Uploaded April 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Nolan Randall playing the guitar solo of “Undone - The Sweater Song” by Weezer from their 1994 self-titled debut album for DGC Records.

Words and music by River Cuomo

"Hey brah, how we doin' man?"
"Alright"
"It's been a while man, life's so rad
This band's my favorite, man, don't ya love 'em?"
"Yeah"
"Aw man, you want a beer?"
"Alright"
"Aw man, hell, brah, this is the best, man
I'm so glad we're all back together and stuff
This is great, man"
"Yeah"
"Hey, do you know about the party after the show?"
"Yeah"
"Ah man, it's gonna be the best, I'm so stoked
Take it easy, brah"

I'm me
Me be
Goddamn
I am
I can
Sing and
Hear me
Know me

If you want to destroy my sweater
Hold this thread as I walk away

"Hey, what's up?"
"Not much"
"Um, did you hear about the party?"
"Yeah"
"I think I'm gonna go, but, um
My friends don't really wanna go
Could I get a ride?"

Oh no
It go
It gone
Bye-bye
Who I
I think
I sink
And I die

If you want to destroy my sweater (whoa, oh, oh)
Hold this thread as I walk away (as I walk away)
Watch me unravel, I'll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, lying on the floor
I've come undone

If you want to destroy my sweater (whoa, oh, oh)
Hold this thread as I walk away (as I walk away)
Watch me unravel, I'll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, lying on the floor
I've come undone

I don't want to destroy your tank top (if you want to destroy my sweater)
Let's be friends and just walk away (hold this thread as I walk away)
It's good to see you (watch me unravel)
lying there in your Superman skivvies (I'll soon be naked)
Lying on the floor (lying on the floor)
I've come undone

*Song Facts*

"Undone – The Sweater Song" is a song by the American alternative rock band Weezer, released on the band's self-titled 1994 debut album. It was released as their debut single in 1994. Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has commented on the song, saying: "Undone is the feeling you get when the train stops and the little guy comes knockin' on your door. It was supposed to be a sad song, but everyone thinks it's hilarious." Cuomo has also said that it was his attempt at writing "a Velvet Underground-type song", but later referred to the song as an inadvertent rip-off of Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", with the band's metal roots showing through.

It was the Spike Jonze-directed video for "Buddy Holly" that brought Weezer to the attention of the general public, but it was "Undone – The Sweater Song" that first laid the groundwork at college and alternative radio.

Originally, the band intended to insert various sound clips into the song, but were wary of the cost of licensing them. Instead, the studio version of the song features a spoken introduction by then bassist Matt Sharp and longtime friend of the band Karl Koch, as well as an "intermission" set of dialogue between Karl and one of the founding members of Weezer's official fan club and early supporter of the band, Mykel Allan. This dialogue is frequently ad-libbed during concerts and other live recordings.

"Undone – The Sweater Song" is a mid-tempo alternative rock song that runs for a duration of four minutes and fifty-eight seconds. It's musical arrangement utilizes dynamics and thick distortion during the chorus in order to drive home the song's melody. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Music, it is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderately slow rock tempo of 80 beats per minute.

During live performances in 2005, the band would often invite a fan up to play the acoustic guitar part of "Undone" with the band. On the last night of the Foozer tour, Dave Grohl came up and played it with the band.

The music video for "Undone" was Weezer's first music video. And like "Buddy Holly", it was directed by Spike Jonze. According to Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story by John D. Luerssen, the band insisted that the video not have anything to do with a sweater. Yet Geffen received 25 treatments for the video, all involving sweaters. The $60,000 video was shot on a steadicam in one unbroken shot, featuring the band playing to a sped up version of the song. When played at a slower speed, the illusion is created that the band is playing the song in the correct time, yet moving in slow motion. The one shot was taken over 25 times and the final version is somewhere between take number 15 and take number 20, in which the band had abandoned the idea of taking the video seriously at all. The humor was brought on by the frustration of shooting the same shot over and over to a sped up version of the song as well as the fact that one of the dogs defecated on Patrick Wilson's bass drum pedal. The video became an instant hit on MTV.

For their official video for their cover of "Africa", Weezer used a parody of the "Undone" video with stand-ins for themselves, including "Weird Al" Yankovic as Cuomo's stand-in.

#Weezer #UndoneTheSweaterSong #AlternativeRock