Ween, Chocolate and Cheese

Freedom of the body

Freedom of the mind
A ho on South Street hired for tricks
Little girls pickin' up sticks
Freedom of '76

Wastee little weasel
Wants cheap tricks
Liberty bell cracked in half
A bacon steak
A perfect match
Freedom of '76

My girl Sasha
Lookin' good on the street
"Mannequin" was filmed at Woolworth's
Boyz II Men still keepin' up the beat, yeah
Freedom of '76

Fairmount Park in the summer
Lookin' good on the street
"Mannequin" was filmed at Woolworth's
Boyz II Men still keepin' up the beat, yeah
Freedom of '76, nah yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Ohh, baby, yeah yeah, yeah

Does Humor belong in music? That was the question Frank Zappa asked all of us one day. Well it does, and it's not Weird Al or Monty Python or Bonzo Do-Da Band. All these work well and should be talked about. The music I am talking about is the music of Ween. If you know Ween well then you know they take nothing seriously, and no matter what they do they still make us laugh. Ween does it with such dead pan humor that we laugh no matter what they do. It could be a song about AIDS, or an Irish drinking song or even stage fright. They make fun of Ennio Morricone too. Whatever Ween does, Ween does it well.

When I first heard Ween it was in 1992 at a party. I was talking to a friend when someone put their CD on. I started to laugh at the stereo. My friend must have thought that I was crazy. She asked me if there was something wrong with our conversation. I told her to listen carefully to the music that is being played on the stereo. After a while we both started to laugh. This humor was nothing to do with parody type stuff like Weird Al or even stand up humor like Richard Pryor. This music was funny because it' lyrics and just funny thoughts and words made it funny.

Their subject matter was childhood, or a parody of Philly Soul in the 70's. This shows up in the album that I am talking about here called Chocolate and Cheese. They even make stabs at people like Prince on a song called "Roses Are Free." It's funny themes and even making the music sound like it's of that artist. A good example is an album called The Mollusk. The whole album is a tribute to a genre of music. They make fun of us for liking Progressive Rock. It's not there to offend us. It just shows that Ween makes sure we all laugh at their expense.

Ween are very good at taking silly things seriously and serious things lightly. That's exactly what makes Chocolate and Cheese such a fun, exciting album. Ween explore virtually every permutation of pop, rock, soul, and funk, and that's what makes them exciting. Ween do it so well that very few others come close. If you want the same then I suggest that you try this on. Ween is something I am sure will be a great conversation starter once it's on the stereo at your party. Enjoy!

Mister, would you please help my pony?
He's over there behind the tree
He's down in the dirt, would ya help him?
I think it's his lung

Mister would you please help my pony?
He's chewin' bark and not the leaves
He's cryin' like a baby, would you help him?
I think it's his lung

Mister, would you please help my pony?
He's down and he ain't gettin' up
He coughed up snot in the driveway
And I think his lung's fucked up