Trying to ID a song about a sweater from the 80s

January 6, 2010 11:10 AM

help me ID this song from the 80s: This is a song about a sweater, how it possibly unravels, or involves a boy and a girl, and would have been played on the radio as a new release in the 1980s. Not Weezer's Sweater Song, something different! It was odd (maybe a novelty song?), involving more spoken language than actual singing. King Missile's Detachable P*nis always reminded me of this earlier song for some reason. I've been trying to figure out this song for years, and any searching I do turns up Weezer, and that's not it. I remember it getting a lot of radio play in Knoxville, TN where I grew up, some time during the 1980s.
posted by southpaw to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

Best answer: "The Sweater" by Meryn Cadell?
posted by jbickers at 11:12 AM on January 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

(Angel is a) Centerfold by J. Geils?
Those soft and fuzzy sweaters
Too magical to touch
Too see her in that negligee
Is really just too much
posted by fullofragerie at 11:13 AM on January 6, 2010

Maybe Laurie Anderson's "Sweaters"?


I no longer love your mouth. I no longer love your eyes. I no longer love your eyes. I no longer love the color of your sweaters. I no longer love it. I no longer love the color of your sweaters. I no longer love the way you hold your pans and pencils. I no longer love it. Your mouth. Your eyes. The way you hold your pens and pencils. I no longer love it. I no longer love it.
posted by Skot at 11:14 AM on January 6, 2010

Best answer: Meryn Cadell did a song called The Sweater (you can hear an excerpt on amazon here). It is all spoken language with a music background, about a girl and the sweater she is wearing that she got from a boy on a camping trip over the weekend.
posted by Lokheed at 11:16 AM on January 6, 2010

it's definitely Meryn Cadell! Oh man I'm glad someone asked this question, because I ALWAYS have this some in my head. Now I know the artist's name. Good job metafilter.
posted by purpletangerine at 11:18 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: OMG, Lokheed FTW! Based on the clip, that's it exactly. Thank you so much!!
posted by southpaw at 11:23 AM on January 6, 2010

"Where's me jumper?" by the Sultans of Ping (FC).

Now to sit back and enjoy the deluge of knitwear-related rock'n'roll.
posted by Fiery Jack at 11:24 AM on January 6, 2010

Yeah, Meryn Cadell. I'll always remember the ending of that song.... 100% acrylic!
posted by bondcliff at 11:25 AM on January 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I came in here to mention Meryn Cadell's "The Sweater" as well. Here's the YouTube video.
posted by Johnny Assay at 11:25 AM on January 6, 2010

Haircut 100's "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)"?
posted by applemeat at 11:27 AM on January 6, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks to everyone who figured out it was Meryn Candell's The Sweater. :)
posted by southpaw at 11:29 AM on January 6, 2010

VIDEO FOR IT
posted by travis08 at 11:39 AM on January 6, 2010

For all its worth, the rest of the CD is pretty good as well if you like odd things. It's all the same kind of spoken word stuff set against music. The disc was out of print for a long time, but apparently you can order it now from http://www.bongobeat.com/MerCa_AngFoFo.php.
posted by Lokheed at 11:56 AM on January 6, 2010

Great song. It will always remind me of Toronto in the early 1990s. Meryn Cadell now teaches songwriting at UBC, and has transitioned from female to male.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 2:05 PM on January 6, 2010

The Sweater Song is actually early 90s. 1992, I believe. It's from Meryn Cadell's CD Angel Food for Thought. I highly recommend it. There's a lot of crap on the disk, but there are a few gems and they're really worth seeking out.

Cheers!
posted by 2oh1 at 3:28 PM on January 6, 2010

Holy crap, I remember that song. Very funny, actually. "Just be yourself. The best, cutest, quietest version of yourself.
Definitely wear lip gloss"
Interesting about the transition, good for him!
posted by Red Loop at 5:13 PM on January 6, 2010