Weezer get tropical on "Island In The Sun," a laid-back song where lead singer Rivers Cuomo imagines a tranquil getaway where his cares wash out with the tides. Unlike many Weezer songs, there's no trace of pathos and no deeper meaning, making it an easy song to enjoy even if you're not a big fan of the band. It became one of their most popular songs, although it was never a bit hit, reaching a chart peak of just #111 in the US.
You might know this song as "Hip, Hip," the catchy phrase that repeats throughout. It's hard not to sing along to this part, which makes "Island In The Sun" a concert favorite, played at just about every Weezer show.
Rivers Cuomo wrote this song and made a demo for it in 1999 that got leaked on the internet. Most of the general public weren't on the web back then, but Weezer fans usually were, so the demo circulated among their fanbase two years before it was officially released.
"Island In The Sun" was the second single from Weezer's third album,
The Green Album (the album is officially titled Weezer, but so are a few others in their catalog, so they're distinguished by color - their debut is
The Blue Album).
The Green Album was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars, who had to convince Rivers Cuomo to include the song and worked to give it a pop sheen. It ended up being the second single from the album, following the grungy lunatic rocker "
Hash Pipe" - quite a contrast.
Weezer started recording the song on January 1, 2001 at Cello Studios in Los Angeles, which used to be a part of Western Studios, where Frank Sinatra, The Mamas And The Papas and The Beach Boys all recorded. Sometime in April 2001, someone stole a copy of the master tapes and leaked the album on the internet in unfinished form.
Two different videos were made for this song. One shows the band playing at a Mexican wedding, and the other, more popular version, shows the band cavorting with different wild animals. This version was directed by Spike Jonze.
Weezer fans were a little worried about the band in the late '90s. After touring for their 1996 album Pinkerton, they took some time off and went through some lineup changes. During this time, Rivers Cuomo was taking classes at Harvard - he enrolled there in 1995 and attended sporadically when it suited his schedule. "Island In The Sun" was welcome relief for fans, showing that the band was back and in a good place. Oh, and Cuomo did eventually graduate Harvard, earning a degree in English in 2006.
In 2006, Emma Roberts covered "Island In The Sun" for the soundtrack of Aquamarine.
In late 2001, the band began playing this in concert with a reworked version of the solo. In 2005, Rivers Cuomo would play this by himself on an acoustic guitar to open their encores.
"Island In The Sun" is the most-licensed track in the Weezer catalog. Movies to use it include Mr. Deeds (2002), Boyhood (2014) and Trolls Band Together (2023). It's also been used in episodes of Smallville, The Simpsons and The Sopranos.
Frontman Rivers Cuomo told Billboard magazine: "The funny thing is, the song wasn't a real radio hit. I can only speculate that it's because the song has a cleaner guitar sound, which makes it easier for a more mainstream audience."
Weezer played the song, along with "Hash Pipe," when they were musical guests on
Saturday Night Live, May 19, 2001. It was their only guest appearance on the show, but they were the subject of a
2018 skit where Matt Damon and Leslie Jones play Weezer fans who get in a very heated argument.
