King of the World (Weezer song)

Last updated
"King of the World"
Weezer - King of the World cover.jpg
Single by Weezer
from the album Weezer (White Album)
ReleasedJanuary 14, 2016
Recorded2015
Genre
Length3:24
Label
Songwriter(s)
Weezer singles chronology
"Do You Wanna Get High?"
(2015)
"King of the World"
(2016)
"I Love the USA"
(2016)

"King of the World" is a song by the American rock band Weezer, released as a single on January 14, 2016 for the band's self-titled 2016 album, along with a music video. [1]

Contents

Composition

Mark Beaumont of NME said that the song, as well as "LA Girlz", are "noble throwbacks to the quirky grunge of Weezer’s debut". [2]

Reception

Bill Bodkin at Pop-Break opined "Hearkening back to the sound of the Blue and Green albums, and even some of the Red album, “King of the World” kicks ass with classic Weezer crunch." Bodkin also praises Rivers Cuomo's songwriting for the song, stating that he writes with "hope and feel-good vibes". [3] Chris DeVille at Stereogum described the song as "[feeling] like ’90s Weezer with room to breathe." [4]

Live performances

On March 31, 2016, "King of the World" was performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in celebration of the release of Weezer's 2016 album. Rivers was dressed as Elvis Presley during the performance. [5] The song was performed the following day on Good Morning America , where a photo was shot with the band and several Major League Baseball mascots. [6]

Music video

A music video for "King of the World" was released on January 14, 2016, and was directed by Scantron Films. [7] The video features a bearded man in a king's crown and cape, running along a boardwalk, causing havoc, whom eventually gets caught by a police officer, who arrests him.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2016)Peak
position
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [8] 39
US Rock Airplay ( Billboard ) [9] 17
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [10] 17

Year-end charts

Chart (2016)Position
US Alternative Songs (Billboard) [11] 38
US Rock Airplay Songs (Billboard) [12] 46

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weezer</span> American rock band

Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner. They have sold 10 million albums in the US and more than 35 million worldwide.

<i>Weezer</i> (Blue Album) 1994 studio album by Weezer

Weezer is the debut studio album by the American rock band Weezer, released on May 10, 1994, by DGC Records. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars.

Alternative Airplay is a music chart published in the American magazine Billboard since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played songs on alternative and modern rock radio stations. Introduced as Modern Rock Tracks, the chart served as a companion to the Mainstream Rock chart, and its creation was prompted by the explosion of alternative music on American radio in the late 1980s. During the first several years of the chart, it regularly featured music that did not receive commercial radio airplay anywhere but on a few modern rock and college rock radio stations. This included many electronic and post-punk artists. Gradually, as alternative rock became more mainstream, alternative and mainstream rock radio stations began playing many of the same songs. By the late 2000s, the genres became more fully differentiated with only limited crossover. The Alternative Airplay chart features more alternative rock, indie pop, and pop punk artists while the Mainstream Rock chart leans towards more guitar-tinged blues rock, hard rock, and heavy metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy Holly (song)</span> 1994 single by Weezer

"Buddy Holly" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. The song was written by Rivers Cuomo and released by DGC as the second single from the band's debut album, Weezer (1994). The lyrics reference the song's namesake, 1950s rock-and-roll singer Buddy Holly, and actress Mary Tyler Moore. Released on September 7, 1994—which would have been Holly's 58th birthday—the song reached number two on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. Outside the US, the song peaked at number six in Canada, number 12 in the United Kingdom, number 13 in Iceland, and number 14 in Sweden. The song's music video, which features footage from Happy Days and was directed by Spike Jonze, earned considerable exposure when it was included as a bonus media file in Microsoft's initial successful release of the operating system Windows 95.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Scorcho</span> 1996 single by Weezer

"El Scorcho" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It is the first single from the band's second album, Pinkerton, released in 1996. The music video features the band playing in an old ballroom in Los Angeles, surrounded by light fixtures of diverse origin, flashing in time to the music. The name of the song supposedly came from a packet of hot sauce from Del Taco, labeled "Del Scorcho".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">We Are All on Drugs</span> 2005 single by Weezer

"We Are All on Drugs" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It was released as the second single from the band's 2005 album, Make Believe. "We Are All on Drugs" was released to radio on July 12, 2005. The song is not specifically about drugs. Rather, Rivers Cuomo has said that it is more generally about the over-stimulated society addicted to the internet, gambling, drugs and relationships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perfect Situation</span> 2005 single by Weezer

"Perfect Situation" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It was released to radio on October 11, 2005 as the third single from the band's fifth album Make Believe, following "Beverly Hills" and "We Are All on Drugs".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weezer discography</span> Band discography

The discography of Weezer, an American rock band, consists of 15 studio albums, two compilation albums, one video album, nine extended plays, 37 singles and 40 music videos. Weezer's self-titled debut studio album, often referred to as The Blue Album, was released in May 1994 through DGC Records. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number 16 on the US Billboard 200 and spawning the singles "Undone – The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly", both of which were responsible for launching Weezer into mainstream success with the aid of music videos directed by Spike Jonze. It has sold 3.3 million copies in the United States and has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), becoming the band's best selling album to date. Following the success of their debut album, Weezer took a break from touring for the Christmas holidays. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo began piecing together demo material for Weezer's second studio album. Cuomo's original concept for the album was a space-themed rock opera, Songs from the Black Hole. Ultimately, the Songs from the Black Hole album concept was dropped; the band, however, continued to utilize songs from these sessions into work for their second studio album. Pinkerton was released as the band's second studio album in September 1996. Peaking at number 19 on the Billboard 200, it was considered a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release, selling far less than its triple platinum predecessor. However, in the years following its release, it has seen much critical and commercial championing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Undone – The Sweater Song</span> 1994 single by Weezer

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pork and Beans (song)</span> 2008 single by Weezer

"Pork and Beans" is a song by the American alternative rock band Weezer, released on the group's 2008 self-titled album Weezer, also known as the Red Album. It was released to radio on April 22, 2008 and released in digital form on April 24. The track debuted at number 19 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart, and spent eleven weeks at number one. The song charted in many countries such as Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)</span> 2008 single by Weezer

"The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" is a song released as an iTunes single from American alternative rock band Weezer's sixth album, Weezer (2008). "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" was released to radio on December 9, 2008. The song bears a resemblance to the Shaker song "Simple Gifts" hence the "(Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" in the title. According to lead vocalist and writer Rivers Cuomo, "The Greatest Man" has 11 different themes, including rapping and imitations of other bands such as Nirvana and Aerosmith (both of whom also recorded for Weezer's then-label Geffen Records at one point).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To</span> 2009 single by Weezer

"(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" is a song by American alternative rock/power pop band Weezer. It was released as the first single from the band's seventh studio album Raditude. Initially scheduled to be released to American rock radio on August 25, 2009, the official release of the single to radio was moved up to August 18. The single debuted at number 21 on the Billboard Rock Songs Chart, and in the same position on the Alternative Songs chart. The music video features Odette Yustman. The song was first played live on August 23, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario at the Molson Amphitheatre. The main riff of this song bears a similarity to the main riff of The Jam song "Town Called Malice".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Back to the Shack</span> 2014 single by Weezer

"Back to the Shack" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was released as the first single from their ninth studio album Everything Will Be Alright in the End on July 22, 2014. The song was sent to radio stations and uploaded to Weezer's YouTube channel a day before the single's official release. It was written in response to the band's past several albums, with lead vocalist Rivers Cuomo wanting to return to their roots. The song received generally favorable reviews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Da Vinci (song)</span> 2014 single by Weezer

"Da Vinci" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was released as the third single from the band's ninth studio album Everything Will Be Alright in the End on November 18, 2014.

"Go Away" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was released as a single from their ninth studio album Everything Will Be Alright in the End on July 24, 2015, along with a music video. The song has mostly been positively received, being compared to Weezer's older work.

<i>Weezer</i> (White Album) 2016 album by Weezer

Weezer is the tenth studio album by the American rock band Weezer, released on April 1, 2016. The album marks their first produced by Jake Sinclair. It is the first release through Crush Music and was distributed by Atlantic Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sober Up</span> Single by AJR from 2018

"Sober Up" is a song by American indie pop band AJR, from their second studio album, The Click. Released as the album's fifth single, it features Rivers Cuomo, lead singer and frontman of American rock band Weezer, although certain radio stations instead play a version with band member Ryan singing Cuomo's verse. "Sober Up" became the first number-one song for AJR on the Billboard Alternative Songs, when it peaked at number one on the chart in March 2018. Similarly, Cuomo had his first number one on the alternative Billboard chart as a solo artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can't Knock the Hustle (Weezer song)</span> 2018 single by Weezer

"Can't Knock the Hustle" is a song by the American rock band Weezer, released on October 11, 2018 as the lead single for their self titled album, also called the Black Album. A music video was released on the same day.

"Hero" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was released on May 6, 2020, as the second single from the band's fifteenth studio album, Van Weezer.

"All My Favorite Songs" is a song by the American rock band Weezer, released on January 21, 2021, as the first single from their fourteenth studio album OK Human. A music video was released on the same day.

References

  1. "Weezer announce release of The White Album, share "King of the World" — listen". Consequence of Sound. 15 January 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  2. Beaumont, Mark (April 1, 2016). "Weezer – 'Weezer' Review". NME . Retrieved January 26, 2023. It's a fan-pleasing record that's actually more Beach Boys than peak Beatles: 'King Of The World' and 'LA Girlz' are noble throwbacks to the quirky grunge of Weezer's debut…
  3. "Single Review: Weezer, 'King of the World'". Pop-Break. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  4. "Premature Evaluation: Weezer's "White Album"". Stereogum. 25 March 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  5. "Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, Dressed As Elvis, Is 'King Of the World' On 'Fallon'". Spin. April 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  6. "Rivers Cuomo Dresses as Elvis Presley for Weezer's 'Fallon' Visit - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. April 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  7. Weezer - King Of The World. 14 January 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016 via YouTube.
  8. "Weezer Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  9. "Weezer Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  10. "Weezer Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  11. "Alternative Songs – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  12. "Rock Airplay Songs – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2018.