The band has released three albums; "Special Goodness" (aka "The Bunny Record," re-packaged and re-released during tours in 1999 and 2000 and given a full Japan-only release in 1998), "At Some Point, Birds and Flowers Became Interesting" (2001, self-released and also known as "Pinecone") and "Land Air Sea" (2003). After being signed to Epitaph Records in mid-2003 the band re-released a remixed and re-ordered version of "Land Air Sea". Their song "Life Goes By" was featured on "Punk-O-Rama Vol. 9" and an unreleased track "Not The Way" was featured on "Punk-O-Rama Vol. 10".
The Special Goodness began touring together in 1999. Of the many side-projects/spin-offs from Weezer (such as Space Twins, The Rentals and Homie) they are the only one to ever actually open for Weezer, which they did on the band's 2002 Enlightenment Tour. Wilson minded both the duties as front man for The Special Goodness and as drummer duties for Weezer. Other notable tours include a west coast tour with fellow Weezer side-project The Space Twins in 1999 and opening for the Foo Fighters in 2003, a feat that Wilson would repeat in 2005 as the drummer of Weezer.
One of the most notable shows was on November 2nd, 1999 at Club Laga in Pittsburgh. The club's promoter billed the gig as "The Special Goodness playing all the Weezer Hits." The band played through their set of Special Goodness songs, but felt as if they had to live up to the bill, so an encore of "Tired of Sex" and "Undone - The Sweater Song" was played.
TSG's fourth album got off to a quick start in early 2005 while Weezer's fifth album "Make Believe" was waiting to be mixed and released. Wilson, along with Scott Shriner on bass and Willard on drums, recorded a full album at The Steakhouse Studio in the San Fernado Valley with Joe Baressi engineering the sessions. Overdubbing, mixing, and mastering for the album had been completed and Wilson even had a tentative track list for the album, which consisted of many songs that he had written for possible inclusion in Weezer's fifth album. Yet in a January 26th, 2006 post on thespecialgoodness.com, Wilson stated "In my opinion, the songs weren't very good. The lyrics, melodies, chords, and playing were strong but these do not add up to compelling songs." He also claimed that "a year of playing to large audiences (with Weezer) I've begun to understand what I truly value about playing and writing. More to come." Weezer.com webmaster Karl Koch has attributed the album's non-release to "concerns of commercial viability." [1]
A new album is still expected in 2006. Recently Wilson cleared speculation by updating The Special Goodness website on July 12th, 2006 stating "3 songs and more on the way."
Congratulations
The Special Goodness Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You lived in far behind and far away
And I see you finally reached the place you felt
You had to go but tell me something
Does it fulfill you like you thought or is it time to change again?
I can't believe you're satisfied
With your lame achievement!
Well they're working all for you
You tell them what to do
And say to fit your vision
Well, you better hope it works
'Cause there's a line of jerks
Who wait to tell you something
How does it feel to have control of everything
That's meaningless?
I can't believe you're satisfied
With your lame achievement!
Though it's nice to make believe
But not for me
Of course I'll come to celebrate
When they say your over
With the ones who are relieved
'Cause we've suffered for so long
I think we've had enough
The Special Goodness's song Congratulations is a track that reflects on the excitement and anticipation of the new beginnings that comes with change. In the first stanza, the song acknowledges that the subject has left the world they used to live in and moved on to another place, one that they have been looking forward to, but questions whether the new situation they are in is fulfilling what they expected or if it's time to change paths again. The chorus conveys a complete lack of admiration for the subject, pointing out that their cheap achievements are insignificant and not worth celebrating. The second stanza starts by describing the people working for the subject and following his every command, which can be interpreted as either an allusion to powerful authority or a sarcastic depiction of the sidekicks. The song concludes by expressing a sense of longing for the end of the subject's reign and celebrating the release from being under his control.
Overall, Congratulations represents a beautiful combination of criticism, sarcasm, and optimism. The lyrics go beyond its seemingly simple message and successfully convey messages of hope through change while still emphasizing that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I see you finally left the world
I can see that you have left the world behind, far away.
You lived in far behind and far away
You lived in a place that was far from where you are now.
And I see you finally reached the place you felt
I can see that you have finally reached the place where you wanted to be.
You had to go but tell me something
You had a strong urge to go, but can you tell me something?
Does it fulfill you like you thought or is it time to change again?
Is it fulfilling you like you thought it would or is it time to make a change again?
I can't believe you're satisfied
I cannot believe that you are satisfied.
With your lame achievement!
With your unimpressive accomplishment!
Though it's nice to make believe but not for me
Although it may be nice to pretend, it's not something I want.
Well they're working all for you
They are all working for you.
You tell them what to do
You give them instructions on what to do.
And say to fit your vision
You have them shape their work to fit your vision.
Well, you better hope it works
You should hope that it works out well.
'Cause there's a line of jerks
Because there are many people waiting to criticize you.
Who wait to tell you something
Who wait to tell you something negative.
How does it feel to have control of everything
How does it feel to be in control of everything?
That's meaningless?
Even though it's meaningless?
Of course I'll come to celebrate
Of course I'll come to join in celebrating.
When they say your over
When they say you are done.
With the ones who are relieved
With the ones who are happy and relieved to see you go.
'Cause we've suffered for so long
We have been suffering for a long time.
I think we've had enough
I think we have had enough of it.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Written by: Patrick Wilson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Adrian Cardenas
for years this song was called "track 08" on my itunes. now i have found the title and i KNEW it was patricks voice :) fucking love this song soo much.
Paul
it’s the 1st track of the album
Ariel
a part of my teenage is in this song ❤
zrodeathwing
this album rules!
Matt Kiegelmann
love this song.
Hub Location Sound // Jim Keaney
I have this album burned on CD-R with a recycled jewel case from a "Chixdiggit" album that I bought from Karl when SG toured and played Middle East in Cambridge MA back in like... 1998? Why isn't this on Spotify?!
Michael Wandell
Great song Pat!!
Ryan Costello
they sold this album on their 1999 tour that they did right before weezer started working on the green album. it was just CD-R's with photocopied covers. it had ten songs.
Hub Location Sound // Jim Keaney
I got one! wish this was on spotify so I could hear it more often
Joe Bluhm
Totally! I saw them at a small club in Cleveland and bought that burned CD-R.