An Appreciation of Matthew Sweet

I was pretty devastated to hear that 90s alt rocker Matthew Sweet suffered a debilitating stroke while in Toronto. A GoFundMe page was set up for his medical expenses since, like a lot of artists, he didn’t have proper medical insurance AND he was in Canada which doesn’t cover U.S. citizens’ medical costs. What a blow! The initial goal of the GoFundMe campaign was to raise $250,000 which was met in 48 hours thus allowing Sweet to be transported home to Omaha, Nebraska where he could get the appropriate medical attention and rehabilitation. The new desired goal is $750,000 of which over $400,000 has been raised as of this writing. According to Catherine Lyons who has organized the fundraising campaign, Sweet will remain “in day to day rehabilitation and recovery for an undetermined number of months in 2025. Needless to say, Matthew will not be able to return to performing concerts anytime soon.” Even so, Sweet apparently wrote using a black sharpie, "my goal is to play guitar and sing and make art.” He’s got the right attitude to make it happen!

I’ve been thinking about how important Sweet’s music has been to me in the past 30 years. Like everyone else, I first encountered him when I heard his incredible song Girlfriend played on alternative radio in 1992-93. It was a huge and critically well-received hit. He then released the album Altered Beast in 1993 which spawned a couple more radio hits, The Ugly Truth and Time Capsule. During this time I was taking a graduate course on music videos at Northern Illinois University. One of our projects was to analyze a video. I chose the super freaky video for Time Capsule which featured Sweet tied up on the ground with bugs crawling all over him.

In 1995, Sweet released 100% Fun, my personal favorite of all of his albums. Not as dark as Altered Beast, the album spawned another big alternative hit with Sick of Myself. Upon it release, Sweet appeared at the Tower Records in Chicago’s Lincoln Park for an in-store concert and autograph signing. I was thrilled to meet him and let him know that three of his songs had thus far made my annual Top Ten lists. When I told him about our annual party counting down our favorites songs, he beamed and said, “that’s cool!” I also saw him live at the Riviera in Uptown not long after. Later that year, one of the tracks from the album, I Almost Forgot, a searing ballad and one of my most played songs, ended up in my 1995 Top Ten.

Sweet released two more albums in the 90s: 1997’s Blue Sky on Mars containing the great track Come to California and 1999’s In Reverse which began with three cool songs blending together: Millenium Blues, If Time Permits, and Beware My Love.

His solo work in the 2000s slowed down a bit with only 2004’s Living Things and 2008’s Sunshine Lies. While these albums were not as commercially successful as his work in the 90s, I particularly liked the latter release. Two of its tracks, Byrdgirl and Daisychain, made my Top Ten that year. For some reason this album is not currently available on Spotify or Apple Music.

In 2003 he formed a supergroup with Pete Droge and Shawn Mullins called The Thorns. While not a major success their self-titled album included the beautiful ballad No Blue Sky and a faithful cover of The Jayhawks’ Blue.

The great surprise during that decade was his pairing with the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs for a series of cover albums. Three Under the Covers volumes were released between 2006 and 2013. Some of the best tracks include Different Drum, Alone Again Or, Girls Talk, Care of Cell #44, Cinnamon Girl, and Monday, Monday.

Releases after that came further between each other. During the COVID-19 pandemic, like a lot of artists, Sweet played a solo concert from his home for fans. While he had gained weight and his voice wasn’t quite as pure as it was in the past, it was still Matthew Sweet.

I felt a certain nostalgic resurgence for him in 2022. A musical that was written for the stage adapting the songs from his Girlfriend album was staged at the Pride Arts Center in Chicago. With a surprising gay spin, the show was easily the best I had seen that year. Later Sweet released a cover of Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights which had remained a lost demo for many years. He overdubbed some guitars and other instruments and released it as a tribute to Bush who was having her own career resurgence with Running Up That Hill making the Top Ten for the first time.

So what is it about Sweet that has kept me a fan for so long? I think it has been his great skill at turning a lyric and creating some really melodic alternative rock/pop. His voice has often been, well, very sweet and tender as it expresses some heartfelt emotions. Of course, his guitar work on songs like Girlfriend and Ugly Truth Rock (there are two versions of Ugly Truth on Altered Beast, I prefer the “rock” version) is stellar. Some of the best of the 1990s. The Under the Covers projects clearly indicate the many artists that influenced him growing up. Being that he was born in 1964 and I in 1963, I like to think that we both sat around listening to a lot of the same records. (He even did a great cover of the Carpenters’ Let Me Be the One for the If I Were a Carpenter tribute album in 1994.)

So, as is my way, while listening to so many Matthew Sweet songs in the last few days I’ve put together a list of my Top Ten favorite solo Sweet songs. Listen, enjoy, and send out some good vibrations for a speedy recovery for Sweet.

1. Time Capsule

2. Girlfriend

3. I Almost Forgot

4. Ugly Truth Rock

5. Beware My Love

6. Byrdgirl

7. Walk Out

8. Smog Moon

9. daisychain

10. Wuthering Heights

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