Looking at Weezer's Hurley Through LOST Lenses

One time in middle school, my cousin came over for a visit, bringing along an album by a new band she’d just discovered. Back then, I was deeply prejudiced against any music created within the last decade, and I’m afraid I didn’t give Weezer much of a fair shake. But eventually, the music from that album seeped into my consciousness and I came to appreciate the geeky goofiness of a song about an unraveling sweater and about a guy cheerfully embracing the nerdy associations he and his girlfriend invite. With American Pie one of my favorite songs of all time, how could I not appreciate the self-deprecating homage to Buddy Holly? I realized that these guys were actually kindred spirits.

Though I’ve never followed the band’s career too closely, I like their offbeat topics and unpretentious style. Their songs tend to make me smile, and when I saw the press release about their new album, simply entitled Hurley, I couldn’t help but mirror the ear-to-ear grin of Jorge Garcia, whose exuberant visage fills the cover so completely that there is no room for even a title.

Choosing a favorite character on LOST, the television drama that drew me in like no other, is no easy feat, but on most days, if you were to force me to give just one name, I’d have to go with Hurley, the lovable teddy bear of a guy Garcia portrays. A shining beacon of compassion, he is so much more than just LOST’s comic relief. Head writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have described him as the show’s heart, and I couldn’t agree more. So even though band members Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell and Scott Shriner are hardly hard-core LOSTies and insist that none of the music on the album was written with the show in mind, I knew I would have to listen to it and read it with LOST lenses. If you’ve never seen the show, be warned of some spoilers; I can’t resist another chance to indulge in a bit of Doc Jensen-style dissection.

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Memories - This hard-rockin’ opener seems to be an ode to lost adolescence, and its repetitive chorus immediately recalls Jack’s anguished exclamation that so potently closed the third season: “All the memories make me want to go back there, back there. All the memories. How can we make it back there, back there? I want to be there again.” The angsty tone fits perfectly with Jack’s state of mind; this isn’t just nostalgia, it’s desperation to return to a time and place not properly appreciated until it’s too late. Meanwhile, several of the lines in the verses remind me of the de facto leader of the castaways, especially, “I got so many people that I got to look out for.”

Ruling Me - “Ring, ring goes your telephone. You act like you ain’t at home.” While Memories reminds me of where Jack wants to be in that iconic season finale, this more melodic second track makes me think of who he wants to be with. Though the nerd-tastic second verse doesn’t fit in, the first and third verses are hugely applicable to his broken relationship with Kate. Meanwhile, the following line from the chorus - “In the rain, in the sun, everybody needs someone they can dream of all night long.” - makes me think of Penny’s secret letter to Desmond and the sentiment so much at the heart of the Sideways portion of season six.

Trainwrecks - After a rather haunting first 15 seconds or so of lush organ and choral music, this song launches into an electric guitar riff that oddly reminds me of Michael Martin Murphey’s mellow Still Got the Fire. Both songs are about two people who seem very comfortable together. I‘m not entirely sure if this pair is just a couple of buds or a romantic duo. If it’s the former, they remind me of Hurley and his friend Johnny wreaking mild havoc around town in the episode Everybody Hates Hugo or perhaps drugged-out rockers Charlie and Liam entering a downward spiral. Meanwhile, if it’s the latter, which seems more likely, my mind turns to LOST’s ultimate trainwrecks, Nikki and Paolo, especially in the line, “Someday we’ll cut our critics down to size.” Either way, I dig the lethargic pace of this one, which makes it easier to sing along with than the first two.

Unspoken - Most of this song is surprisingly mellow, an acoustic guitar-driven track with some genuinely lovely woodwinds that put me in mind of John Denver’s life-affirming Poems, Prayers and Promises. The majority of the words are bitter, however, and they once again remind me of Jack and Kate at their lowest point, especially in the electrified final chorus. “And if you take this away from me, I’ll never forgive you, can’t you see? Our life will be broken; our hate will be unspoken.”

Where’s My Sex? - A bizarre song largely dependent on a play of words that feels like a stretch. It seems pretty risque until a third of the way through, when you suddenly get the sense that this guy is singing about his socks, and then it just becomes daffy. “Going back to the caveman days, they were walking around in a haze until they figured it out, and they said, ‘Gosh dang, this is great!’” Socks play a reasonably significant role in the Harry Potter series, but not LOST; the only connection I have here is when I read it according to the spelling and pronunciation of the title, and then it makes me think of seductive Sawyer, who has been caught trysting with four major characters and several minor ones. I do like some of the harmonies on the chorus, but I’m not quite sure what to make of this track.

Run Away - Another song about a thwarted romance, and I think of Juliet and Sawyer when I hear the words “We’re running out of time and you know it’s true. I just want to run away with you...” I find myself more drawn to the track, however, when I take the first 25 seconds in isolation. While the bulk of the song is loud and raucous, the acoustics are fuzzy and distant in these four despondent lines, which are backed by a rickety-sounding piano. With the words “I thought you would always be my friend; now everything must end,” I imagine lonesome, guilt-ridden Jacob sitting on the beach under a starry sky, grieving for the brother he wronged. Meanwhile, along with a sense of regret at the altered relationship, his fundamental hypothesis that “it only ends once; everything else is just progress” seems reflected in the sentiment “And so the world moves on and everything must change.”

Hang On - This very catchy song is yet another dealing with imperfect romance. Once it got to “Over and over, we swore it was over, but just like wild clover, love blooms at light speed,” I was happily flashing through the stages of Desmond and Penny’s epic relationship. Though it seemed doomed, their love survived all obstacles, including Desmond’s crippling pride. I feel the sense of frustration in the first part of the sentence, while the end reminds me both of Desmond’s Scottish heritage and his tendency to defy the laws of physics. Meanwhile, the line “Hang on till I see you again” isn’t that far a leap from Desmond’s catchphrase, “See you in another life,” and “As long as I’m breathing and my heart is still beating I’m gonna be coming for you” recalls the renewed pledges Desmond and Penny exchange in The Constant.

Smart Girls - This just makes me chuckle because it comes across as so nerdy. Apparently this guy is turned on by brainiacs, though his vocabulary leads me to believe that they hold the intellectual upper hand. Aside from much-reviled geophysicist Zoe, the nerdiest girl on LOST would probably have to be Charlotte, an anthropologist who claims to be fluent in Klingon, so I suppose I could pretend that geektacular time travel expert Daniel Faraday is the speaker, but the personality hardly fits, especially since this fella seems interested in smart girls as a category and can’t narrow his interest down to just one. At any rate, though the song is a tad cacophonous and some of its lyrics make little sense, its playful nature is enjoyable, and I’m all for any affirmation of geek chic.

Brave New World - Just about every word in this heavily electrified song seems as though it could have been written about LOST. It’s about accepting new responsibilities for which one has been subtly prepared for a long time. “I may prove to be much more than I thought.” Realizing your limitations and being willing to seek help from others - but not demand it. “You can come along with me, or if that's not your destiny, you can choose to go your way if you want.” Letting go. Moving on. Some lines seem to pertain especially well to Jack (“I guess it‘s time for me to show what I‘ve got”), some to Desmond (“I may snuff the burning flame”), others to Hurley (“I‘ve been scared to make a move”; “I don’t know where I’m going, but I know I’ll figure it out”), but on the whole, this feels like an anthem for the series finale.

Time Flies - There’s a breezy quality to this song that reminds me of Jimmy Buffett, who I already associate with sunny beaches and tropical daydreams. “Time flies when you’re having fun,” the chorus proclaims, and those who were captivated by LOST right up to the end would most likely agree. Meanwhile, the verses again seem to relate to the finale. The first verse has to do with looking in mirrors and being disturbed by what you see there, a frequent affliction of Jack throughout season six. The second verse could be a nod to heroic pilot Frank Lapidus: “Life is moving fast and I'm running out of gas. Time ain't on my side. I'm still in the race and I'm barely keeping pace but it's worth the ride.” Meanwhile, the third verse’s reflection on the connection between mortality and memories seems fitting for LOST’s concluding moments.

Cuomo, a LOST fan who has seen the first two seasons, had met Garcia and gotten his picture taken with him, and according to him, he loved the vibe he got from his grinning face so much that he cropped the photo down and made it the cover. The name, he said, was a given, since everybody would be calling it that anyway. Bell, on the other hand, implied that the name was a nod to the clothing company Hurley, which was sponsoring the album, and that the picture was just a clever way of covering up the corporate connection. Then there’s the undeniable fact that putting Hurley on the cover of their album meant potentially tapping into a huge market of fans lost without their favorite show and clamoring for anything that might be tangentially related.

Whatever the reasons behind the name and cover art, I’m glad they decided on it because that’s what convinced me to give it a listen. For established Weezer fans, for zany over-analytical LOST fans like me and for those who just enjoy light-hearted punk, I have this to say about Hurley: Dude, it rocks!