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You Should Listen to The Mollusk by Ween
42 Plays1 year ago
On this episode of You Should Listen to This: Tanner makes Bat listen to The Mollusk by Ween for the first time.
Tanner will attempt to guide Bat through this concept record filled with psychedelic rock and stoner humor. We discuss each song and what makes this album so special to Tanner, as well as millions of others. Let's hope Bat likes it.
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Note: Mixing will improve as episodes go on. Thank you so much for listening. We hope you stick with us.
Intro and outro music by Jacob Dotson
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Recap
00:00:00
Speaker
Wow, welcome to the next episode of You Should Listen to This. What episode is this? Three? The third episode. Welcome to the third episode. Tanner needs to get his shit together. Sorry, I'm getting over a cold and that's why I sound kind of stuffed up. It's not the only reason.
00:00:31
Speaker
Last time we talked about Depression Cherry by Beach House. It was quite the conversation. Go listen to that one if you haven't already. And last time at the end of that episode, I told you that you should listen to The Mollusk by Ween. And? You didn't introduce me or you. Hi, I'm Tanner. And I'm here with my best friend, Bat.
00:00:59
Speaker
Hey, it's me, bat. See, now you threw me off my game. Anyway. Anyway. So we're going to talk about the mollusk by ween.
Personal Connection to 'The Mollusk'
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:13
Speaker
Well, before we get fully into it, I just want to emphasize that this is not an educational podcast. This is a discussion podcast, and I'm not going to know everything about this album. I wish I knew everything about every album. So if the ween heads get mad at me, I'm sorry, I'm trying.
00:01:33
Speaker
And some of some of the ween heads might also be mad that I chose this album to show you and not chocolate and cheese or Quebec. But this is the album by ween that I have the most connection to without a doubt, especially considering it was actually released on the exact same day I was born in 1997.
Ween's Genre Exploration and Influence
00:01:56
Speaker
So no way. Yes way. It feels like my soul is connected to this album.
00:02:01
Speaker
Well, it doesn't say that on Spotify. It says a different date on Spotify. Well, the Spotify one is wrong. If you look anywhere else, any other source on the Internet, it is June 24th, 1997. Ween has always dabbled in just about any genre you can think of. You know, people always talk about King Gizzard as the lizard wizard.
00:02:24
Speaker
and the lizard wizard and how they do a new genre with each album like that's their whole thing right but ween was doing that kind of thing way before king gizzard was um and i think more enjoyable than king gizzard if i do say so myself
00:02:38
Speaker
You're going to get all the King Gizzard heads. Oh, no, I'm so scared of Australians.
Nautical Themes and SpongeBob Inspiration
00:02:46
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, wean is really at its core about two guys getting high and making stupid jokes and making cool music and jamming out, changing the game and influencing rock music for years to come.
00:03:02
Speaker
and influencing a lot more. The Mollusk is Wien's sixth album. Gene and Dean Wien, or their real names, Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo. They call this album the True Follow Up to 1994's Chocolate and Cheese. And they still call it their favorite album they've ever made. This album takes us through a journey of dark, nautical themed psychedelic art rock.
00:03:32
Speaker
on the cover we get this Lovecraftian beast of an illustration of all things sea life and it kind of looks like a Volvo which I think is pretty fun. The cover art was done by a guy named Storm Thorgerson.
00:03:50
Speaker
And some people might know that name, but he's known for doing tons and tons of iconic album covers, probably most known for doing Dark Side of the Moon for Pink Floyd. But he's done dozens of lesser known album covers, too, including The Mollusk. This album was so influential, in fact, that it influenced one of the greatest cartoons of all time, SpongeBob SquarePants. When Steven Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, Steven Hillenburg, he was a marine biologist.
00:04:20
Speaker
And he called a Dean Wien, he's a marine biologist actually at a Humboldt State University, fun fact. But he called Dean Wien and he said that he wanted to make a cartoon inspired by the mosque. You can actually hear the influence on this album straight away, the influence that it had on Hillenburg and to create SpongeBob and throughout the entire album. Well, yeah, it's a nautical themed album.
00:04:47
Speaker
Well, yes. Yeah. I mean, and it makes even more sense. And it's goofy. It's got some goofyness to it. Oh, yeah. It's it's it's very whimsical, whimsical and childlike in the same way that SpongeBob is. You know, he's an adult, but he's a child, you know. Yeah. And it makes sense, you know, especially when you remember the thing that I still don't know if it's true or if it's just an old. I guess I should have confirmed this, but that you know, the old thing that people always say that SpongeBob was originally supposed to be an adult cartoon.
00:05:16
Speaker
Oh, yeah, because bikini bottom and crab. Sandy cheeks. Yeah. Yeah.
Cultural Significance of SpongeBob and Album Influence
00:05:22
Speaker
Anyway, that would work well with, you know, weans 90s stoner humor. If that were the case before it pivoted to a kids show, wean would actually later create a song for SpongeBob. Do you remember the song loop de loop from SpongeBob? How does the song about tying shoes? How does it go?
00:05:42
Speaker
I don't remember. Anyway, it's it's from it's from like a 2001 episode, right? So OG Spongebob. Yeah, it's where Spongebob is trying to tie his shoes and there's a song called loop de loop and he's like in a shoe and he's riding the shoelaces like a roller coaster. You don't remember that?
00:05:59
Speaker
I'd have to hear it, or yeah, I'd have to hear it. I don't recall off the top of my head, I'm sorry. I watched a lot of Spongebob as a kid. I watched less Spongebob than you did, so I'm sorry. Well that's lame. That's too bad for you.
00:06:13
Speaker
You can only take so much of that guy. No, he's great. He's the best. But that song loopty loop was written and performed by wean and you know, SpongeBob and different characters from the show can be seen all over the album. This is a very, very, very important album because of SpongeBob and because of my birthday. OK, it is important to you.
00:06:35
Speaker
Yes, and in general. Well, yeah, I suppose. I mean, SpongeBob is a cultural touchstone.
Album Creation Process and Misconceptions
00:06:43
Speaker
It's it's it's one of the finest things that American art has ever created. Right. It's the only thing that white people have ever done. Like, it's great.
00:06:52
Speaker
I don't think I could agree with you on that, but I understand the sentiment. Okay. Anyway, Kurt Viall loves this album. So this album was primarily written on a beach, which, you know, initially indirectly influenced the album, but then they leaned into it to make that entire nautical concept album. This is a maritime masterpiece.
00:07:21
Speaker
Just some don't get into too much, but I just want to know your opening thoughts going into this album and what you were expecting and and what you knew beforehand and all that kind of stuff.
00:07:33
Speaker
Well, I don't want to give you my thoughts quite yet. I kind of want to I kind of want to preface going into the album with your predictions. But I will say that going into the album, I was not expecting it to be a nautical themed experience. I think I just kind of like glanced at the album artwork and I was like,
00:07:58
Speaker
okay cool but i didn't i didn't think that i would be getting down deep into the depths of the deep blue sea so i definitely my first impressions were like what the heck when i first when i first fit the album on i was like what did tanner get me into well i've talked about this album before to you
00:08:20
Speaker
I don't remember a single thing. I'm just going to be straight up. That's well, that's too bad because I've definitely put multiple songs from this album on playlists for you and you always say you listen to the playlist that I make. So I guess the truth is coming out. But let's move on into your predictions. My predictions. Yeah. What were my predictions?
00:08:41
Speaker
Um, you predicted that I, my overall score for this album would be a five or six, I think is what you said. Yeah. So you said maybe a five or six for my overall score and predictions for my favorite and least favorite track you think, or you predicted that my least favorite track would be the Blarney stone. And my favorite might be the mollusk or Buckingham green. And so.
00:09:06
Speaker
Let's get into the album and we can find out this album.
Track Predictions and Initial Reactions
00:09:12
Speaker
It's going track by track. Doesn't make as much sense as it did on the previous albums that we've done, but we are still going to do it because I think this album still benefits from that. It's not necessarily, you know, there is there is we're going to exercise analyzing this album.
00:09:32
Speaker
You know, as much as I can, but I want to emphasize that this album, I don't think was made for a ton of analysis. I think there are a lot of deeper meanings in a lot of the songs that were put there from the start. But we get into some of the goofier parts of this album, and I don't think it's meant to be read into too much. So I just want to emphasize that, but I still want to analyze some stuff. So.
00:09:59
Speaker
Yeah, that goes without saying completely. Let's get into it. The opener for the album is called I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight, and it is an immediate tone setter for the album. And if you've never heard wean before or if you didn't know that you had like bat and this is the first song that you hear on the first album that you listen to by them, you might be a little turned off by it.
00:10:24
Speaker
A hundred percent. It's goofy, but Wien has always been a goofy band and it's better to learn that early. Yeah, they're laying it all out on the table and introducing you to the ride that you're about to go on. This first song is the first clear sign that this album inspired Spongebob. I mean, the voices on this song sound exactly like Spongebob and Patrick. Interesting. Like, did you not hear that? It's literally just Spongebob and Patrick on that.
00:10:53
Speaker
I didn't think about it like that, I think because this song conjures so many images for me, and it doesn't look anything like the Spongebob universe, but that totally makes sense that you're saying it. It's just like, oh, that kind of taints my view of the song. But yeah, I get it.
00:11:13
Speaker
OK, yeah, yeah, yeah. And this this song doesn't have any nautical themes, sadly, but it does set the tone for the album. Do you know the song I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas? Oh, I know that I do, but I can't think of how it goes.
00:11:28
Speaker
I wanna hit the ball to miss for Christmas, something like that. It's like an old 50s song, right? Right, right, right. The B side for that old song is a song called, Are My Ears On Straight? And this song is a reworking of that classic 50 song, Are My Ears On Straight? So the original was like, are my ears on straight? Right. Okay, so it's a sample.
00:11:57
Speaker
Well, it's more of an interpolation or a reworking. Okay, bitch. So, it's pretty cool. Initially, I wrote... Well, these are my initial thoughts, but I think that I... I said, I actually find this to be a really enjoyable track, except the way the vocals change. Makes me uneasy in a way I don't love.
00:12:19
Speaker
and I said the first time I heard this I was disturbed because initially I was like this is disturbing I don't like the way the vocals are like changing because if you don't know this song it's not like two people singing it's like one person singing and the the vocals pitch up and they pitch down like without breaking like it kind of like
00:12:40
Speaker
I don't know how to explain it but it's like you're on a roller coaster of vocals so the first time I heard that I was like like kind of eerie I didn't really like know what to do with it but now
00:12:56
Speaker
Like my more current note says, I am now not so easy or I'm now not so uneasy while listening to the vocals change. I really enjoy this track a lot and it gets stuck in my head often. I love the whimsy of the music and the lyrics. It's got a Disneyland ride sort of sound that is really fun every time I listen.
00:13:18
Speaker
and I said like splash mountain type beat um because it kind of makes me think of like well now it's no longer a splash mountain but you know if you had been on it previously like with I don't know what they're fuck I can't think of what they're called the puppets and everything but those ones like specifically the way that they sound the music from the ride
00:13:39
Speaker
Yeah, it reminds me what I think of just because SpongeBob is already on the brain. I think of SpongeBob and Patrick in the, what is it, the goofy goober place where they get the ice cream sundaes at the beginning of the movie and they get drunk on ice cream sundaes, remember that? No, not really. Have you never seen the SpongeBob SquarePants movie? Yeah, I've seen it. Do you just don't remember it?
00:14:06
Speaker
No, when did that movie come out? It was like over a decade ago.
Title Track 'The Mollusk' Analysis
00:14:10
Speaker
I don't remember. 2003, 2004, something like that. 2003, it was 20 years ago. Yeah, and I've seen it probably in the last five years. OK, but I haven't. Well, why not? It's one that everyone's got to go back to, you know? Because I don't like SpongeBob like that.
00:14:29
Speaker
That's crazy. Well, that's what this reminds me of. It reminds me of SpongeBob and Patrick getting drunk on ice cream Sundays, singing a show tune together.
00:14:39
Speaker
It definitely reminds me of them when they look like little kids or something, with their little cheeks and their big smiles or whatever. That's what it makes me think of. But yeah, I love this one. I love this track. I've heard it a bunch. So let's move on. Let's really get into the meat and potatoes of this album. Well, we got the title track now, The Mollusk.
00:15:05
Speaker
And it's already way less goofy and it's a song that really highlights a lot of the musical skill that we will hear throughout the album. Gene and Dean Wien both have agreed at the point that this album came out that this was the greatest song they had ever made.
00:15:24
Speaker
Um, so good that they decided to make it the title track. Uh, before I get into kind of some of the meanings of the, cause you can analyze the lyrics here, but I just want to hear your thoughts on this song first. Oh no, I'm going to sound dumb if I don't know what this song is about, huh? You trust me, you trust me. It's okay.
00:15:41
Speaker
So the song is like a conversation between, I don't know, I don't want to say that it's like some wizard, but it's like, it's the conversation between a kid and like some older guy. And the kid finds literally, I mean, if we were talking literally, the kid finds a mollusk in the sand and they're just kind of like chatting about the mollusk. So I'm gonna sound really dumb.
00:16:05
Speaker
I definitely do recommend, if you're a dedicated listener, you should listen to this. One of our true fans out there, we love you. We do recommend that you listen to the album before the podcast episode. It is not necessary, but it's fun.
00:16:23
Speaker
yeah i mean if you're like a super super dedicated i would i would say listen to the album listen to the podcast and listen to the album again or whatever works best for your process but that's not necessary and you can enjoy the podcast however you want to as long as you are listening and liking and subscribing and yeah
00:16:44
Speaker
and give it a five star rating give it a five star rating stream it while you sleep okay so this is the mollusk probably my favorite track i really like this one um when i first heard it i was like oh this is giving me mgmt vibes which is so silly because obviously mgmt came
00:17:04
Speaker
after ween but i don't listen to music like i don't listen to psychedelic music before this time period so um i don't have anything to reference like um connect this music to so i'm like oh i wonder if ween inspired mgmt maybe i really like this yeah is that is that canon
00:17:25
Speaker
I do know a long time ago I read a story about the oral history of electric field, you know, the classic song. They talked about how I don't remember what song it was exactly, but they did say that a certain weaned song was an inspiration for a lot of that song.
00:17:45
Speaker
Yeah, that totally makes sense. Of course, this is a very psychedelic track. It's kind of calming in a way. It's pretty chill, I would say.
00:17:58
Speaker
I send that it makes you feel like you are beneath the ocean surface and surrounded by blue ocean with light filtering through the way that that synth is a little bit like trickling or I want to I don't want to call it a rolling synth because I feel like every synth I might refer to as being rolling I think it's more of like a trickling sound so you know you can let me know what you think of that kind of metaphor like light filtering through you know when you're below the
00:18:26
Speaker
the surface of the water and the sunlight comes through and the waves are going. So it's kind of like a sprinkling light underneath. That's what the music and the synth kind of reminds me of. Yeah, I know it's exactly what you're talking about, like finding Nemo through the anemone, the light shining through.
00:18:47
Speaker
I think they have great tracks like the instrumental part. They're so vivid, which I really like. There's a lot to sink your teeth into.
00:18:57
Speaker
The guitar on this song is just so nice. I love it so much. You said you this this is one of your favorite songs. So I was right. Mm hmm. Hell yeah. I'm the best. OK, so I wanted to I knew this song was based on a story, but I didn't know the story. So I wanted to look into it.
00:19:19
Speaker
And according to some Catholic tradition, I believe, while walking along a beach, Saint Augustine is said to have had a revelation regarding the incomprehensibility of the Holy Trinity after seeing a child digging a hole in the sand with the scallop, which is a type of mollusk. And he was using the shell to fill the hole with water.
00:19:45
Speaker
And Augustine realized that his attempts to understand the Trinity were as futile as the kids attempt to fill the whole ocean. Like he was trying to put the whole ocean into the hole. Or that's what he said it was like. It was the same amount of futility, right? Tell him to bring out the whole ocean. Yeah. And so this song is about DJ Khaled. DJ Khaled!
00:20:13
Speaker
Sorry. This is a serious podcast. It's not a serious podcast. We are very serious. Yeah. Good song. I love this song. This is always one of my favorites to listen to.
00:20:28
Speaker
I really like that story. I think that's great. And now I understand what the Trinity is. I thought that it was something about life because of the lyrics. I was thinking like, oh, this, you know, like someone older talking to someone younger, you know, and it's like the innocence and like naivete that the child has and the person's older. And it's like, oh, what is that you have?
00:20:53
Speaker
And it's not really like a condescending sort of thing. It's more just like an understanding between the two. It's what you can learn from, you know, the younger generations. Yeah, it's kind of like to me, it's like him admiring his curiosity. Like, what are you up
'Polkadot Tale' Interpretation
00:21:11
Speaker
to? What are you doing down there? What are you getting into today? I don't know.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah, no, I hear you. This song goes straight into an interesting song, Polkadot Tale. Now, many different interpretations have been presented for a lot of songs on this album. And, you know, I don't want to say there's any correct interpretation. But for this song, you know, this beautiful piece of psychedelic rock
00:21:40
Speaker
seems to highlight a narrator, in my opinion, a sailor that is falling to dementia in his final years, telling someone, Billy, maybe because he says Billy, about these weird things he's seen and experienced. Is it is it is it just dementia filling his mind with false memories? Or in his sailing days, did he really come across things so extraordinary? And, you know, he says, help me.
00:22:11
Speaker
That's a really good impression. Thank you. That makes me think of like this old sailor guy that's like lost in his own mind and he doesn't know what's real and what's fake and he can't figure it out. And then we break into some more awesome psychedelic guitar. It's a great track.
00:22:32
Speaker
I did not think of it as being so grim when I, but that kind of makes sense just because of the vocals. The vocals are like, you know, it has this like kind of drone to it. You know what I mean? But I heard it more as like the words are like kind of goofy.
00:22:52
Speaker
Although the line have you ever tried to shrink like an ice cube in the sink when I heard that when I was like a hundred percent. Yes. That's the one that I was like. Yeah, so true. But I don't love this track.
00:23:09
Speaker
I said that the droning instrumental isn't really for me. Mostly my qualms with the song are how is how it sounds sonically like it's just not really my kind of style. I will say though that with this album each track is layered so interestingly and there's not really a boring moment
00:23:31
Speaker
Because even though this song, I wouldn't want to listen to it. I'd want to skip it. While I listen to it, I'm still appreciating it for its music, for its lyrics. It's still an intriguing listen.
00:23:44
Speaker
This was definitely one that I think the first few times I listened to this album was just one that I didn't really pay that much attention to. But I think after listening more closely to the album, it's a really special one. And I had that experience with a few songs on this album.
00:24:02
Speaker
Yeah. Do you have any final thoughts on this one? I feel like it's a pretty I mean, I gave my interpretation, but I think your ideas are more right. Well, who's to say what's more right? But yeah, I think everyone is just as right as they are wrong with this album. Up is down, you know. Yeah. Do you know what a Johnny on the spot is?
00:24:28
Speaker
I feel like I do like it's like, you know, when you're there at the right time. Yeah, kind of. Right. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Like so a Johnny on the spot is defined as someone who is always ready to perform a service or respond to an emergency.
'Johnny on the Spot' and Idiom Discussion
00:24:47
Speaker
Perform a service. So we get into the next song. I'll be your Johnny on the spot. Yeah.
00:24:54
Speaker
This one's fun. This one's just a fun listen, I think. Yeah. So so we have our like. Yeah, we have our.
00:25:02
Speaker
our opening track, which is kind of fun. And then we have the malls can poke that tail, which are kind of like not really more serious songs. But, you know, this is this is the first kind of like uptick in little moment in the album after the opener. So it kind of yes, you know, we were kind of droning and now it's like, wake up, wake up. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know what a mopar cam is? I don't.
00:25:32
Speaker
I had to look it up, but it's, it's basically a car part that makes cars go fast, but
00:25:41
Speaker
It only works in Chrysler's. So why is he saying that he has a Chevy with a mopar cam? So we may interpret this as having an unreliable narrator, which could be further proven because he has the tendency to repeat everything he's saying, perhaps in desperation to prove a point.
00:26:00
Speaker
Yeah, I do think that the pace of the song leans into that. Yeah, and I love the part where the guitar goes... The wah wah wah wah wah part. You sound just like it. Okay, all right. You should do that professionally.
00:26:18
Speaker
And you get your race car sounds in the song and it's like he's going fast, you know? Yeah, I think this one I said is super groovy and cool. Makes me feel like I'm going through a wormhole or something. I really like it. I immediately, my initial thoughts were this is fun and cool instrumentally. I just don't like the saying that is the main part of the song, which is I'll be your Johnny on the spot. I don't like that. I don't like it.
00:26:46
Speaker
It makes me uncomfortable. I don't know. That's how I am with, um, is that an idiom? I don't know. I just, I don't like, I don't like those types of like, there's a lot of sayings and like little things like that that I don't like. And that's, yeah, I knew this about you and I always thought it was interesting.
00:27:03
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I just don't like that. It's like like you're not Johnny on the spot. I don't know. You're so funny. I'm sorry. I just I don't know what it is, but I do like the song. It's just like if he wasn't saying Johnny on the spot, I would like it much more. Take idioms out of all literature, please.
00:27:27
Speaker
But I do, I do like this track. It does make me think of what's the cartoon named Johnny? Johnny Bravo. Johnny Bravo. Yeah. When I hear the song does have that. Yeah. It makes me think of him, which is another like thing that I don't like. I don't want to be thinking of him. Johnny Bravo's like the best though. He's a feminist. In my mind, he's singing the song.
'Mutilated Lips' and Its Psychedelic Nature
00:27:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I can picture that. Yeah. He's singing the song with his mutilated lips.
00:27:55
Speaker
Well, before we go there, I figured that you would want to say something else, but I had to. I wanted it to be a good transition.
00:28:03
Speaker
OK, I just I just have one more point to make. OK, I figured because I'll be I'll be your Johnny on the spot doesn't have direct nautical themes, but it does have that kind of working man core, you know, blue collar core. That's a lot of this album features, you know, so it does. And it does have the psychic, the psychedelic sound. Well, yes, yeah, obviously.
00:28:29
Speaker
But yeah, now now we can get into mutilated lips. And why don't you why don't you open us up on this one? And I want to know what you thought at first. OK, well, mutilated lips is, I think, a pretty rich, dense track. It's got some drone ish vocals, a lot of distortion. It's really layered, but more of more.
00:28:54
Speaker
more metered, more like slower. so we had that like uptick in energy and now we're kind of sailing the ocean. the waves are like a little bit, you know, calm. when i first heard this, i said, there's those weird distorted pitch vocals again. mad face emoji. and i said, i think i prefer the verses to the chorus, but the chorus does intrigue me. sonically.
00:29:22
Speaker
Lyrically, I love the chorus. There's something about this- Really? Yeah. Oh, okay. I want to know why. I'm curious. So I was saying that like, I prefer- sonically, I prefer the verses, but lyrically, I did love the chorus. I said there's something about this music that has to grow on you like a barnacle.
00:29:41
Speaker
At first it's vaguely off-putting and silly, which is of course it's charm, but then you listen more and you begin to like it and appreciate it unironically. What a great way to describe it, a particle. That's good. Yeah, keeping with the nautical theme. But this is one of the bright spots on the album, I think, because whenever it comes on,
00:30:04
Speaker
I'm like, yeah, butylated lips. The effects are pretty cool and the vocals and guitar give that in the ocean type feeling. And I even think that the distortion of the vocals does sound like you're underwater, I guess.
00:30:28
Speaker
yeah i don't know how to describe it but if you if you're listening along to the podcast and you're not listening to any of the albums i really i really hope that you check out this album and and listen to this one because it's just you have to hear it it's hard to describe it's hard to describe i'm trying to though i'm trying to give you i think you're doing a great job
00:30:49
Speaker
Oh, thank you. But yeah, I love the, I love the lyrics and the, um, the phrasing, the phrasing of the chorus. Yeah. How it's like mutilated lips. Yeah. The way that it's like phrased the way it's metered. Yeah. The phrasing of it. I really like.
00:31:06
Speaker
Yeah, this is my favorite song on the album, probably, although it goes back and forth all the time about what is and what isn't. But I think this one is always up there for me. I love it so much. The chorus gets stuck in my head all the time, and I'm just like.
00:31:22
Speaker
You elated lips get a kiss on her wrist. Oh my god. It's so it's so good I love it so much and you know those silly voices again. It sounds like a spongebob character It sounds like a character on spongebob I cannot escape the spongebob but
00:31:41
Speaker
But this album is Spongebob. That's why this album, one of the reasons this album is important. Ween is Spongebob. Spongebob is Ween. This album. I disagree. I think you're wrong. That's your opinion. Steven Hillenburg said that this song was a big inspiration for the show as well. And you can hear it on the on the on the song.
00:32:05
Speaker
I do think very SpongeBob thoughts, like when I read and I hear mutilated lips, I think of like these really like crusty barnacle lips inside of the like SpongeBob world. Like the way that they, if you've seen SpongeBob and you know the way that they will show like an overly detailed image that's like really gross.
00:32:31
Speaker
and disturbing like when they'll show like Spongebob and they have all these like, I don't know, pores and ripples on him and it's just like, ugh, where it doesn't look like a cartoon. That's kind of what I think of when I hear like Mutilated Lips. I'm imagining that. Kind of looks like the album cover.
00:32:48
Speaker
No, but well, I was going to say this this song is I mean, I think of the album cover when I hear the song immediately, like because, you know, the album cover looks like some mutilated lips, some creature that is it is, you know, an ugly thing. You know, I thought the album artwork was just a picture of, you know, the wing guys. What? But now that I'm looking at it, you're right. It's something else.
00:33:18
Speaker
What are you talking about? That's not, that's not ween and bean. What are their names? Gene and Dean ween. That's not Gene and Dean ween on the cover. What, what joke are you trying to make? Are you trying to say that they look like that? No, it was just a joke. Let's move on. No. You've embarrassed me for the last time. No, I didn't mean to embarrass you. It's fine. You're dead to me.
00:33:50
Speaker
Well this song was- Get off my ass!
00:33:55
Speaker
This song was completely written on LSD. Really? And it really literally it just highlights their experience through this trip. And if someone doesn't understand the lyrics, that's fine because they're really not supposed to make sense technically. But the chorus is very nautical themed. And if we want to dig into it, you know, he's kissing something or someone with some messed up lips. You know, he says, take my hand, you ugly girl.
00:34:24
Speaker
and these tentacles in his mind with worm-like tips, they're opening his brain up. All this brine is pouring in. His brain is accepting fresh brine. Man, I love that line about fresh brine because that really makes me feel like I'm tasting some salt water in my mouth, that salty sea flavor, and I really get into the album at that point.
00:34:49
Speaker
He thinks all these girls that are with him are pretty ugly, but he still has an affinity for her. This is one of my favorites on the album, and it's some of the best psych rock I've ever heard. I think that, to me, reading the lyrics of the chorus, it makes me think of, now that you say LSD, it makes me think that LSD is giving a kiss to the brain.
'The Blarney Stone' and Sailor Imagery
00:35:15
Speaker
I like that. Yeah. But yeah, this is a great track. I really like it. I'm glad. Yeah. Well, now we're gonna go to what I predicted would be your least favorite. And before I hear your thoughts, I'll just I'll just talk about this. This is a banger of a sea shanty.
00:35:33
Speaker
Oh my god, it is such a banger. I feel like I'm in a pub or on a ship out at sea hanging out with all these Irishmen in like the 1800s or something. We do know that they're Irish because they're singing about the Blarney Stone, which is an Ireland. Do you know about the Blarney Stone?
00:35:49
Speaker
I don't know. Shit. So the Blarney Stone is a rock in Ireland that you get to kiss for good luck or something after climbing up a castle and someone dangles you upside down so you can get into this awkward spot to kiss the rock. And it's like a tradition or something. It's supposed to give you like the gift of gab, you know, speech level 100. So so this this this sailor that
00:36:15
Speaker
this sailor that's singing this song you know to be charming and stuff the gift of gab is important don't you want the gift of gab okay all right i already have it bitch i was born like this um and so the sailor wants the ability to be persuasive so uh he can do pirate things probably or get a girl his girl patty
00:36:37
Speaker
He's sad that she's gone, but he'll wash it down with some booze and some other women because that's what sailors do. That's what pirates do. This song is so fun. I feel like I'm one of the gang. It's great. Yeah, I love sea shanties, but I didn't think that you would. So I want to know what you think.
00:36:57
Speaker
well this one isn't my favorite but it's still such an excellent song um it's a good shanty i'm just not the biggest fan of i do like shanties i don't know i said i'm just not the biggest fan of shanties but that's just not true i think i'm just picky um this one is decent it makes me uncomfortable
00:37:22
Speaker
Okay, I'm going to sound like a really dumb prude or something, but it makes me uncomfortable when he says that he's going to like fuck the girl. I'm just like, like, all right, okay.
00:37:37
Speaker
I don't know. I don't like that. Well, because you when you think of the guy singing, you think he's this gross, grimy guy with like three teeth and like shit in his beard. Like it's it's it's like a kind of a gross image to think about him. No touching a woman. No, it's mole. Oh, wait. No mold is in his ears and his beard. Yeah, he says he says all these gross things about himself. Yeah, he knows he's gross.
00:38:04
Speaker
Yeah, so it makes me even more uncomfortable that he's gonna, you know, have sex with a pretty young lady. And then he'll get up and sing. Aye aye aye. Yeah, I like I like the chorus, you know, I just yeah. Anyways, it's just not all in all, it's like not my thing, but it is good. I think it's really good. I like the bagpipes. The bagpipes are excellent. And the background noises throughout really make you feel like you're
00:38:32
Speaker
There and like a pub As it's a really atmospheric and fun. So yeah, I do think positively about this song It's just my personal preference is not this type of shanty. I suppose Yeah, I think I think you made a good point there that this song is really expertly engineered You know, it really creates a vibe and a scene for you it puts in these sounds of a lively pub or something or like a mess hall on a ship and
00:39:01
Speaker
or whatever. It's noisy. You can hear people having fun singing along, glasses clinking. It feels alive. It feels real. It feels lived in, which I think is a really cool thing as opposed to it just being a straightforward sea shanty.
Optimistic Breakup Song 'It's Gonna Be (Alright)'
00:39:18
Speaker
I think it's really trying to create the feeling more than anything.
00:39:22
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely makes the song. I think. Oh, yeah, definitely. Definitely. And then we get into the next song. It's going to be all right or it's going to be it's going to be parentheses. All right. Yeah, this is a nice song. This is a nice optimistic breakup song. It's very emotionally mature. He's basically saying, you know, hey, this sucks. This is terrible. And I really hope that I did the right thing by ending this.
00:39:50
Speaker
But he still feels this guilt for the things that he did. You know, he feels like he didn't try hard enough to make the relationship work. I love the instrumental for this song. One of my favorite instrumentals on this album, the moody, wavy guitar and the echoing hi-hats. It all just sits in my brain so nicely. And it's still got that psychedelic touch in there. And oh, it's just, it's...
00:40:20
Speaker
yeah this is a nice song i said that it's a sweet song i like this when i listen to it and it and again it has some underwater sounds and it sounds very melancholy which it is it's a melancholy track i really like the lyrics i think it's so sweet
00:40:38
Speaker
It's like pretty straightforward to which I like, um, but not overly obvious. I really love the line. And if the mist ever lets the sun through, I just hope I did the right thing for me and you like that. So like, I love the delivery of that. It's so well put. Yeah, this is a sweet little track. It's a sweet little track. Sorry. Um, it's boring you, I guess.
00:41:05
Speaker
Yeah, this is such a boring album. No, it's kind of interesting that this song follows the Blarney Stone because that's it's really giving you range. Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah, this album is all about range. Yeah, this this song, I think they like one time said, don't quote me on this. They one time said that this is basically them trying to make a song. That's like how they phrased it.
00:41:31
Speaker
Like they wanted to put a song song on the album that people can listen to. That is a song. That totally makes sense. And this definitely is a song. Maybe that's why I didn't have as much notes for it because I said, oh, this is a sweet song. Like I like this. But and there's there's definitely more that you could say about this song. Oh, for sure. It's just there's it's surrounded by so much bizarre shit, you know, that like.
'Golden Eel' and LSD Metaphors
00:42:01
Speaker
It's like it's like watching a like crazy, you know, crazy, weird monster movie. And then like there's like a random romance scene in the middle of it. It gives you a little chance to take a break to catch your breath. Yeah, you catch your breath. Yeah, exactly.
00:42:18
Speaker
Before diving right back into the depths, baby, let's go. With a golden eel. Hell yeah. A golden eel. Yet another song about acid. The story behind this is that their friend had a golden eel and they would trip balls and stare at this eel, swim around, and do stuff.
00:42:41
Speaker
You know, this eel is kind of used as a metaphor for the impossible task of explaining the thoughts that you have while tripping on acid. He cannot reveal the words of a golden eel, right? It's impossible to explain what you go through on acid. This song goes so fucking hard. This guitar is so fucking sick. The breakdown comes in. It's fantastic. This song is so fantastic.
00:43:07
Speaker
Yeah, I love just imagining them hanging out with this eel and trying to find out the secrets of the universe from this eel. Yeah, okay. So I was not thinking that that's what the song was about, but I agree. It is really cool. I can kind of understand now that that's what the song is about, but I was thinking that he couldn't reveal the words of the golden eel.
00:43:34
Speaker
And it says, who can explain all these thoughts in my mind, but I was thinking he cannot, like he can't spill the secrets. Like I thought that he knew, like he had a understanding with the Golden Yield and the Golden Yield was like, don't tell anybody the meaning of this and like don't share with it. And so he was like, I can't do it guys. Sorry. And I was thinking, yeah, exactly. I was thinking of the Golden Yields like this.
00:43:59
Speaker
Really huge like golden eel in the ocean I was thinking of it more like a fantasy song because I don't do drugs and I have never done any psychedelics so when I hear stuff like this I'm just thinking like oh this is really like cooling creative and I totally forget that.
00:44:19
Speaker
drugs exist and that people write music influenced by drugs so I'm just like oh this is fun like I'm not even thinking about drugs I'm kind of like a little bit naive or like innocent in that way so that's kind of what I was thinking but that totally makes sense now that you say
00:44:37
Speaker
I love thinking of it as like a mythical song and there's like this giant golden eel that they're they're like learning the secrets of the universe from and right I think that you shall not tell anyone right that's exactly how I was like reading this song
00:44:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a great interpretation. I love the guitar solo towards the end of the song, and the music is just freaking awesome. It's a cool track. I said it's a cool track, but mostly it's not my style of music. Over time, it's grown on me more. I don't want to say that it's not my style of music because I feel like this style of music, like completely creative, psychedelic and cool, that is my style of music.
Folk Song 'Cold Blows the Wind' Analysis
00:45:21
Speaker
I think it's just not something that I like.
00:45:23
Speaker
am well versed in so that's why it's grown on me because i'm like oh i really like this i just never learned how to listen to this type of music because i haven't been exposed to it as much but i really do like and appreciate it it just takes a little bit more time for me since i don't have like a super trained ear for it
00:45:41
Speaker
Well, I love that. I appreciate that. Yeah. And I think that's that's that's an important reminder to everyone out there that sometimes you just got to listen to it a few times. Sometimes definitely. Or maybe you just got to know the context or you know, like you don't have to always. Perspective. You don't have to always love a song on the first listen or decide your feelings on it on the first listen.
00:46:06
Speaker
Right. Or maybe it takes a few years or, you know, a different decade or something, you know, people's tastes change over the course of their lives and everything. So yes. You would have never caught me calling a country album one of my favorite albums of the year. Right.
00:46:23
Speaker
let's save it for our end of year favorites all right um well we we can start talking about uh cold blows the wind why don't why don't you open this up for this one um okay so this is a slower cut it's got a bit of drone to it i don't really okay well i can't really take you through this song because i don't really know what it's about but i do
00:46:47
Speaker
enjoy it and it is one of the like slower tracks so we've gone through this psychedelic trip and this is this is kind of like a sobering track i think after the golden eel um because it's it's not as trippy and it kind of is like you're coming down from a a trip it's a little bit more like
00:47:08
Speaker
not sad but melancholic i think i think like a good theme of this album is like melancholy because you know when you're a sailor and you're dealing with the harsh realities of the world sometimes you you know you've got some woes you've got some troubles that's what we're touching on in this song i think you could tell me if i'm wrong
00:47:28
Speaker
No, no, I think I think you hit the nail on the head. This is a reinterpretation of an old English folk song from the 1800s. And it highlights a similar story of someone mourning his dead love. And this was the first song recorded for the album, actually, and it would define the nautical atmosphere and theming of the album.
00:47:53
Speaker
This one is still one of my least favorites on the album, but it's still so cool to me, just like everything on this album. And it's kind of haunting, you hear that almost like oscilloscope sounding thing. And to me, it sounds like a dude on an old coastal seaside town, really going through it because he lost a baddie.
00:48:16
Speaker
I definitely think of like a very, very cloudy, really dull town with some brick road that you're kind of shifting along. Yeah, like a foggy, cold, coastal town, you know? Yeah, exactly.
00:48:33
Speaker
This song itself, it's dark, it's dank, it's dreary. I like it, it's just not one of my faves. But it's still sick, it's nautical, it's scary, it's folky, it's evil, a little bit menacing. And these are all themes throughout the album and I think they all show up on this song and it works on the album.
00:48:55
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. It's not, it's not like my favorite one, but I do like it. I really like the, you know, one kiss, one kiss of your lily white lips. If that was to kiss my lily white lips, they days would not be long. Like I really, anytime that that part comes on, I'm like, oh yeah, this is the song with that part. I like that part. I just, I don't know. It catches me. Yeah. That's how I identify this song.
00:49:19
Speaker
My favorite lyrics from this song are, and some of my favorite lyrics from the whole album, actually, is, go dig me a grave, both long, wide, and deep, as quickly as you may. I'll lie down in it and take one sleep for 12 months and one day. Yeah, it's true.
00:49:37
Speaker
Oh, so good. It's so cool. You know, it's funny that we have this this dark dreary song and it goes straight into pink eye parentheses on my leg. Wait, what is this is Cold Close the Wind sung from the perspective of a woman. So the original the original folk song is from the perspective of a woman.
00:50:03
Speaker
Oh, okay. Cause I was thinking, Oh, is he gay? Um, because it said that his true love was slain, but then, you know, it says I'll do as much for my true love as any young girl may. So I'm like, Oh, wait, is this song from the perspective of a woman and her, and her love is a man and he's dead. That's, that's totally new to me. Cause I'm not hearing it that way when I listened to it, but those are the words. Yeah. You got it.
Instrumental Whimsy and Fun Interludes
00:50:29
Speaker
Well, you didn't say that. I had to figure it out on my own.
00:50:32
Speaker
Well, I didn't... It's okay. It's okay. We can move on to the pink guy that's on your leg you said? Mm-hmm.
00:50:45
Speaker
all right well when i saw this track title i was like oh god okay what is this song going to be about and i was very thankful that there were no lyrics i loved this track of course but knowing ween when i saw the title pink eye on my leg i just thought
00:51:06
Speaker
um and i and i also um the song that follows it i already knew what that was so i was just thinking oh god pink eye on my leg this is gonna be some nightmare of a song in terms of its lyricism but then i was like cool this is like an instrumental track i i like this and this this song is like to me it's kind of a one of a kind song it doesn't really
00:51:30
Speaker
I want to say that it doesn't fit with the rest of the album in its theme, but I do think that it fits on the album. It's like got this little zippy instrumental. I don't know what you would call it, but it's like zippy and yeah.
00:51:48
Speaker
really cool and kind of futuristic if you're in like the 80s or something. And it's got a dog barking which I absolutely adore. And then like towards the end there's a guy groaning and it's kind of a real cartoonish song and I absolutely adore it. It's so fun.
00:52:12
Speaker
I wasn't expecting you to like this one so much. I mean. Really? This is just an instrumental interlude, you know, it's just like. OK, well, it's like this is this is a very rich interlude. Well, yeah, it's I don't even think of it as an interlude because it's like so cool. It's like on 1000 Gex. What's that one song? Right. An interlude. And it's like supposed to sound like them flipping through the sounds on Garage Band.
00:52:40
Speaker
Oh, yeah, they have a couple of those. No, this is like this kind of reminds me of the intro track because I didn't write this in my notes. So bear with me. I'm going to try to describe it the best that I can. This song makes me think of a dark ride like not necessarily in Disneyland, but like you're where everything's like really cartoonish and like there are, you know, the dog is barking. And I haven't been on the secret life of
00:53:09
Speaker
pets ride but kind of I feel like it would be something like that and when the when the guy is like making his like moaning sounds or groaning sounds it makes me think of like you you hear that like all around you over while you're in the ride and you can't see him but you just like hear him and you're like oh no he's he's waking up or something like do you know what I'm saying like I just feel like I'm in a ride when I'm listening to it.
00:53:38
Speaker
I love that you got that out of this. Really? Like what do you what do you think when you hear it because I would love to be like on our dark ride with this playing and like and see some cool visual effects and stuff because that's totally what this makes me think of.
00:53:55
Speaker
Well, so we don't have to spend too much time on this short little instrumental track. I just want to say that that's all I thought of it as, was just a goofy little instrumental track. I'm really glad you appreciate it so much. If you want to think about it too much, I think that it's like the sounds of a ship
00:54:16
Speaker
out at sea, you know, you can kind of hear the creaking and there's like a dog on the ship and, and the sound of the guy groaning, you know, he's, it's a guy that's seasick and he's seasick on the ship. And it's just, I don't know, it just a little interlude.
00:54:29
Speaker
OK, that makes sense. Yeah, I definitely I hear as like the guy is groaning and he's like the dog is barking like, hey, it's time to get up and feed me and go to work. And he's like, you know, yeah, I like that, too. That's good. Yeah, that's that's just kind of like my little idea when I hear it or something. That's what it makes me think of. But yeah, we can move on because you're kind of waving your dick in the wind. Yeah. And it's distracting.
00:54:59
Speaker
Yeah, sorry. Sorry. I OK. Well, this is always one of my favorite songs ever of all time. I think this song is really just so good. I think it's it's hilarious. The music is good. It sounds like the prime. What was that? It sounds like the primus bass, you know, like it sounds like a less clay pool type of thing. I don't know any of those words.
00:55:27
Speaker
You don't know. You know Primus. I don't. Come on down to South Park. I'm going to have ourselves a time, you know? No. Or Winona had a big brown beaver and she's structured. OK, yes. You know Winona's big brown beaver? Unfortunately, because of you, I do know. That's Primus. OK, that makes sense. Yeah, this is definitely a little crass, cutesy, waving my dick in the wind song.
00:55:54
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, it's it's it's this guy and he's acting like an idiot and he's doing stupid things. And it's all to get the attention of a girl so that she will be with him. And he's lost in the sauce. So the stupid things he's doing, they're just drunken and offensive, like waving his dick in the wind. Yeah.
00:56:17
Speaker
Jimmy Wilson is the name of his penis. And if his Jimmy gets a dime, which is a nice pretty lady, then old Jimmy Wilson might dance, as in get a boner. So yeah, it's a song about his dick and he's doing stupid things to get the attention of a girl.
00:56:37
Speaker
I was thinking that Jimmy Wilson was like a kid and like, you know, like, like he says. Yeah. Well, yeah. But he also describes him as old Jimmy Wilson. Yeah. But he says, give that boy a dime. Yeah. Cause he's just a boy. He's still old. Yeah. Well, yeah. I just, I love the part where he goes, I'm doing the best I can. Yeah. This, this song is great. Yeah, it is. Okay. It could also be a song about jerking off.
00:57:07
Speaker
To me, waving my dick in the wind is him shooting his shot. Like, you know, like I'm waving my dick in the wind here. Because if it because he says it, because if it turns out right, that she'll be in his arms tonight. So I thought it was like a literal metaphor for shooting your shot. At least that's how I interpreted it. But obviously this is a silly, goofy song about his penis.
00:57:33
Speaker
Obviously, I like this one. This is the only song that I besides Ocean Man. This is the only song that I really knew. And it's super recognizable. Like you don't hear Waving My Dick in the Wind one time. And then, you know, when you hear it again, go like, I don't think I remember that song like you're like, oh, yeah, I remember this one. Yeah. I mean, the first time I heard this one, I was like, oh, my God, like.
00:57:56
Speaker
This is the best. It's a no brainer. Yeah, I mean, I love this song. I love this song so much. It's so much fun. There's so many good guitar moments on this whole album. But this song is another one. You know, we get that. Yeah, I know I'm imitating all these instruments so well throughout this whole. It gives me like a little bit of like a ska vibe.
00:58:18
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I
'Buckingham Green' as Album's Highlight
00:58:20
Speaker
can hear that. Yeah. Some like folks. And Dean Wien has described this song as a trucker anthem. Totally. And you can see this in there's there's a verse where he says, it's been 97 days since I laid my head beside you and a million miles of highway in between. There's some red and blue lights that are shining right behind me. And that is pretty mean bastard. Yeah. So Jean and Dean Wien, a cab. They said a cab. Mm hmm.
00:58:48
Speaker
You love them the Jimmy Wilson voice is hilarious Yeah, doing the best I can yeah, we already touched on that. Let's move on. I just think his little wiener and dancing around Okay, okay, we're moving on to Buckingham Green
00:59:03
Speaker
Yeah, OK, so this was the other one that I thought would be one of your favorites on the album, mostly because this is one of my favorites on the album. Well, I love all the songs on the album, but yeah, I predicted that this would be one of your favorites, maybe. So I want to hear your thoughts on it. Well, I hate to say that you were wrong. Boo. And I can't because this is my favorite track.
00:59:28
Speaker
Let's go. I got it right. I'm so sorry. Yeah, I was like, oh, OK, cool. So you just knew. I love when this song comes on. I know you so well. You do. When it opens, the opener is sick. I know it just kind of goes right into it, but it's just like a child without a night. And you're like, fucking, let's do this. This track is so cool. I love it. It's fucking awesome.
00:59:56
Speaker
Yeah. It's so sick. It feels so British. Well they're not even British.
01:00:01
Speaker
Well, they, okay, but they have like these Europeans. No, I know, the way they're saying it. Okay, all right, okay, thanks. But this song could be about two things, okay? So the most likely option is that it's about an outdoor shopping mall called Buckingham Green that was close to Gene and Dean's hometown that they used to hang out at all the time.
01:00:26
Speaker
Or it could be a type of potent LSD, but it also could be both. This song is very prog rock. It's very King Crimson. Like you can hear the King Crimson influence throughout this whole song, which is why it's probably one of my favorites. This is probably why, because I love prog rock.
01:00:43
Speaker
They have described this song as the song that ties the whole album together. They said in an interview, we had these different versions of it and it was a whole different song. We sacrificed the entire song just for the solo, which I think is the most composed solo section that we've ever done. In every other version, it was just those lyrics.
01:01:07
Speaker
a child without an eye made her mother cry. It was just repetition. Then we did the solo section, tore the whole song down and rebuilt it. There's a reason for everything and that was the time for that song to be born again, which I think is really cool that the song evolved in that way because I agree that solo section of the song is just so sick. I'm so glad that the solo is there because yeah, it's awesome.
01:01:34
Speaker
yeah it is really great if you don't listen to this album just like just check out this song and it's a really cool like breakdown i i love the spanish guitar mixed with the distorted electric guitar which turns into this like little explosion and then it brings us back to the epic song and it's it's so cool i love it i think it's awesome
01:02:01
Speaker
I'm so glad that you love this song. I'm so glad that I was right. I was like, cause I was thinking, I was like, when you asked me what your favorites might be, first one that popped into my head was Buckingham green. Like you nailed it. I know you, that sucks. You should be less obvious about who you are. Sorry. That's okay. I forgive you. I only know how to be who I am and who I am is an ocean man.
'Ocean Man' and Its Cultural Journey
01:02:30
Speaker
Washington man, take me by the hand, leave me to the land that you understand. See, everyone, everyone, if you know a ween song and you were born between 1992 and 2005, then you probably know this song because of the memes or of the SpongeBob SquarePants movie.
01:02:56
Speaker
And I know you don't want me to talk about Spongebob anymore, but I think this song is important to talk about Spongebob because that's how this song got so popular was because this is the most Spongebob song on the album. It's OK to talk about it with this track because this track is super Spongebob core. And yeah, my note was Ocean Man. Yeah, of course I've heard this. I just couldn't think of it for some reason in the recording of the last episode. And everyone is laughing at me, but that's OK.
01:03:25
Speaker
Everyone's laughing and pointing. Yeah, they're like, oh, my God, it's so embarrassing. So tell me, tell me, I want to hear your your genuine thoughts on this song, though.
01:03:36
Speaker
uh yeah so it's a good time song i think it's a song to make you smile and have a good time it's super beachy sounding this album is just super good at sounding oceanic and this is one of those songs that really succeeds it's one of the only true upbeat songs um because there are like some other like upbeat moments but this is like true like just soaking up the thirst of the land
01:04:05
Speaker
we're just like having a grand old time out at the beach that's what it sounds like and that's kind of what it is it kind of puts you in a good mood and um it's super memorable and i feel like this song is an obvious fan favorite and again like if you only know one song by ween it's probably this one i do like it's like
01:04:29
Speaker
See, this is I think it's like it's not my most favorite song and I like it, but it's just like kind of. But if when it's on, I'm like, yeah, whoo, like it just puts you in a good time mood. Yeah, I I, you know, even for me, it's hard to separate this song from SpongeBob and from the goofiness of SpongeBob. I mean, this song is a banger, though, like unequivocally.
01:04:58
Speaker
And you don't have to separate it from SpongeBob. You know, I mean that that the credits for the SpongeBob SquarePants movie was my first exposure to ween. I got to be thankful for that. You know, they exposed you to their ween in the theater. Yeah. I'm so sorry.
01:05:21
Speaker
That's okay. I still didn't know about this album until many, many, many years later, obviously. I had the DVD of this one Rob Squarepants movie, and I would watch it all the time at my grandma's house. Of course, when the credits came up, you know, there was this wave that I remember the
01:05:40
Speaker
there was it was in the spongebob font and there is waves in the background of the credits and it was ocean man playing and i used to jam out to it and be like yeah i loved it it was i loved it even as a kid i knew i knew what good music was even even back then.
01:05:58
Speaker
So did I. I was listening to my kids bop records just having a grand old time. That movie also had songs from the Flaming Lips and Wilco. Like they had some good music on that soundtrack. I'm so glad this is not a Spongebob podcast. We should start a Spongebob podcast.
01:06:19
Speaker
All right. You're making me want to leave. OK, OK, OK. Wait, wait, wait, wait. OK. Before this song was in the Spongebob movie and in a bunch of memes, it was a legend among alternative art rock contemporaries.
Narrative Exploration of 'She Wanted to Leave'
01:06:33
Speaker
And it perfectly defines ween's silliness and goofiness and their musical abilities.
01:06:40
Speaker
And it's hard to separate the song from the status it has now. And the lyrics don't really need analyzing. They're singing about a man that basically lives off of the ocean and everything surrounding it. And we also get more themes of LSD. Being stuck out at sea can turn you into an ocean man.
01:07:00
Speaker
A working man, right? You know, like say a dirty, salty, scraggly old sailor, right? That's what I think of when I think of an ocean man. Yeah. But now, yes, now I'm making You Want to Leave. She wanted to leave. The outro to the album. Yeah. Not my most favorite outro ever.
01:07:22
Speaker
OK, speak on that. Well, sonically, it's not my favorite. I like the song just the way that it sounds isn't my favorite. It's a sad story. And I love the story of this song just based on the music. It's not my favorite, but I adore the story. There's like so much emotion about this woman who wanted to leave. And I'm really like curious about about this song. Curious how?
01:07:52
Speaker
well i don't know so like it's pretty straightforward in its story but i don't know it just it said that so it said that um he says i've cared or since you were a child i've loved you so long since you were a child i've cared for your every need so i'm like is is this his love is this his child is this his is this someone he's like taken like it's not really his child but he he like took someone's child
01:08:20
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know if you want to tell the story of the song or what. We get a story about three pirates that boarded this guy's ship and took his true love. But we quickly learn that there's more to the story because she wanted to leave. We start to realize that
01:08:40
Speaker
You know, hmm, maybe she wasn't taken from him. Maybe she just left and he's telling the story of three pirates taking her to make it seem cooler for him. And yeah, you know, I think he definitely was someone that took her. I think he's a pirate himself and he took her and, you know, made her his own. Yeah.
01:09:04
Speaker
Maybe she did fall in love with him. Stockholm syndrome kind of stuff, but she never properly loved him. She always wanted to leave, you know, and he was so mad that he blew up the ship that she was on. And but, you know, no, he didn't. Yeah, he says he says go gather the guns, we'll blast them at sea. She begged for me not to shoot for my true love is here with me. I've never loved thee and now I must leave.
01:09:31
Speaker
Yeah, but it doesn't say that he shot the ship. Don't gather the guns, we'll blast them at sea. She begged for me not to shoot. She was on the other ship going, don't shoot, don't shoot. And then they shot at the ship. It doesn't say that.
01:09:45
Speaker
Well, that's how I hear it. That's fine. You know, he's saying, go gather the guns, we'll blast them at sea. And then she says, please don't shoot. My true love is here with me. And I've never loved thee. And now I'm asleep. And he's like, oh, and he's like, he's like frozen. But he doesn't do it. And now he's drinking.
01:10:07
Speaker
I think we get confirmation that he did do it because he says, for I'm not the man I used to be. Now I'm one of them. I think he regrets doing what he did. I think he's saying I'm no better than them. I caused this violence. I did this bad thing. I think that's confirmation that he did do it.
Album's Theatrical Conclusion
01:10:26
Speaker
Perhaps maybe I'm just saying it's not it's not written. It's not, you know, it's it's reading between the lines. There's space there to read between the lines.
01:10:37
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. This hasn't always been one of my most favorites on the album. But listening to it more deeply, especially for this podcast, I grew a greater appreciation for this song. And I find this one getting stuck in my head a lot more.
01:10:54
Speaker
I really like this. I really like this song. It's not my favorite sonically, but I think that the story makes up for it so much. Then while I'm listening to him sing the lyrics, I'm just like, what a story. I do really like it. It's just not my most favorite outro, but it's still great. It ends with this gong sound that I was wondering about. Do you know anything about that?
01:11:24
Speaker
No, I'm not entirely sure, but... Fake fan. Sorry. And then there's a hidden outro.
01:11:34
Speaker
Yeah, so well, yeah, the album, you know, fully closes out with this dark atmospheric version of the intro dancing in the show tonight. You know, to me, this kind of I mean, it perfectly rounds out the album and defines the theme of the album. It's it takes this goofy song and makes it kind of eerie. It feels like sinking slowly to the bottom of the ocean as it gets darker and darker around you.
01:12:03
Speaker
Oh, that's a great description. What started out as a cheery album is now an eerie pit of sorrow. And then we hear the wind start to blow and there's no more music. You've sunk too far under the water. You're gone forever.
01:12:19
Speaker
Yeah, I really love I love the reprise of I'm dancing in the show tonight. I love the way that it's played in like downtrodden defeated manner. And I said it does sound like you're on a ship you're on a ship with the and it's like creaking and the whistle of the wind surrounds you.
01:12:40
Speaker
I had like a little bit of a it's not really like a theory but because this is such a cohesive album I was thinking that it was kind of like a play and I'm dancing in the show tonight is like like the start of it but not the start of the play but like the beginning before the play the kid is like you know obviously he's dancing in the show tonight am I gonna do a good job the prologue yeah it's a prologue and then
01:13:05
Speaker
at the very end since, you know, the epilogue, the little outro of the reprise of
01:13:12
Speaker
dancing in the show tonight and since it sounds so sad like in my mind I'm like oh so it's like kind of coming back in and like maybe he feels like he didn't do a good job in his performance and like the whole like album kind of is like a play or something yeah I can almost see like the stage curtains closing slowly yeah and the lights in the theater going out
01:13:35
Speaker
Yeah, so it's not really like a theory, but I was like, what if that's what this is? And it's just kind of like just kind of how I was thinking about this album while I was listening
Final Thoughts and Album Rating
01:13:45
Speaker
to it. All in all, this is a fun, lighthearted album, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. And there's moments where it highlights experiences that can, you know, only be enjoyed to its fullest potential if you take some drugs or maybe perhaps sail out to sea.
01:14:05
Speaker
And as fun and as silly as this album is, I think the excellent songwriting, song structure, engineering, all of it and theming. Yeah, like you said, it's such a cohesive album and it's all on on full display with some truly heartfelt moments. It makes this a maritime masterpiece. I said it before, I'll say it again, a maritime masterpiece. I agree.
01:14:32
Speaker
I've been obsessed with it for a while and I am so glad that you finally listened to it.
01:14:38
Speaker
Me too. Thank you so much for introducing it to me. You thought that I would rate it a five or a six. What do you think after hearing my thoughts? What do you think? After hearing your thoughts, I think you're gonna give it a higher rating than a five or a six. You know, I don't know. I mean, yeah, you seemed to really like it. I think you might give it an eight if I'm being too optimistic. It's an eight for me. Okay, okay. I was right. There we go.
01:15:07
Speaker
you definitely were right on the money yeah i really enjoyed this one it was super fun super easy to listen to too yeah which i really liked so i'm so glad that that makes me so happy that you like this album i mean obviously this album is a 10 for me but
01:15:24
Speaker
Yeah, it makes me really happy that you liked this album. I mean, it's not the reaction I was expecting when I initially told you that you should listen to this album, but you took it in stride.
01:15:37
Speaker
Yeah, I had so much fun with this album. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I mean, you've heard my thoughts. Thank you so much for taking me through it and introducing it to me and forcing me to listen to it against my will for everybody's enjoyment and entertainment. So yes, I guess that does it this time for the podcast. But before we go for this episode, not for this podcast, the podcast.
01:16:05
Speaker
We're going to have a next episode and what's going to happen that next episode? Are you ready for your album? Of course. All right. Your assignment is divorce lawyers. I shaved my head. Okay. So I knew I knew that this album was going to come up this season.
01:16:24
Speaker
Oh, I was like, I was like, if she's going to pick any album, it's going to be this one. And and I was right. So, yes. OK, OK, cool. I'm excited. I'm excited to get into it. We'll be back next time. And I and I hope that everyone that's listening will be back with us. Yes. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. You better tune in next time to hear Tanner's thoughts on divorce lawyers. I shave my head. Peace out, bitches.
01:16:53
Speaker
Oh, that's kind of... Why did you call them bitches? I was just being my fun self. Sorry if it's too much for you. Thank you to Jacob Dotson for the music in the intro and outro of this episode. And thank you to anyone out there who might be listening. We'll see you next time.