The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture

by Scott Belsky

On an interview for the Song Exploder podcast series, where artists unpack the creation of one of their songs, Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo described the creative process behind the song “Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori,” for which he wrote the original draft of the lyrics and score. I was struck by the handoff he described, in which he let his bandmates play with the first version of his song without him in the room. “I really appreciate the power of democracy,” he said. “The songwriter—in this case me—with the best of intentions can limit the creativity of the other members of the band because you’re attached to your original demo. You had this vision for where you thought it was gonna go, and in any case, you’re just one brain and you have this one limited perspective. Politically in the room, you have more power than everyone else, even with the best of intentions. Other people are gonna think, ‘I guess he wrote the song, so if he doesn’t like what I’m doing, maybe I shouldn’t do it.’ So, it’s very helpful for those guys to get time in the studio with our producer Jake Sinclair without me—to come up with their own parts. I don’t hear it until they’re done with their parts. Then I get to listen back, and in most cases, I am just blown away by how cool and fresh and layered and complex everything has become.”