Cute Without the E
| "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Taking back sunday cute without the e.jpg | ||||
| Single by Taking Back Sunday | ||||
| from the album Tell All Your Friends | ||||
| Released | February 17, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | Big Blue Meenie, Jersey City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:31 | |||
| Label | Victory | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Sal Villanueva | |||
| Taking Back Sunday singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Listen to the song Cute Without the E or Buy it on amazon
"Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" is a song by Taking Back Sunday. It is the fifth track on their debut album, Tell All Your Friends (2002). It was the first song released from the album, being posted online in February 2002. Though not originally intended to be a single, it was later issued to radio on February 17, 2003, as the album's second single. The video was directed by Christian Winters, who also directed the video for "Great Romances of the 20th Century" and "You're So Last Summer". Like the other songs on the album, it was written by vocalist Adam Lazzara and guitarist John Nolan. The song is regarded as a fan favorite.[2]
Background and composition
The song's origins trace back to a time the group visited frontman Adam Lazzara's father in North Carolina; the band had recently played a concert there. Although normally the band's drummer, Mark O'Connell was toying with an old classical guitar Lazzara had owned since childhood. He played a sequence of chords, which guitarist John Nolan heard and wanted to create a song with. It became the opening riff to "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)".[3] The track's name came from the band's friend Mike Duvan who said the phrase "cut from the team".[4] It opens with a four-chord guitar intro before shifting into single-note verses.[5][6] Sonically, the song was largely influenced by the Get Up Kids and the Promise Ring.[7]
The lyrics were written by Lazzara and Nolan. Like the other songs on the album, the pair would go to a diner near the apartment they shared to write lyrics,[8] where they would trade notes taken from the rest of the band and compose a full song.[3] The lyrics resulted from a relationship that Lazzara had recently left.[3][8] He sarcastically refers to her as "princess" or "angel", bitterly complaining about what he saw as her being unfaithful to their relationship. Lazzara's ex-girlfriend was unaware he had written a song about her until after the track had already become popular in mid-2002.[8] Nolan and Lazzara took rhythmic influence from rapper Jay-Z, specifically his then-latest album The Blueprint (2001), to help them fit as many lyrics in their verses as possible while remaining succinct.[7]
Release
On February 21, 2002, "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" was posted online, alongside an announcement of the upcoming release of its parent album, Tell All Your Friends.[9] Originally, the song was not going to be released as a single; Nolan recalled that he did not believe anything they had created up to that point would be a viable single,[7] and that his band even securing a recording contract "was about as far ahead as we could think in terms of what our band could do."[2] Victory Records founder Tony Brummel had a different strategy to promote the album: Victory gave out 20,000 sampler albums at a cost of about $100,000; the operation targeted people in Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles. The main demographic consisted of those who were familiar with Victory or were general fans of emo music. Brummel considered this a better investment than attempting to gain radio airplay.[10] Nevertheless, the song was eventually serviced to rock radio stations on February 17, 2003.[11]
Music video
A music video for the song was published on Launch.com December 10, 2002.[12] The music video is based on the film Fight Club.[13] Guitarist John Nolan plays as the unnamed narrator, while lead vocalist Adam Lazzara plays the character's named alter ego, Tyler Durden. Scenes from the movie are re-enacted along with performance footage of the band cut in.
References
- ↑ Kaplan, Ilana (March 25, 2017). "Taking Back Sunday's 'Tell All Your Friends' Turns 15: Every Track Ranked From Worst to Best". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 14, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Yerger, Jeff (October 18, 2024). "Taking Back Sunday's John Nolan revisits 'Tell All Your Friends'". GRAMMY Awards. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2025. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lazzara, Adam (February 16, 2018). "The story behind Cute Without The E by Taking Back Sunday". Louder. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Taking Back Sunday 2019, event occurs at 5:26–43
- ↑ Collum, Christ (October 18, 2009). "Taking Back Sunday – Tell All Your Friends – Album Review". AbsolutePunk. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
- ↑ Manley, Brendan (June 14, 2010). "Taking Back Sunday – Tell All Your Friends". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Obenschain, Philip (July 8, 2013). "BackTracking: Taking Back Sunday on 'Cute Without The "E" (Cut From The Team)'". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Bryant, Tom (July 31, 2014). "Six Pack: Uncomfortably Honest Rock Anthems". Louder. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Paul, Aubin (February 21, 2002). "Taking Back Sunday". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Levine 2003, p. 39
- ↑ Maffei 2003, p. 28
- ↑ "Victory Records – News". Victory Records. Archived from the original on February 8, 2003. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
- ↑ Miller, Kirk (February 25, 2003). "Taking Back Sunday Win Friends". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 21, 2007.
...a video for the single "Cute Without the E (Cut From the Team)." But the Fight Club-inspired vignette...
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