"Sober Up" is a song by American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band

AJR is an American pop band founded by brothers Met (), collectively a trio of vocalists, , and songwriters. The brothers grew up in New York City, primarily focused on busking, singing covers and street tap dancing until shifting to songwriting ...

, from their second studio album, ''

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''. Released as the album's fifth single, it features

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was born in New York City and raised in several Buddhist communities in the northeaste ...

, lead singer and frontman of American

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band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

, although certain radio stations instead play a version with band member Ryan singing Cuomo's verse. "Sober Up" became the first number-one song for AJR on the ''

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, when it peaked at number one on the chart in March 2018. Similarly, it also makes Cuomo his first number-one song as a solo artist outside of

Background

The inspiration for "Sober Up" came to Jack and Ryan Met during their time at

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, the brothers missing their childhood. Taking inspiration from their feelings of loneliness, they wrote about Jack calling his

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crush from elementary school.

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describes "Sober Up" as a positive song despite its difficult lyrics. Near the end of writing,

followed AJR on

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. The two bands expressed admiration for each other's work, with AJR asking if Cuomo wanted to collaborate with them. Cuomo was sent an unfinished version of the song, to which he wrote and sang the bridge. Cuomo recorded several versions, including one in Spanish, one that was nonsensical, and the one that was eventually accepted into the final track.

Music video

On January 31, 2018, a music video for "Sober Up" was released. In the music video, the band is walking through

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while singer Jack Met meets a younger version of himself that is only visible in reflections.

Chart performance

In March 2018, "Sober Up" peaked at number one on the ''

chart and was the first number one song for AJR. For Rivers Cuomo, "Sober Up" was his first song to reach number one on ''Billboard''s Alternative chart as a solo artist outside of Weezer. The song was additionally picked as

's digital song for October.

Live performances

In January 2018, AJR performed "Sober Up" on ''

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'' alongside their previous hit "

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". Cuomo has performed the song with AJR for select shows, additionally covering it for some solo shows. In March 2018, Cuomo played an acoustic cover of "Sober Up" during ''An Evening with Rivers Cuomo'' at The Hi Hat in

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Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs AJR songs Black Butter Records singles Rivers Cuomo songs Songs written by Rivers Cuomo