Push th' Little Daisies
| "Push th' Little Daisies" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Ween | ||||
| from the album Pure Guava | ||||
| B-side | "Push th' Little Daisies (Happier Than Shit Album Mix)"/"Ode to Rene"/"I Smoke Some Grass (Really Really High)"/"Mango Woman"/"Push th' Little Daisies (Funky Drummer Mix)" | |||
| Released | May 31, 1993 | |||
| Recorded | c. 1991–1992 | |||
| Length | 2:50 | |||
| Label | White Label Records | |||
| Ween singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Push th' Little Daisies | |
|---|---|
| EP by | |
| Released | 1993 |
| Recorded | c. 1991–1992 |
| Length | 10:40 |
| Label | August Records |
"Push th' Little Daisies" is a song by Ween from the 1992 album Pure Guava. It was also released as a single, and as an EP.
The single release came with the B-sides "Ode to Rene", "I Smoke Some Grass (Really Really High)", and "Mango Woman", while the EP version included "Mango Woman", "Puerto Rican Power", and "Ode to Rene".
Song Details[edit | edit source]
Recording and Composition[edit | edit source]
"Push th' Little Daisies" is a psychedelic pop song with notable bossa nova and jangle pop influences. Due to tape speed manipulation, the studio version is an A# major, while live performances transpose it down to A major.
The song was written in 1990, well before the recording sessions for Pure Guava.[1] Gene Ween has said that "it took like three seconds to write".[2] The lead vocals are sung by Gene Ween, and are pitched up by speeding up the tape.
Alternate Versions[edit | edit source]
An early version of the song was recorded on Christmas Day of 1990 in Eindhoven, Netherlands, while the band was on tour in Europe.[3] This recording has never been officially released, but is known to fans from the Big Timmy Wasserman demo tape.
The 1993 CD single contains three different versions of the song:
- "Push th' Little Daisies (Shitless Radio Edit No Shit) - This is a censored version of the song with the word "shit" replaced by a sample of Prince saying ¨No!¨ on the song Alphabet St.
- "Push th' Little Daisies (Happier Than Shit Album Mix) - Identical to the Pure Guava album version
- "Push th' Little Daisies (Funky Drummer Mix) - Another censored version, this time with the word "shit" replaced by a short funky drum break.
Live Performances[edit | edit source]
"Push th' Little Daisies" was played live as early as March 1991, eighteen months before the release of the studio version. Immediately following the release of Pure Guava, the song became a very common live Ween song, and it has remained so ever since, throughout every era of Ween. This includes the 1996 country tour, where it was reworked with country instrumentation with the Shit Creek Boys; an example of this, from 10/23/1996, was officially released on the Live in Toronto Canada album. Gene Ween has also played "Push th' Little Daisies" at solo acoustic shows, and with the Gene Ween Band.[4]
Video[edit | edit source]
The music video for "Push th' Little Daisies" was directed by Adam Berenstein[5]. It featured on Beavis and Butt-Head.[6]
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
The Pure Guava lyric sheet contains official lyrics in Dean Ween's handwriting:
When u lie
Kiss your baby bye bye bye
And if you're true
The whole wide world will laugh with you
When we see
Nothin's wrong with you and me
Time will tell
It might even ring a weddin' bell
If u think
That I'm a loser
Well u suck
'Cause u know I ain't nothin' but a user
Of your love
Can't get enough
Girl, it's true
The whole wide world is smilin' with you
Push th' little daisies and make 'em come up!
Sometimes I know
Sometimes I'm on the go
But I'm comin' back
So don't give me no flack
It's all you
And it's me too
It's your world
You're the girl
Happier than shit
Things that might go click with me
Click with you
Is that love?
Push th' little daisies...[7]
Song Themes[edit | edit source]
Love, Profanity/Swearing, Screaming, Sung by Gene Ween, Tape Speed Manipulation
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ https://old.reddit.com/r/ween/comments/rfpdq4/official_sketches_of_winkle_lyrics_from_mickey/hoffl8v/
- ↑ WTF Podcast - Aaron Freeman Time=22:58
- ↑ https://old.reddit.com/r/ween/comments/rfpdq4/official_sketches_of_winkle_lyrics_from_mickey/hoffl8v/
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=160
- ↑ From the Ween Newsletter.
- ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/song/push-th-little-daisies-mt0001568955?1629737791917
- ↑ From the official Pure Guava lyric sheet; lightly edited for clarity.