THE BODY OF RIVERS CUOMO: Rivers Cuomo, I have some bad news. You are now going to cheat on your special lady. RIVERS CUOMO: What?! But I couldn't possibly! I love her! Nothing must harm our sacred bond! THE BODY OF RIVERS CUOMO: It's too late, Rivers. I'm in control now. RIVERS CUOMO: Noooooooooooooooooooo! DAMN YOU, BODY OF RIVERS CUOMO! Whereas here, as anyone who has ever cheated is well aware, is the conversation that actually took place: RIVERS CUOMO: Dude. THE BODY OF RIVERS CUOMO: DUDE. RIVERS CUOMO: I don't know, though. THE BODY OF RIVERS CUOMO: Dude. Anyway in all seriousness, this is a hilarious article which tries to set up some sort of dichotomy between liking the music and liking the musician -- about Rivers goddamn Cuomo of all people (I thought he was a harmless pills addict?!) -- and sort of fails. I love Pinkerton to death, think I'll put it on right now actually, and yeah it's creepy. It may be mostly creepy because Blue Album was so innocent; either way, still some weird shit on that album. But I still listen. Sorry. Just doing what my body tells me to do. EDIT: the badge was for the embedded THS lyric.The song is "Butterfly." The line is, "I'm sorry for what I did; I did what my body told me to; I didn't mean to do you harm." Now: As apologies or explanations go, "I did what my body told me to" is "the heart wants what it wants" for people without feelings. Wanting and doing are two very different things; I may very well have a problem with what you wanted (cheating, marrying your girlfriend's daughter), but I definitely have a problem with what you did (the cheating; the marriage). I mean: Either Rivers Cuomo has an implant in his brain which allows his body to be controlled by outside forces-in which case we should all be very afraid, and not just for Rivers Cuomo-or he decided to cheat on someone. But here is the conversation Rivers Cuomo wants you to imagine taking place between him and his body, on the occasion of said cheating:
I think liking the music is fine, but depending on how much you identify with the lyrics, you may be a misogynist (not you specifically). The lyrics are not only creepy, they are self absorbed and allude to emotional abusiveness (as in the mentioned No Other One). It's a damn catchy album, but the lyrics seriously make me cringe.
If lyrics about "disgusting" subjects make you cringe, it seems you'll have trouble with a fair amount of the western literary canon. No Other One is a pretty good song, sound-wise; its message is stupid but certainly not fantastic (in the original sense of the word). Some people think like that, so crucifying Cuomo for writing a creepy song in an era of creepy songs makes me wonder how much music the authoress has actually listened to. Does she have issues with Nirvana? Pavement? A thousand other bands in the grunge and neo-grunge genres? It's just a song on an album. It sounds good. Some people's writings are self-absorbed -- nothing wrong with that. Identifying with a (potential) pedophile in Across the Sea is weird, yeah, but how many people actually do identify with it?
It's not just a song, it's basically the whole album, and frankly Nirvana and Pavement don't even come close to the overt creepiness/abusive vibe of Pinkerton. You can sweep it all under the rug if you want, I guess.