The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)
"The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" | ||||
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Weezer (The Red Album) | ||||
Released | May 13, 2008 | |||
Recorded | 2008 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:52 | |||
Label | Geffen | |||
Songwriter(s) | Rivers Cuomo | |||
Producer(s) | Rick Rubin | |||
Weezer singles chronology | ||||
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"The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" is a song released as an
This song received favorable reviews. After being announced as the third single, a music video was also announced; however, this never materialized and instead the song was featured in a film directed by Warren Miller.
Recording and inspiration
Rick Rubin produced "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" with the band between April 2007 and February 2008.[2] In the liner notes of the deluxe edition of The Red Album, Cuomo stated that the song did not originally have the subtitle "Variations on a Shaker Hymn", but when guitarist Brian Bell's mother came into the studio to see them, she mentioned that the melody from the song sounded similar to a Shaker hymn that the choir sang in her church.[2] Cuomo wrote that he realised that people might notice the resemblance: "I knew people were going to come at us after and say 'Hey, you guys ripped off that hymn.' So I put the credit in there off the bat."[2] As a result, the band looked up the hymn and indeed the melody was so similar to Joseph Brackett's "Simple Gifts" that they credited the hymn with the subtitle.[3][4]
The song was originally recorded in a room that the band nicknamed "The War Room." Bell states that "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" took a long time to record; "I think the song 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived' used about 20 feet of butcher paper and we discussed how we were going to successfully record it almost as long as actually recording it."[2]
In an interview with
Composition
The song includes piano, police sirens, and Rivers Cuomo singing in
In order, the themes are:[5]
- Rap 0:35
- Slipknot 1:00
- Jeff Buckley 1:26
- Choral 1:51
- Aerosmith 2:17
- Nirvana 2:43
- The Andrews Sisters 3:08
- Green Day 3:33
- Spoken word (heavily inspired by Are You Lonesome Tonight?") 4:06
- Bach 4:37, Beethoven 4:54
- Weezer 5:10
Critical reception
"The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" was released in digital form on May 13, 2008.
Not all reviews were entirely positive. Jeffrey Canino of Tiny Mix Tapes criticized the introductory rap section of the song, "[It] brings forth an unpleasant memory of Fred Durst. All throughout, the band is experimenting with disparaging sounds, and the only thing that ties them together is Rick Rubin and Jacknife Lee's glossy production." Despite this, Canino still rates the song highly, "The bulk of the middle portion is really pretty okay, so we'll concede this one as a success."[14] Similarly, Ira Robbins and Pete Crigler of TrouserPress.com said, "Despite that success, rap is not an advisable direction for Weezer."[15] Alan Shulman of No Ripcord commented that the song did not have much lasting appeal: "The novelty begins to wear after the 4th or 5th listen,"[16] and Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly labelled the song a "Bombastic mini-rock opera" but also said the "remedial rhymes" marred an "otherwise intriguing musical experiment."[17]
Music video and appearances in other media
This song had been announced as the third single from
Professional wrestler Austin Aries adopted the song as his ring entrance music, while also beginning to refer to himself as "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived".[22][23][24] The song was released as a downloadable song for the game Rock Band on June 26, 2008, along with "Dreamin'" and "Troublemaker".[25][26][27]
Personnel
- lead vocals
- backing vocals
- backing vocals
- backing vocals
Charts
Chart (2008) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[28] | 35 |
References
- ^ "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
- ^ Weezer (The Red Album) Deluxe Editionalbum notes.
- ^ a b Hogan, Marc (2008-06-02). "Album Review - Weezer (Red Album)". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ Liebowitz, Matt (2008-06-16). "Weezer Weezer (Red Album)". Prefixmag.com. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ a b Cuomo, Rivers (2009-01-09). Rivers Cuomo on the making of The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Webcast). Los Angeles: KROQ-FM. Archived from the original (Flash) on 2009-01-21.
- ^ "Home Recordings From Weezer Frontman". npr.org. NPR. 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ^ Starkey, Arun (August 28, 2023). "Rivers Cuomo names the most underappreciated Weezer song". Far Out. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
- ^ "Spring '08 LPs From Madonna, Coldplay, The Roots, Mudcrutch, Elvis Costello". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ^ a b Scaggs, Austin (2008-06-28). "Q&A: Rivers Cuomo". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ "the greatest man that ever lived - iTunes single!". weezer.com. 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-08-27.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Anderman, Joan (2008-06-03). "Weezer's recipe: rock, with a twist". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ^ a b "Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album) Review". IGN. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
- ^ McMahon, James (2008-06-05). "Weezer - Weezer". NME. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ Canino, Jeffrey. "Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album)". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on 2008-12-26. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ Robbins, Ira & Crigler, Pete. "Weezer". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- ^ Shulman, Alan (2008-06-11). "Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album)". No Ripcord. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ Greenblatt, Leah (2008-06-08). "Weezer (2008)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- ^ Freedman, Pete (2008-10-15). "How To Piss Off A Member Of Weezer". Dallas Observer. Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ^ "12/09/08 Greatest Man / Children Of Winter team-up!". Weezer.com. 2008-09-12. Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- ^ "Children of Winter - Poor Boyz featuring Weezer". Grind TV. 2008-12-08. Archived from the original on 2009-10-02. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- ^ Anitai, Tamar (2008-06-16). "Contest: Win Weezer's Boombox!". MTV. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
- ^ McCarron, Rob (2009-04-11). "ROH TV report". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ Mathieson, Joe (2009-04-26). "ROH Proving Ground 2009 DVD, Night One". ProWrestling.net. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ "Newswire For The Week of December 6th". Ring of Honor. 2009-12-08. Archived from the original on 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- ^ "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived by Weezer". Rock Band. Archived from the original on 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ "Dreamin' by Weezer". Rock Band. Archived from the original on 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
- ^ "Troublemaker by Weezer". Rock Band. Archived from the original on 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
- ^ "Weezer Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 August 2017.