Hash Pipe

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For pipes used for smoking hashish, see Cannabis smoking.
“Hash Pipe”
“Hash Pipe” cover
Single by Weezer
from the album Weezer
Released April 2001 (US)

June 2, 2001 (UK)
Format CD, Vinyl
Recorded 2001
Genre Rock
Length 3:07
Label DGC Records
Writer(s) Rivers Cuomo
Producer Ric Ocasek
Weezer singles chronology
"Pink Triangle"
(1997)		 "Hash Pipe"
(2001)		 "Island in the Sun"
(2001)

"Hash Pipe" is a popular single by Weezer. Released in 2001, it was the first single off the band's long-awaited third album, Weezer, and the only one of the SS2K The Summer Sessions songs to make it onto the album, although Dope Nose and Slob were released on Maladroit. According to an interview with Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo, "Hash Pipe" was written on the same night as the hit song "Dope Nose" off Maladroit. The story goes that Rivers took "a bunch of Ritalin and had like three shots of tequila," paced around for a while, then wrote both songs.[1] The song was inspired by a male transvestite prostitute known for rambling to people in Santa Monica.[2] Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson is featured on the cover of the song's CD single[3] holding a pack of Natural American Spirit cigarettes that has been blurred out. Since late 2001, the band has played the song live with a reworked guitar solo that no longer follows the verse melody.

Contents

[edit] Music video

The video for the song was directed by Marcos Siega, the first of many Weezer videos that Siega would direct. In the video, Weezer is playing while a group of sumo wrestlers are standing in the background.[4] Sometimes they will show two sumo wrestlers wrestling and at one point in the song, the wrestlers actually appear to play and sing. In the video, guitarist Brian Bell does a move in which he bends backwards, taking the guitar with him, then thrusts his legs in the way he's bending. This is known among Weezer fans as "the impossible bend." According to the mini book that accompanies the Video Capture Device DVD, Siega was asked to avoid referring to the lyrics of the song for the video. photo

[edit] Tracklist

Radio Station Promo

  1. "Hash Pipe" - 3:05

US CD Retail CD/US Retail 7" Single (Black Vinyl)

  1. "Hash Pipe" - 3:05
  2. "I Do" - 2:10

UK Retail CD

  1. "Hash Pipe" - 3:05
  2. "Starlight" - 3:35
  3. "Hash Pipe" (Jimmy Pop Remix)
  4. "Hash Pipe" (CD-ROM Video)

UK Retail 7" Single (Green Vinyl)

  1. "Hash Pipe" - 3:05
  2. "Teenage Victory Song" - 3:11

US Promo Remix 12" Single (Black Vinyl)

  1. "Hash Pipe" (Jimmy Pop Remix)
  2. "Hash Pipe" (Chris Crenna's Kick Me Remix)
  3. "Hash Pipe" (Chris Crenna's Under Glass Remix) - 4:13

[edit] Censorship

Hash Pipe was banned from UK airplay due to bosses at Radio One taking a stance against the drug taking culture implied in the title (hashish). The song title is sometimes displayed as "H*** Pipe" on some channels, notably MTV; the exact reason for the inconsistency of the censored song title is unclear. Geffen Records originally didn't want "Hash Pipe" to be the lead single off the album, citing the song's lurid content (a transvestite prostitute) as inappropriate. They suggested that the lead single should be "Don't Let Go."

[edit] Confusion over lyric

The Green Album is the only Weezer album to not have official band-approved lyrics available, and perhaps the most disputed lyric on the album is the second line of the chorus of "Hash Pipe." Fan interpretations of the line include:

  • I got my hash pipe
  • I got my ass wide
  • I got my ass wipe
  • I got my eyes wide
  • I got my eye swipe

The closed captioning of the live performance of the song on Saturday Night Live read, "I got my ass wide." In the Green Album guitar tablature book, the lyric reads, "I got my eye swipe."

[edit] Awards and success

"Hash Pipe" is one of the band's biggest hits, best remembered for its driving guitar melody, offbeat lyrical content, Cuomo's falsetto vocals and the gang backup vocals of "whoa-oh-oh." The song peaked at #2 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, #24 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #16 on Billboard's Canadian Singles Chart. The video for the song was nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards as well as being nominated for High Times magazine's "Pot Song of the Year" in 2001.

[edit] Covers and remixes

Two remixes of the song were released as B-sides on official releases of the song. Chris Vrenna's "Kick Me" remix was released on the "Hash Pipe" 12" single (which was Weezer's first 12" single) and Jimmy Pop's remix of the song appears on that release as well as international releases of the "Hash Pipe" single and the international "Island in the Sun" single. The song has also been covered by Phantom Planet in concert and by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine at one of their live shows.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Eliscu, Jenny. Rivers Cuomo's Encyclopedia of Pop. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
  2. ^ Weezer's Cracked Genius. Rolling Stone.
  3. ^ weezer.com tunes page - page 3
  4. ^ Luerssen D., John. Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story. ECW Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55022-619-3 p. 335

[edit] External links

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