Having championed his productions of everything from Shakespeare to Ethan Cohen, when Classicalite learned that Daniel Bumgardner was adapting one of Weezer's best records for the stage, well...we knew we had to have it.
Last week, we were pleased to introduced you to You've Got My Song: The [unofficial] Weezer Musical. And lucky for us all, Bumgardner's obliging us further.
"This began, as many projects often do, with an idea floating around in my head as an anxious, brooding teenager--connecting to a conceptual narrative that caught me totally off guard in the scheme of this band's body of work," says Bumgardner. "It quickly struck a chord (no pun), but why?"
"In the years that followed," he notes, "as Weezer kept putting out records (much to the dismay of a growing group of naysayers), I came to discover that this album--Pinkerton--fits perfectly in the context of their canon."
Quoth Bumgardner: "It's adolescent, harsh, visceral, and it longs for something unattainable that causes you to relish in the abusive yearning of it all. Consider [You've Got My Song] a concert narrative in dramatic form."
We continue, then, with Act I, Scenes 2 & 3. Or, as Daniel Bumgardner writes below: "Getchoo" and "Susanne."
We find them a few weeks later. Withdrawal symptoms. Jon and Paul could both be on their bedroom phones, tangling themselves in endless phone cord. Or something.
JON: This is beginning to hurt. This is beginning to be serious.
JON & PAUL: It used to be a game. Now it's a cryin' shame.
JON: 'Cause you don't wanna play around no more.
PAUL: Sometimes, I push too hard. Sometimes, you fall and skin your knee. I never meant to do all that I've done to you. Please, baby, say it's not too late.
JON & PAUL: To get you (uh-huh).
JON: You know this is breakin' me up. You think that I'm some kind of freak (uh-huh). But if you'd come back to me, then you would surely see that I'm just foolin' around.
JON & PAUL: I can't believe what you've done to me. What I did to them, you've done to me.
Jon hangs up. He is now sitting in the diner below his apartment. A waitress approaches. Jon's head is lowered, inhaling coffee steam. She coughs, or possibly puts down the silverware really loudly. He groggily looks up at her.
SUSANNE: (unenthusiastically, maybe points to her nametag) Susanne.
JON: Susanne.
Electricity: A Technicolor Revelation. She is a vision. His imagination is ignited.
JON: Susanne, you're all that I wanted of a girl. You're all that I need in the world. I'm your child; make me blush, drive me wild. Susanne, you're all that I wanted.
When I met you, I was all alone--cold and hungry, cryin' on the phone. You baked me brownies and said, "Don't you cry." And you gave me the coat off your back.
Susanne, you're all that I wanted of a girl. You're all that I need in the world. I'm your child; make me blush, drive me wild. Susanne, you're all that I wanted.
Even Izzy, Slash and Axl Rose, when I call you, I put them all on hold. Say to me that you'd do anything. All I can say is I haven't much to give you in return--only my heart and a promise not to turn. But I'll sing to you every day and every night. Susanne, I'm your man.
Susanne, you're all that I wanted of a girl. You're all that I need in the world. I'm your child; make me blush, drive me wild. Susanne, you're all that I wanted of a girl. YEAH!
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