My Name Is Jonas

"My Name Is Jonas"
Song by Weezer from the album Weezer (The Blue Album)
Released	May 10, 1994
Recorded	August-September 1993 at Electric Lady Studios, NYC
Genre	Alternative rock, power pop
Length	3:24
Label	DGC
Writer	Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Jason Cropper
Producer	Ric Ocasek
Weezer (The Blue album) track listing "My Name Is Jonas" (1) "No One Else" (2)

"My Name Is Jonas" is a song by alternative rock band Weezer, written by Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson and Jason Cropper that appears on their self-titled debut 1994 album Weezer, also known as The Blue Album. It is one of the few Weezer songs with any co-writing credits and the only writing credit Cropper ever received in the band, as he came up with the acoustic intro to the song.^[1]

"My Name Is Jonas" was inspired by Rivers's brother who got into a car accident at Oberlin College and was having a problem with his insurance. According to Cuomo himself "'Jonas' explains how The Plan is reaming us all, especially my brother."^[2]

In 1995 there was apparently some confusion as to what the third single off The Blue Album would be, and several stations in the US and Canada played "My Name Is Jonas" as a single in spring 1995. This actually got to the stage in Canada where radio stations were serviced with a promo single. The plug was pulled early after "Say It Ain't So" was confirmed as the third single, and the Canadian only radio promo is thus one of the most prized Weezer collectibles.^[3]

This song has remained a very popular song for the band and is a concert staple. When the song is played live, Brian Bell plays the harmonica solo. It is entirely in 6/8 time.

On Weezer's 2008 Troublemaker tour, the song is sung in a three part lead vocal by Patrick Wilson, Scott Shriner and Rivers Cuomo.

In 2010, members of My Chemical Romance joined Weezer one night in Los Angeles for a performance of the song. Weezer's performance as a whole was part of the AXE Music: One Night Only concert series.

In the media

• A character in the popular Internet series lonelygirl15 is named Jonas and the character's first video bears the title "My Name is Jonas" and includes references to the song.^[4]
• This song is featured in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as a playable track, and was released as a downloadable song for Rock Band.^[5]

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead vocals, lead guitar, harmonica
• Patrick Wilson – drums
• Brian Bell – guitar*, backing vocals
• Matt Sharp – bass, backing vocals
• Ric Ocasek – producer
• Chris Shaw - engineer

* Rivers Cuomo stated that he played both lead and rhythm guitar on the Blue Album after former guitarist Jason Cropper left the band, but did say that Brian did background vocals on the album. Brian Bell says that he in fact does play rhythm guitar.

References

1. ^ Luerssen D., John. Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story. ECW Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55022-619-3 p. 61
2. ^ Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 110–111
3. ^ "Blue Album era releases (1992-1995)". Weezer.com. http://www.weezer.com/info/tunes/index.html. Retrieved 2007-09-11. 
4. ^ "My Name is Jonas - LGPedia". LGPedia. http://www.lg15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=My_Name_Is_Jonas. Retrieved 2007-09-11. 
5. ^ Holden, Tom (October 2007). "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock: Rock Your Way to the Top". Independent PlayStation Magazine (128): 26.