Buddy Holly (1994)

"Buddy Holly" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was written by Rivers Cuomo and released by DGC Records as the second single from the Weezer debut album, Weezer (The Blue Album) (1994). The lyrics reference the 1950s rock-and-roll singer Buddy Holly and the actress Mary Tyler Moore.

Released on September 7, 1994—which would have been Holly's 58th birthday—"Buddy Holly" reached number two on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. It reached number six in Canada, number 12 in the United Kingdom (upon release in 1995), number 13 in Iceland, and number 14 in Sweden.

The music video, which features footage from Happy Days and was directed by Spike Jonze, earned considerable exposure when it was included as a bonus media file in Microsoft's initial successful release of the operating system Windows 95.

Rolling Stone ranked "Buddy Holly" number 484 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" (2021), raising it 15 spots from number 499 (2010), and raised from around 19 years prior, being ranked number 497 (2004). The digital single was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2026. VH1 ranked it the 59th greatest song of the 1990s in December 2007.

Background and writing

Rivers Cuomo was inspired to write "Buddy Holly" after an incident where his Weezer bandmates made fun of his friend from the Santa Monica College Choir. He originally planned to exclude it from the album; he felt it was "cheesy" and perhaps did not represent the sound he was pursuing for Weezer. Producer Ric Ocasek persuaded him to include it. In the book River's Edge, Ocasek is quoted saying: "I remember at one point he was hesitant to do 'Buddy Holly' and I was like, 'Rivers, we can talk about it. Do it anyway, and if you don't like it when it's done, we won't use it. But I think you should try. You did write it and it is a great song.'" Bassist Matt Sharp recalled: "Ric said we'd be stupid to leave it off the album. We'd come into the studio in the morning and find little pieces of paper with doodles on them: WE WANT BUDDY HOLLY."

The song is well known for the distinctive, high-pitched guitar lick at the end of the guitar solo (around 2:09 in the song), which has been used as a bait-and-switch prank in a similar way to Rickrolling. This phenomenon is widely known across the internet as "Weezer rolling" or simply getting "Weezer'd".

Coincidentally, the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show was written by Sonny Curtis, who played with Buddy Holly in Texas and later performed as one of The Crickets.

Critical reception

Steve Baltin from Cash Box commented, "You’ve gotta love a song that makes reference to Mary Tyler Moore. Slightly poppier in its guitar sound than their first single, [...], this Ric Ocasek-produced song could help expand their already-growing fan base. Besides that, it mentions Mary, the woman who could turn the world on with her smile. Therefore, it has to be a hit." John Robb from Melody Maker opined, "Weezer sound like The Proclaimers jamming with The Knack. This is pop-punk-by-numbers." Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Made loud to play loud and sing along, it's the ideal power pop to cruise round this summer. That silly twin synth/guitar, betrays producer Ocasek, the one-time driver of New York's Cars." A reviewer from Music Week gave the song four out of five, adding, "A short and sweet taster from the album which may not have the same quirky appeal of "Undone – The Sweater Song", but has an attractive hook and a video to arouse interest."

Johnny Cigarettes from NME commented, "A touching paean to nerdish social rejection from people who frankly deserve it. [...] But I am totally suckered by the pop majesty of a song that employs the long forgotten phrase Oo-ee-oo and drills an indelible mark on your taste buds such that you can never forget it's [sic] supernaturally banal chorus." NME ranked it number five in their list of the Top 20 of 1995 in December 1995, writing, "Wahey! American rock ditches the pity-poor-me whingeing of grunge in favour of smiling faces, celestial Beach Boys-esque harmonies and The Tune That Ate Daytime Radio. Accompanied by the best video of the year." Paul Evans from Rolling Stone noted "the self-deprecating humor" of lines like "I look just like Buddy Holly/You're Mary Tyler Moore".