Big Jilm
| "Big Jilm" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Song by Ween | |||||
| from the album Pure Guava | |||||
| Released | November 10, 1992 | ||||
| Length | 2:10 | ||||
| Label | Elektra Records | ||||
| Pure Guava track listing | |||||
|
|||||
"Big Jilm" is a song by Ween from the 1992 album Pure Guava. An alternate version can also be found on the Eravis Spring '91 Tape (1991).[1]
Song Details
Meaning
"Big Jilm" is based on a real person, Jim Lemons, who worked at Dean Ween's father's car dealership when he was growing up.[2] As Dean himself explained:
It's written about a guy worked for my father, this old black guy who had a car detailing service when I was growing up, this nice old guy, Jim Lemons.[3]
Jim Lemons passed away at the age of 85 in 2010, and his obituary was published in The Trentonian.[4]
The misspelling of Jim as "Jilm" in the song title is allegedly due to Deaner's handwriting.[5] The demo for the song was sung with the right spelling, and was rerecorded with the "Jilm" lyric after the fact. This is the version you hear on Pure Guava.
Recording and Composition
"Big Jilm" is a psychedelic alternative rock song with jangle pop elements. The studio version is in the key of F major, while live performances are transposed down to E major.
Live Performances
"Big Jilm" was played live as early as July 1991, over a year before its release on Pure Guava. Although it was not very common in the DAT-deck era, Ween started playing the song frequently with the live band on the Chocolate and Cheese tour, and it has remained a common live song ever since (including on the 1996 country tour with the Shit Creek Boys, when it was reworked with country instrumentation).[6] It has also been played by Gene Ween at solo acoustic shows, as well as by the Dean Ween Group.[7]
Three live recordings have been officially released:
- 12/9/1992 - At the Cat's Cradle, 1992
- 7/8/2000 - Live at Stubb's, 7/2000
- 11/8/2003 - Live in Chicago (DVD version only)
In a 2012 interview, Dean Ween described how different the live song is from the studio version.
One of our fans . . . put up a YouTube video of a version of "Big Jim" from Pure Guava. I think it's been like seventeen years since I heard it. It took me a second to even realize what I was listening to. It's like no similarities at all to the live versions.[8]
Lyrics
The Pure Guava lyric sheet contains official lyrics in Dean Ween's handwriting:
Rollin' and wheelin', stealin' and dealin'
Big Jilm
Boll weevil, it's a pleazel, it's a pleazel my weasel
Big Jilm
Dreamin' and schemin', screamin' and bleedin'
Big Jilm
Froggy in the meadow, under the log
Big Jilm
Rollin' and wheelin', stealin' and dealin'
Big Jilm
What's the biggest thing u ever did done see?
Big Jilm [9]
Song Themes
Screaming, Sung by Dean Ween, Sung by Gene Ween, Tape Speed Manipulation, Weasel
References
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emkY2VFRMV0
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/ween/photos/a.380875668563.161451.33881673563/439525763563/?type=1&theater
- ↑ "Ween's Pure Guava turns twenty years old today", Westword
- ↑ https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/trentonian/name/james-lemons-obituary?pid=145721733
- ↑ [citation needed]
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=18
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=18
- ↑ "Ween's Pure Guava turns twenty years old today", Westword
- ↑ From the official Pure Guava lyric sheet; lightly edited for clarity.