In the Garage

"In the Garage" is the eighth track from The Blue Album.
===Appearances===
*Weezer (The Blue Album) (1994)
*Bloodshot (1994)
*Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years (2020)
*Weezer (The Blue Album) (30th Anniversary Deluxe) (2024)
==Overview==
Along with "Holiday" and "Buddy Holly," Rivers Cuomo wrote "In the Garage" during "a sudden burst of confidence and optimism" following Weezer's signing with Geffen Records.Weezer (The Blue Album) press kit, likely first recording it in July of 1993. Catalog O'Riffs (lists "In the Garage" after June 30, 1993). This demo was released in 2020 as part of the digital demo compilation Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years. Weezer debuted "In the Garage" live at the Roxy in West Hollywood, CA on August 1, 1993Historic event: 08/01/1993, the last concert they would play with rhythm guitarist Jason Cropper. The eponymous "Garage" was connected to the so-named "Amherst House" (2226 Amherst Ave.) in Los Angeles, California, where members of the band had lived (later the filming site for the music video for "Say It Ain't So"). Cuomo has likened the song to "In My Room" by the Beach Boys.Cuomo, Rivers. The Pinkerton Diaries 2011. Self-published. pg. 107Questlove Supreme "Weezer" 22 May 2024. (podcast) https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-questlove-supreme-53194211/episode/weezer-178496883/
On August 11, a few weeks before entering the studio to record The Blue Album, Weezer worked with producer Ric Ocasek on practice demos of songs for their first album, including "In the Garage" as well as a "reprise" of the song that Karl Koch later described as "a weird mellow vocal harmony thing."Recording History - Page 4 This reprise has not surfaced, and it is not known if or where it would have appeared on the album. "In the Garage" was recorded with the rest of Blue throughout August and September of 1993 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
The song's lyrics were referenced in much of the early press that the band received, helping to associate the band with labels like geek rock and nerd rock.Entertainment Weekly interview with Weezer - October 14, 1994Guitar World interview with Rivers Cuomo - March 1995. In a retrospective 2017 review of The Blue Album for Pitchfork, Jillian Mapes described the song as "an homage to that happy place where no one judges you for your comic books, D&D figurines, and Kiss posters... The hopeless ambition of “In the Garage” would make it the defining song of nerd-rock."Weezer (The Blue Album) Pitchfork Media record review. Mapes juxtaposes the autobiographical qualities of "Garage" ("a hyper-detailed song about himself") with the fantasy-driven "Surf Wax America."
In January of 1995, Weezer recorded an original studio rendition of the song—featuring an organ in place of harmonica—for the BBC Radio 1 program The Evening Session.
Alongside "My Name Is Jonas," "Garage" makes prominent use of a harmonica. Weezer would not return to this instrument on an official recording until Make Believe, on the song "Freak Me Out." Though Cuomo initially performed the harmonica parts for "In the Garage" in live shows, Brian Bell has performed it as well.
==Video Capture Device live video==
The live music video for "In the Garage" was filmed at the Mercury Cafe in Denver, Colorado on August 4, 1994. It was created in late 1994 by Mike Drumm, due to the demand of a new Weezer music video. At the time, the "Buddy Holly" music video was a MTV exclusive, meaning other television stations couldn't broadcast the video for a period of time.Russell, Deborah (10 December 1994). Looks Just Like An Exclusive. Billboard.
<youtube>eWymbWBpqsg</youtube>
==Audio==
<youtube>wTlOIQHwtJU</youtube> <youtube>https://youtu.be/5bh_PgXs6Js</youtube>
==Lyrics==
I've got the Dungeon Master's Guide
I've got a 12-sided die
I've got Kitty Pryde
And Nightcrawler too
Waiting there for me
Yes I do, I do
I've got posters on the wall
My favorite rock group, Kiss
I've got Ace Frehley
I've got Peter Criss
Waiting there for me
Yes I do, I do
In the garage, I feel safe
No one cares about my ways
In the garage, where I belong
No one hears me sing this song
In the garage
I've got an electric guitar
I play my stupid songs
I write these stupid words
And I love every one
Waiting there for me
Yes I do, I do
In the garage, I feel safe
No one cares about my ways
In the garage, where I belong
No one hears me sing this song
In the garage, in the garage
In the garage I feel safe
No one cares about my ways
In the garage, where I belong
No one hears me sing this song
In the garage I feel safe
No one laughs about my ways
In the garage, where I belong
No one hears me, no one hears me 
No one hears me, no one hears me 
No one hears me sing this song
==Known recordings==
==See also==
*List of Weezer songs
*List of Rivers Cuomo songs
==External links==
*Teenage Victory Songs entry for "In the Garage"
==References==
Category:Weezer songs
Category:Rivers Cuomo songs
Category:Songs on Weezer (The Blue Album)
Category:Songs on Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years
Category:Weezer songs produced by Ric Ocasek
Category:Featured song