The Angel and the One by Weezer

Album: Weezer (The Red Album) (2008)

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Frontman Rivers Cuomo told American Songwriter magazine that he was concerned that this grandiose finale might be too experimental for some listeners. He explained: "I would say that my main challenge on this record (The Red Album) has been moving forward. I have nowhere near met that challenge yet - coming up with great songs that can reach an audience and be appreciated broadly, that don't have a standard verse/chorus/verse structure. I really want to work on that. You'll hear some experimentation in that direction on the record… I'm not convinced yet that our less-normally-structured songs are going to hook people in-like 'The Angel and the One'; there is no verse or chorus there, it's an evolution. I don't know if people are going to say that sucks, or maybe it's OK to not be hooky all the time."

Comments: 3

Chris from Near Buffalo, NyOK. It took me a while but I got it. This song is very deep. It is a first person song obviously but who is the person.

This person has reached the highest enlightenment possible.
He is a King as his purple majesty is displayed.

He will take you to the enlightenment if you will only take his hand.

Who is this man?

Como is singing from the first person of Jesus.

At first he is singing to Mary Magdelene, explaining to her why he can't be with her.

Another bit of relate...who uses Shalom in language other than a jew. Jesus was a jew his entire life.

I am not a bible thumper or a christian but when you listen or read the lyrics again, it is a perfect fit.
Adam from Boyce, VaVery great song. Love the pipe organ at the end of the song.
Sam from Toronto, OnIn the liner notes for the deluxe edition of the "Red Album", Rivers Cuomo explained, "This song...it started out as a really standard pop song called 'bad girl', and had a verse and a chorus and bridge and all that stuff. And I just wasn't satisfied with it. It wasn't moving me spiritually enough. It was...too normal. So one day I sat down with my acoustic guitar and I just played that song over and over, basically looping it. My fingers hurt so much, but I just kept playing it. And over the hour that I was playing it, the song slowly evolved and it smoothed over and the sections blurred into each other. And it turned into the spiritual reverie that is really just one long development without any distinction between sections. Every line in this song rhymes and then melody just gradually get higher and higher and the music gets louder and more powerful...there isn't any study of music in this song. It was just the desire to break away and not write a standard three minute pop song."

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