Vampire Weekend “Refused to Capitalize on Weezer’s Misfortune” by Replacing Them on Shrek Soundtrack

Vampire Weekend "Refused to Capitalize on Weezer's Misfortune" by Replacing Them on Shrek Soundtrack

In 2010, Weezer covered the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” for the Shrek Forever After soundtrack. But it was almost Vampire Weekend who did the cover instead of Weezer, as Ezra Koenig has revealed in a series of Tweets. Koenig says that after Weezer were in a bus accident in late 2009, their Shrek status was in limbo. Soundtrack supervisors approached Vampire Weekend to take on the task. Koenig says that he “refused to capitalize on Weezer’s misfortune.” (He has told Pitchfork that this isn’t a joke.)

@YungCostanza i was just abt to tweet about weezer wrt lies i’ve told abt the shrek soundtrack. idk rivers but i love him & weezer

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016

i claimed i was on the Shrek 1 & Shrek 3 soundtracks. it wasn’t true but it saved lives. sorry if that doesn’t pass ur liberal purity test

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016

after a bus accident in 2009, it looked like Weezer might not be able to record “I’m A Believer” for the Shrek Forever After soundtrack

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016

the Shrek soundtrack supervisor reached out to Vampire Weekend abt covering the song but i refused to capitalize on Weezer’s misfortune

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016

in the end, Weezer was able to record the cover after all. i was left with no tangible connection to the Shrek soundtrack universe

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016

do i sometimes regret the decision? of course. do i sometimes lie on twitter & say i was on shrek soundtracks? yes – once.

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016

shrek, if ur reading this (and thinking abt doing more movies) let me, despot & makonnen do a song for u

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016

“As you live your life, it appears to be anarchy and chaos..but later, when you look back at it, it looks like a finely crafted novel.”

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016

that quote is from Joe Walsh – a man who knows a thing or two about the crazy game called the music industry

— Ezra Koenig (@arzE) April 7, 2016 

Listen to Weezer’s “I’m a Believer”:

Watch Koenig and Vampire Weekend on Pitchfork.tv’s “Over/Under”:

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