Verse 2:
Which way is the graveyard?I'm an iceberg with a warm heartI'm spiritual, not religiousI'm a Libra, if it mattersShattered by an emailYour words will fade awayCastle built in the sandWill only last one day
Interpretation: The first four lines are about the awkwardness of online dating. I think the last four lines are circling back to that first love. The ambiguity of the lyrics make them infinitely more interesting.
Feels Like Summer Bridge:
June bride, shine so brightFlowers in her hair, but it just ain't rightJune bride, shine so brightFlowers in her hair, we look good together, oh yeahWe look good together, oh yeah
Interpretation: Nostalgia/reminiscing. They aren't together anymore. Why?
Feels Like Summer Chorus/Outro:
Now I want to talk about why this song is insanely polarizing in the Weezer community. Feels Like Summer has a very dated EDM sound, but it nails the sound so perfectly that the Weezer community was super confused, angry, and scared when it was first leaked. Everyone was freaking out because this song came out of NOWHERE after about a year of radio silence. Instead of listening to the lyrics, the fans were focused solely on the production.
With Feels Like Summer, Rivers Cuomo tricked the fans. We fell for the same Weezer trick we laugh at "normies" for falling for (focusing on the music instead of the lyrics). And this song sometimes sneaks into normal places like the mall or supermarket, which makes me laugh every time I hear it. Never bet against Weezer.
Final note When Feels Like Summer was released, it was reviled by the Weezer community. Weezer quickly scraped together an acoustic version to appease their fanbase.
I feel like the acoustic version was done to convince Weezer fans that Weezer was still the same band they knew and loved. The acoustic version feels so inauthentic. It would be like if Strawberry Fields Forever was a dud, so The Beatles released a straight pop version to appease their fanbase. Maybe Weezer was pressured by their label to release this version. Either way, the wishy washiness of Weezer softly rejecting such an ambitious song and submitting to their fanbase is disappointing.
Pacific Daydream is not a perfect album, but it is an interesting one. The production is a LOT, but there are plenty of highlights. It's certainly in their top 10 albums, despite the insanely low 1.97 ranking on RateYourMusic. Give it a spin! There's gems all around it!