Cover It With Gas and Set It on Fire
"Cover It With Gas and Set It on Fire" is a song by Ween. It was originally a home-recorded outtake, and later became better known as a live song.
Song Details[edit | edit source]
Composition and Recording[edit | edit source]
The original demo version of the song was recorded on Christmas Day of 1990 in Eindhoven, Netherlands, while the band was on tour in Europe supporting the GodWeenSatan album.[1] This recording has technically been officially released as a B-side on the obscure Australian-only version of Skycruiser, but is better known to fans from the Big Timmy Wasserman demo tape.
The song's lyrics were written by Dean Ween[1], who sings the main verses; the falsetto title refrain is sung by Gene Ween. Guitar is played by Dean.
Meaning[edit | edit source]
Dean Ween has stated, perhaps facetiously, that "Cover It With Gas and Set It on Fire" is about "a mutated troll on LSD".[2] When asked in an interview whether he thought the lyric referencing gang rape may be offensive, he responded, "It's got the word 'rape' in it, but it's got nothing to do with rape. Nothing in that song is supposed to make any sense. . . . If you think there's some kind of statement in there, you're fucking doing more drugs than we were."[2]
Live Performances[edit | edit source]
"Cover It With Gas and Set It on Fire" was played live as early as the spring of 1991, and was somewhat common in the early 90s. In later years, the song has been played more sporadically. Four live recordings have been officially released:
- 10/31/1991 (The Pod tour) - on At the Cat's Cradle (Bonus DVD)
- 12/9/1992 (Pure Guava tour) - on At the Cat's Cradle
- 3/6/1993[3] (Pure Guava tour) - on Paintin' the Town Brown
- 7/22/2003 (live Internet stream from Quebec era) - on All Request Live
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
The song's lyrics, written by Dean Ween[1], can be hard to understand and are very often listed incorrectly. The correct lyrics, according to Deaner himself, are as follows:
Who's the Hobble with the wobble at the gang rape?
(Cover it with gas and set it on fire)
It's the earth shock, warp rock, pamminy wassle!
(Cover it with gas and set it on fire)[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://old.reddit.com/r/ween/comments/rfpdq4/official_sketches_of_winkle_lyrics_from_mickey/hoffl8v/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.mtv.com/news/2696560/ween-dean-ween-interview/
- ↑ Probable date but not confirmed. Listed in the Paintin' the Town Brown liner notes as "Trenton, NJ '93", and this is the only known show played in Trenton during that year; the setlist is unknown.