Across the Sea
Encyclopedia
"Across the Sea" is the fifth song from Weezer
's second album, Pinkerton
. Singer/songwriter Rivers Cuomo
wrote "Across the Sea" after receiving a letter from a Japanese girl during a depressing winter at Harvard University
. Cuomo remarked, "When I got the letter, I fell in love with her. It was such a great letter. I was very lonely at the time, but at the same time I was very depressed that I would never meet her. Even if I did see her, she was probably some fourteen-year-old girl, who didn't speak English." When asked in 2006 about the girl, he commented that "I don't know anything about her and I've never contacted her." The lyrics also make mention of Cuomo's adolescent consideration of becoming a monk
to win the favor of older women, as well as the idea that his mother is responsible for his romantic shortcomings.
The song's guitar solo
has a relatively complex chord progression
, during which the key
modulates
from F# major
to F# minor
(the parallel minor) to Eb major
(the parallel major of the original key's relative minor). The following bridge
remains in the key of Eb major, then modulates back to F# major for the final verse and chorus.
In the beginning while the piano plays, you can hear a door open, Pat Wilson laugh, and then a bunch of random notes played on a piano.
The song appears on Come On and Kick Me!: The String Quartet Tribute to Weezer and Only in Dreams: Classical Music Inspired by Weezer.
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
's second album, Pinkerton
Pinkerton (album)
Pinkerton is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Weezer, released on September 24, 1996. After finishing tours in promotion of their 1994 album Weezer, the band originally planned to record a space-themed rock opera entitled Songs from the Black Hole...
. Singer/songwriter Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...
wrote "Across the Sea" after receiving a letter from a Japanese girl during a depressing winter at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Cuomo remarked, "When I got the letter, I fell in love with her. It was such a great letter. I was very lonely at the time, but at the same time I was very depressed that I would never meet her. Even if I did see her, she was probably some fourteen-year-old girl, who didn't speak English." When asked in 2006 about the girl, he commented that "I don't know anything about her and I've never contacted her." The lyrics also make mention of Cuomo's adolescent consideration of becoming a monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
to win the favor of older women, as well as the idea that his mother is responsible for his romantic shortcomings.
The song's guitar solo
Guitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
has a relatively complex chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
, during which the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
modulates
Modulation (music)
In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature. Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest...
from F# major
F sharp major
F major or F-sharp major is a major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has six sharps.Its relative minor is D minor, and its parallel minor is F minor. Its enharmonic equivalent is G major....
to F# minor
F sharp minor
F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F-sharp, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. For the harmonic minor, the E is raised to E...
(the parallel minor) to Eb major
E flat major
E major or E-flat major is a major scale based on E-flat, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats: B, E, A.Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
(the parallel major of the original key's relative minor). The following bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
remains in the key of Eb major, then modulates back to F# major for the final verse and chorus.
In the beginning while the piano plays, you can hear a door open, Pat Wilson laugh, and then a bunch of random notes played on a piano.
The song appears on Come On and Kick Me!: The String Quartet Tribute to Weezer and Only in Dreams: Classical Music Inspired by Weezer.
Personnel
- Rivers CuomoRivers CuomoRivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, lead vocals - Patrick WilsonPatrick Wilson (musician)Patrick "Pat" George Wilson is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band Weezer. He joined the band in 1992. In addition to his work in Weezer, he also fronts his own band, The Special Goodness....
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Brian BellBrian Bell (musician)Brian Bell is an American guitarist and songwriter. Active since 1989, he is best known as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American alternative rock band Weezer. Bell joined Weezer in 1993 following the departure of founding member Jason Cropper...
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Matt SharpMatt SharpMatthew Kelly Sharp is a founding member and former bassist for the band Weezer. In 1994, he started a band called The Rentals and released their debut album shortly after Weezer's first release, their second album in 1999, and an EP in 2007...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....