Opus 51 Fugue Trilogy in A (Take Me to the Tree)
"Opus 51 Fugue Trilogy in A" is a song by Ween from their 1988 tape, Ween II: Axis: Bold As Boognish. It's the band's 2nd longest song (9 minutes shorter than Fred).[1]
Song Details
Recording and Composition
"Opus 51" is a 5-part, punk rock song. The parts include:
- Yurtle Swiming
- The Tree
- Bertha Gets The Mooshy Mooshy
- The Kitty And The Squirrel
- The Departure
Parts 1 and 2 are in the key of A Major, parts 3 and 4 are in the key of G Major, and part 5 is in the key of A Major 7th.
Gene Ween does the Vocals, Dean Ween does the instrumentation, and Paul Hoecke does the backing vocals.[2]
GodWeenSatan Re-recording
In early 1990, Ween had recorded and mixed a version of "Opus 51" for their 1st album, GodWeenSatan: The Oneness. This known version is over 9 minutes in length, it features stereo guitars and a similar high pitched feedback such as in the track Mushroom Festival in Hell. It's unknown why the song wasn't put onto the album, it could be due to the GodWeenSatan's length. A mono expert of the Yurtle Swimming portion of the song can be found on YouTube.[3]
Live Performances
"Opus 51" has been played a few times between 1988-1989, notable shows would be City Gardens in 1989 (With Andrew Weiss on Bass and Sim Cain on Drums[4]), and Pranzatelli's Stereo and TV in 1989 with backing of only Yurtle Swimming and The Tree which go into Licking The Palm For Guava[5]. The track has never been played or mentioned since 1989 by the band.
Lyrics
Yurtle Swimming
Time elapsing in the sounds
of etheral planes melting down
Life is but a jelly roll
come in one side and pay no toll
Happiness is once past lived,
it's all in the mind of a sunburst sieve
Yurtle swimming in his tank
with Erich Kessling’s account in the bank
Life is just a wiffy, you see, singing in the fugue trilogy
Quasonic fortress in the past all boiling down into gas
Beatlemania, God is dead Satan is one in my head
Radio stations spinning sounds upside down and all around
If you simply stop and see you will find Bon Jovi and me
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
The Tree
Come with me and we will be free in an endless boaring cavity
I will love your mind to love me, we shall be a tree, yes, a tree
Come with me, to the end of the sea, to life and glee, in the tree...
Time will be the essence of God
in a three-star carrot fish fillet of cod
Boognish will make himself clear to me outside the window in a tree, yes a tree
Porno slut garbage, God is me
in the existential existence of my pee-pee
I fear not the steel and the bass
it's only my laminated love hating face
Bertha Gets the Mooshy-Mooshy
Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy
Love me, love me, love me, love me
Kill me, kill me, kill me, kill me
Bertha gets the mooshy-mooshy
The Kitty
The black cat yawns, opens her jaws,
stretches her legs, and shows her claws.
Then she gets up and stands on four
long stiff legs and yawns some more.
She shows her sharp teeth, she stretches her lip,
her slice of a tongue turns up at the tip.
Lifting herself on her delicate toes,
she arches her back as high as it goes.
She lets herself down with particular care,
and pads away with her tail in the air.
The Squirrel
Whisky frisky, hippity hop
Up he goes to the tree top
Whirly, twirly, round and round
Down he scampers to the ground
Furly, curly, what a tail
Tall as a feather, broad as a sail
Where's his supper
In the shell
Snappity, crackity, Out it fell
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
The Departure
It’s very late...
It’s about, umm... very late... early in the morning...
Good morning, good morning... Yep...
The Mrs. Slack EP was pretty fuckin’ funny.