Transdermal Celebration
| "Transdermal Celebration" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Ween | |||||
| from the album Quebec | |||||
| Released | 2003 | ||||
| Recorded | c. 2001–2003 | ||||
| Length | 3:25 | ||||
| Label | Sanctuary Records | ||||
| Ween singles chronology | |||||
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| Quebec track listing | |||||
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"Transdermal Celebration" is a song by Ween from the 2003 album Quebec.
Song Details[edit | edit source]
Recording and Composition[edit | edit source]
While the studio version of "Transdermal Celebration" is in the key of F major, live performances transpose it down to E major. Notably, this is one of the few Ween songs to utilize a time signature change, with the verses being in common time (4/4) and the chorus being in 6/8.
The lead vocals are sung by Gene Ween. Dean Ween plays all guitars, bass, as well as electric sitar on the song. The drums are played by Josh Freese. Glenn McClelland and Andrew Weiss are both credited with keyboards on this song.[1]
Carlos Santana's Guitar and the "Transdermal Celebration" Solo[edit | edit source]
The guitar solo of "Transdermal Celebration" was surreptitiously played by Dean Ween on a guitar setup belonging to Carlos Santana. Deaner later recalled in an interview:
So, we’re in the middle of this session and I get a phone call from my roadie (nameless) who also worked for a backline company (nameless) that supplied amps, drums, lights, etc. to bands touring in the Northeast. My roadie told me that Carlos Santana’s equipment (including his guitars) had arrived via a trucking company that night at their depot. Carlos was recording an appearance on Good Morning America the next morning and his equipment was to be delivered to the set in NYC in a few hours.
What needed to be done was immediately clear to me, I had an opportunity to play the solo on “Transdermal Celebration” through Carlos Santana’s amplifier and guitar. I had one shot at it, it meant taking a hard disk recorder to a storage space where all of Carlos’ stuff was sitting in transit. I arrived at 2 A.M. We (very carefully) unpacked his equipment and set up his stage gear and in one take I recorded the guitar solo for “Transdermal Celebration” (the one that appears on the album), playing through Carlos Santana’s guitar, pedalboard and amplifier. The whole thing took 10 minutes and we were terrified we were going to get caught. A lot of people would have lost their jobs. We got the fuck outta there really fast after that. So the solo on “Transdermal Celebration” was played through all of Santana’s shit in what resembled an early morning bank heist or something.[2]
History and Performance[edit | edit source]
"Transdermal Celebration" dates back to at least early 2002, when it was played live by Ween at a show that also included the debuts of several other songs that would later feature on Quebec.[3] An early demo recording of the song can be heard on the semi-official The Caesar Demos. Ween started playing the song more frequently on the 2003 Quebec tour, and it has been a common live Ween song ever since.[4] A 11/7-8/2003 recording from that tour was released on the album Live in Chicago.
In addition, "Transdermal Celebration" has been played numerous times individually by both Gene Ween (both solo acoustic and with his band Freeman) and Dean Ween (with the Dean Ween Group).[5]
Music Video[edit | edit source]
The official video for "Transdermal Celebration" was made by animator Adam "Chluaid" Phillips. The video was initially a late admission into a request by Ween's manager where Ween fans could submit an idea for a music video for the song.
The video was animated in two weeks in Adobe Flash and was loosely based off of a now-lost email that Phillips had received from Gene Ween where he had detailed the true meaning of the lyrics, which had aligned with Phillips' preexisting plans for the video. After sending a preview of the video to the band, Phillips received another email from Gener where he expressed love for the video and wanted to make it the official music video for the song.[6]
Phillips recalled that while attending the Flash Forward film festival, he met the filming crew of Live in Chicago, where he learned that the animated music video allegedly replaced a planned "big [and] expensive" live-action video, with Phillips recalling he had heard it involved "naked chicks in blue liquid".[6] It is unknown how far into production the live-action music video had been before being scrapped.
The video for "Transdermal Celebration" debuted on the Live in Chicago DVD in 2004.
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
Official lyrics were printed in the Quebec liner notes:
Transdermal celebration
Caused a slight mutation in the rift
It toppled down a nation
And left the people running for the hills
But the mutants that I see
Shine their beauty unto me, I wish you could see them
Tectonic tribulation
Formed a crust of green beyond the reef
Waves fell in formation
Caused the plants to bend with spi-ked leaves
I'm growing with the land
Time has taken my hands and let me touch them
Hey, hey
A billion miles to Mark A
Lay on the lawn
He's already home when the morning ray hits his face
Transdermal celebration
Jets flew in formation, I could see them
Dropping the crustaceans
Leaving trails of flame in their wake
But where is the mutation
Who once told me it was safe, I can't find him[7]
Song Themes[edit | edit source]
Sung by Gene Ween, Uncommon Time Signature
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Quebec liner notes
- ↑ https://www.jambase.com/article/dean-ween-shares-amazing-story-of-using-santanas-gear
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=all%20bands&show_id=283
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=226
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=all%20bands&song_id=226
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20220118022648/https://bitey.com/transdermal-celebration/
- ↑ From the Quebec liner notes