Lately I've been thinking about definitive summer songs for a feature that will appear in the Weekly's forthcoming Summer Guide. One of the stranger specimens I'm leaning toward is Ween's fluke 1992 hit “Push th' Little Daisies” off the sporadically brilliant Pure Guava album. (It reached #18 in Australia's pop charts and aired on Beavis N Butthead—that counts as a hit, right?)
For some reason, I associate (some) archetypal summer songs with a sol-drunk wooziness that verges on stoned immaculateness and/or lysergic bliss. Because summer's supposed to be about a respite from responsibility and reality, yeah? At least temporarily, at least in theory… even for workaholics who sunburn easily.
Ween's odd ditty fits the above description well. The flanged guitar and slightly swaying rhythm obliquely suggest “tropical,” while the Cartman-esque vocals nudge the track into helium-inhalation absurdity. I dunno about you, but if I hear a song about pushing little daisies done in such a goofy manner, I am overcome with a desire to meander leisurely in nature while tripping on funny fungus. Now that's some wholesome school's-out activity right there…
