Boogie oogie oogie with the Ween boys

Their names sound like something out of a Doctor Seuss book, but make no mistake about it: Ween's music is not just kid's stuff. In fact, due to the explicit lyrics and the scantily clad female figure on the album cover (I was offended to the very bottom of my feminist soul... well, not really, but I do keep my CD case hidden at work), you may want to keep this baby out of lil' Johnny's reach.

Chocolate & Cheese is yet another example of the Ween brothers' gift for...well….the strange. I have yet to hear a band that can move so seamlessly from twangy cowboy rhythms to funk to sassy pop with the same sort of devilish deadpan humor and genuine musical prowess that the Ween brothers can (tho' I should point out that they are about as related as Lefty, Otis, Nelson and Charlie T. Wilbury). I haven't a clue how you would classify Ween at all, other than to say they are odd. And yet they do odd well on all sixteen bizarrely hilarious tracks of this album.

Take Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down). I know it sounds horrible to say, but I find it hard not to smile during this twisted song, even though it sounds as if a young, scared child thinks he's going to die:

Why they wanna see my spine mommy?
Why they wanna see my spine?
It's gonna hurt again mommy
Much worse than last time
Am I gonna see God, mommy?
Am I gonna die?
It really hurts mommy!
Am I gonna die?

A similarly pleading song, Mr. Would You Please Help My Pony? is so plaintive and desperate sounding at first, but the sudden dissonance of the line I think it's his lung sends me into an unexpected fit of giggles:

Mister, would you please help my pony?
He's over there behind the tree
He's down in the dirt, would ya help him?
I think it's his lung

Ween changes pace a bit with Voodoo Lady, but keeps hangs on to their >cough< unique humor:

Voodoo Lady
Shakin' that stick and drivin' me crazy
Your eyes look red and hazy
Doin' that stuff that you do
Messin' me up with your voodoo

You drive me crazy with that
Boogie oogie oogie oogie oogie oogie oogie oogie
You drive me crazy with that
Boogie boogie boogie

The brothers sport a Spanish accent in their hilarious song of revenge, Buenos Tardes Amigos:

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

And then suddenly there is a light, poppy song (perhaps included to really confuse folks), in the highly sing-able What Deaner Was Talkin' About:

The sun comes up and I'm all washed out
Is this what Deaner was talkin' about
I don't think I will ever return again my friend

I'd heard Push the Little Daises (and Make 'em Come Up) and Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down) separately before I bought Chocolate & Cheese and I couldn't believe that What Deaner.. was really Ween. They sure do like to keep their listeners on their toes.

My favorite track on the album has got to be Roses are Free a song that incorporates the sounds of a calliope and synthesizer to back the oddly catchy lyrics:

Take a piece of tinsel and put it on the tree
Cut a slab of melon and pretend that you still love me
Carve out a pumpkin and rely on your destiny
Get in your car and cruise the land of the brave and the free

But don't forget to understand exactly what you put on the tree
Don't believe the florist when he tells you that the roses are free

Listening to Ween is like very much like watching Jerry Springer... You know you really shouldn't be enjoying it, but you can't help yourself.