Weezer and the anti-knit...

Before this post will make sense (well, as much as possible, anyway), you must first go and watch this Weezer video. Embedding has been disabled on YouTube for this one, so I can't insert it here, but go ahead...go watch it, listen to the lyrics, and then come back. I'll wait.

...Dum de dum de dum...

Ready to continue? Cool.

I heard this song on the radio last week for the first time in eons. I mean, it came out in 1994, so I'm sure I've heard it dozens of times. But...I wasn't a knitter for most of those years. As a knitter, I heard this song with new ears. I have since dubbed it the anti-knitting song, for obvious reasons. Let's review the four main lines of the song...

If you want to destroy my sweater...

What?? Why would someone WANT to destroy his sweater? Is it ugly? Is it some horrible, cheap, acrylic sweater bought on sale at Wal-Mart? Is the person just mean and spiteful? Perhaps did a former girlfriend knit it for him and, being a clueless guy, he doesn't realize he should not wear it around the current girlfriend? Or, is the "sweater" a metaphor for something bigger? Some aspect of his deeper being?

Pull this thread as I walk away...

OK, clearly no one consulted any knitters when these lyrics were being written because typically we do not refer to it as "thread". Unless maybe it was a store-bought, machine-knit cotton sweater. That could indeed look like thread. But really? Sweaters are made of yarn. I suppose "Pull this piece of yarn as I walk away" doesn't sound quite as rhythmic. 

Watch me unravel. 

Unlike cartoon animals whose fur unravels with ease, I don't think this will work with a sweater on a human. Even if the sweater was knit in the round, maybe a raglan, you're only going to be able to pull so far before the freed yarn wraps uncomfortably around him. To truly unravel it, he'd have to be spinning like a top, know what I mean? 

I'll soon be naked...

Naked? Seriously? This can only mean one of two things. One, the wearer is drastically under dressed and could be cited for indecent exposure. Or two, and possibly more likely, it is a hand-knit sweater whose maker failed to check gauge, thus instead of being a traditional sweater, it is more of a sweater dress. Still...he's a guy. Why is he wearing a sweater dress? Not that I'm judging. 

Or, if we go back to the metaphor theory, then perhaps the unraveling of the sweater is meaningful in some other way. It could represent the ripping away of some dysfunctional part of his psyche, leaving his soul bare and naked to be reborn into something new and beautiful. 

Or maybe he's just into being naked on the ground.

...lying on the floor. I've come undone.

The person who is truly going to come undone is the poor knitter who put all that time and energy into that sweater! Sure hope she doesn't find out, know what I mean? 

I thought perhaps watching the video would give me some incredible insight into the meaning of this song. But no. No insights. Near as I could tell, none of those guys was even WEARING a sweater! And what was with the dogs? That was just random.

P.S. A spinning update: I have indeed been spinning every day of the Tour de Fleece so far. I'm nearing the end of my first batch of fiber and cannot wait to begin plying. I'll post more soon with pictures!