Buenas Tardes Amigo

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"Buenas Tardes Amigo" is a song by Ween from the 1994 album Chocolate and Cheese.

Song Details[edit | edit source]

Recording and Composition[edit | edit source]

The entirety of "Buenas Tardes Amigo" revolves around the chord progression Am, G, Am twice, then one instance of Am, G, Dm before returning to the previous progression for one more measure.

Gene Ween wrote the song after seeing an episode of Sesame Street where: ". . . a very white-looking and -sounding puppet was schooling the other puppets on how to say 'Good morning,' 'Good evening' and 'Good afternoon' in Spanish."[1]

The lead vocals are sung by Gene Ween. The guitar solo is played by Dean Ween.[2] Additional nylon-string guitar "tasters" on the track were recorded in one take by multi-instrumentalist Stephan Said.[3]

Live Performances[edit | edit source]

Ween began playing "Buenas Tardes Amigo" in the fall of 1994 on the Chocolate and Cheese tour, and it has been a common live song ever since, throughout every era of Ween. An officially released recording from 10/23/1996 on the 12 Golden Country Greats tour can be heard on the Live in Toronto Canada album, in which the song was adapted with country instrumentation.[4]

In addition, Gene Ween has played "Buenas Tardes Amigo" numerous times during solo shows.[5]

In Other Media[edit | edit source]

"Buenas Tardes Amigo" was featured in two German films: Lammbock (2001) and Herr Lehmann (2003).[6]

Lyrics[edit | edit source]

Official lyrics were printed in the Chocolate and Cheese liner notes:

Buenas tardes amigo
Hola, my good friend
Cinco de Mayo's on Tuesday
And I hoped we'd see each other again

You killed my brother last winter
You shot him three times in the back
In the night I still hear mama weeping
Oh mama, still dresses in black

I looked at every fiesta
For you I wanted to greet
Maybe I'd sell you a chicken
With poison interlaced with the meat

You, you look like my brother
Mama loved him the best
He was head honcho with the ladies
Mama always said he was blessed

The village all gathered around him
They couldn't believe what they saw
I said it was you that had killed him
And that I'd find you and upstand the law

The people of the village believed me
Mama, she wanted revenge
I told her that I'd see that she was honored
I'd find you and put you to death

So now, now that I've found you
On this, such a joyous day
I tell you it was me who killed him
But the truth I'll never have to say

Buenas tardes amigo
Hola, my good friend
Cinco de Mayo's on Tuesday
And I hoped we'd see each other again
Yes, I hoped we'd see each other again[7]

Song Themes[edit | edit source]

Love, Spanish, Sung by Gene Ween

References[edit | edit source]

  1. H. Shteamer, Chocolate and Cheese, p.73
  2. H. Shteamer, Chocolate and Cheese, p.71
  3. H. Shteamer, Chocolate and Cheese, p.72
  4. https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=27
  5. https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=27
  6. H. Shteamer, Chocolate and Cheese, p.74–75
  7. From the Chocolate and Cheese liner notes