The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo
| "The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Song by Ween | |||||
| from the album Pure Guava | |||||
| Released | November 10, 1992 | ||||
| Recorded | c. 1991–1992 | ||||
| Length | 2:08 | ||||
| Label | Elektra | ||||
| Pure Guava track listing | |||||
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"The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo" is a song by Ween from the 1992 album Pure Guava.
Song Details[edit | edit source]
Recording and Composition[edit | edit source]
"The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo" is an experimental rap song. The only proper instrumentation is a drum machine and a bassline playing within the key of D minor. For modern live performances, it is transposed up to G minor.
The song features vocals from both Gene Ween and Dean Ween.
Meaning[edit | edit source]
According to Dean Ween, the song is "about New Hope, Pennsylvania."[1]
Live Performances[edit | edit source]
"The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo" was played live as early as December 1990, almost two years before its release on the Pure Guava album. Following the release of Pure Guava, the song was very commonly played for the remaining months of the DAT-deck era. Later, with the formation of the full live band, the song became rather rare for the remainder of the 90s. However, in late 2000 Ween started playing the song frequently again, and it has remained a fairly common live Ween song ever since.[2]
A DAT-deck era recording from 12/9/1992 was officially released on the album At the Cat's Cradle, 1992. In addition, the bonus DVD to the album contains a spliced combination of two of the very earliest performances ever, from 10/31/1991 and 1/8/1992.
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
The Pure Guava lyric sheet contains official lyrics in Dean Ween's handwriting:
Smack dab in the middle
Of a situation overlooked by fools
Tables turned, lessons learned
U get burned for playin' by the rules
Time is lost, that's the cost
Oh brother, u got shit on in the end
Scrape 4 a dollar, you'll die smilin'
Learnin' the same lessons once again
The goin' gets tough from the getgo, go man go
Oh brother, not another motherfucker gotta go now[3]
Song Themes[edit | edit source]
Death and Injury, Band Members Named in the Song, Homosexuality, Profanity/Swearing, Sung by Dean Ween, Sung by Gene Ween, Tape Speed Manipulation
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ At the Cat's Cradle DVD version
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=209
- ↑ From the official Pure Guava lyric sheet; lightly edited for clarity.