Tag Archives: its

#651: Ween – It’s Gonna Be (Alright)

Leave a reply

Though Ween have mostly considered to be this joke band who don’t take their music seriously because of the humour they incorporate into their material (which they’re not and they do), there has always been a song on each of their albums (except La Cucaracha probably) that can unexpectedly surprise you with its sincerity. There are a couple I can think of when it comes to The Mollusk; ‘It’s Gonna Be (Alright)’ is one of them.

This track has always been one of my favourites from the album since I heard it back in 2013. Following ‘The Blarney Stone’, an explicit number in the form of a sea shanty, ‘Alright’ slows things right down to darken the mood with its wavey guitar arpeggios and echoing percussion. It’s another devastating track in Ween’s discography concerning the end of a relationship. For anyone who doesn’t know, Gene Ween – lead singer and co-songwriter in the band – has a big heart; when it gets broken he can get really sad. He wrote songs like ‘Birthday Boy’, ‘Baby Bitch’, and ‘I Don’t Want It’ detailing some of the misery he’s been through. However, ‘Alright’ is one of those tracks where although the relationship is no more, there’s still hope that things can still be good between the two of them.

Things get weird again as they follow this with ‘The Golden Eel’ on the album, pretty much about what it says in the title, so it’s almost like the band just drops this serious track to just say ‘everything’s not as well as it seems here but forget about it here’s the silly stuff again’. But that’s all what adds to the charm… of Ween.

My iPod #523: Alexisonfire – “Hey, It’s Your Funeral Mama”

Leave a reply

The video isn’t really eight and a half minutes by the way. Someone messed up on their part.

I think this song is awesome simply because it is about go-karting.  I have never heard of another song which touches upon the subject, even if there was it would never come close to topping this one.

“Hey It’s Your Funeral Mama” is a song from Alexisonfire’s second album Watch Out!, released in 2004. Why that’s the song’s title I couldn’t tell you. I have the feeling it may be taken from a film, or may have sprung up in a conversation between a band member and their friend. We’ll probably never know. The hilarious music video has nothing to do with the subject matter either. Alexisonfire hold auditions for Alexisonfire clones so the real band can take a break while the clones do their shows for them. It’s a good watch.

Alexisonfire songs always get me pumped up and motivated even if I’m not planning to do anything active. “It’s Your Funeral” is no different. Straight from the beginning, the alternate muted and power chords give off the sound of engines revving up before racing off as soon as the lead guitar line enters the mix. Overall, the guitar playing is sick. And slick. Kudos to Wade MacNeil and Dallas Green. But the highlight throughout the whole track is the interplay between MacNeil, Green and lead screamer George Pettit’s vocals. One guy will be singing their heart out in one line before the other abruptly comes out of nowhere to scream the next. A very hard to sing along to by yourself, for sure.

A really enjoyable song in the long run. Something to thrash your arms about and go wild to.

My iPod #339: Radiohead – Everything in Its Right Place

2 Replies


“Everything in Its Right Place” is the opening track on Radiohead’s “Kid A” album, one where the band completely diverted away from their heavy guitar-driven music to warmer, electronic material. Fans waited for three years after “OK Computer”, full of anticipation with what Radiohead could deliver. Apparently, “Kid A” polarized many. Either people loved it ‘cos of the new musical direction, or hated because of the same reason. Whether the band made the change to make people not like it as much, I’m not sure. The members, especially Thom Yorke, were burnt out from the success that “OK Computer” gained. “Kid A” made them a lot more successful anyway.

I was five when the album was released, and so have no recollection of anything Radiohead did. Who were Radiohead? I didn’t know; I was in Year 1. But I eventually got round to listening to “Kid A” (and “Amnesiac” for the hell of it) in 2012. Why did it take me so long? Well…. I think I used to label those years as the period where Radiohead went a bit weird. The first song I remember liking from them was on “Hail to the Thief”, and their singles I usually saw on the TV were “Creep – OK Computer” era. It wasn’t until I actually researched that both albums were very much appreciated, that I thought I would listen to them.

And so “Everything in Its Right Place” started playing, and it was then that I realised I might have been missing out on something. Everything about it is just so peaceful, calm and tranquil even though the lyrics are from the perspective of a person going through some problems of their own. Got a steady 4/4 beat playing against a 10/4 time signature, unconventional yet wouldn’t sound out of place in any dance/house party. And the song’s only made up of four phrases which are repeated in many different and memorable ways, that when you think one will be repeated again the track begins to fade out. And then it’s gone.

I’ve seen comments from people saying that Radiohead should start playing guitars again but they did do this song, cut them some slack.