The Comedy of Errors: Ween - Nan/Captain Fantasy/Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy) [Peel Session] (23 May 1992)

Henry Rollins is a belligerent sod, pretty much contemptuous of everything and everybody, so when he gives a rave about something you have to sit up and take notice.  When Ween supported Rollins at a gig in New Jersey in February 1990, they received a lukewarm response from the audience.  Rollins apparently came out on stage and berated the crowd. “Start liking them now,” he demanded, “(because one day) you will get down on your filthy knees and crawl to the altar of Ween.”

This repeated session, originally broadcast on 17 April 1992, the week after Oliver! had finished, was my first exposure to Ween.  My notes breathlessly declared it as my favourite John Peel session, perhaps helped by the fact that it was all played in one block.  Ultimately, I passed on Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese which sounded too much in thrall to Lilys for it to be borne, but the remaining tracks were a feast for the senses, calling as they did on Ween’s past, present and future.
Nan (short for Nanette in this instance rather than Grandma) was originally recorded for Ween’s 1990 debut album, God Ween Satan - The Oneness.  Apparently, Peel wasn’t a fan of this sprawling 26 track record.  I haven’t heard it, so am not qualified to question his judgement, but the studio version features a stodgy vocal from Gene Ween - one half of the creative duo that make up the group, the other half is Dean Ween, naturally - making him sound like one of Happy Flowers, all grown up and suffering girl trouble.  In trying to recreate the vocal effect for the session though, Gene ends up sounding as though he’s trying to do a bad impression of Bryan Ferry.  However, this can’t capsize the song which is one of the finest “this girl’s impossible” laments you’ll hear.  Sexually, emotionally, romantically and conversationally Nan does nothing but snub and frustrate Gene which of course only makes him more desperate to have her.  But if Ween seem to be getting the rough end of the stick with Nan, they are keen to put offers out to anyone else who may be interested in Captain Fantasy, which comes on like New York Dolls crossbreeding with T. Rex.  Taken from their 1991 album, The Pod, which contented itself with a mere 23 tracks compared to God Ween Satan - The Oneness, it’s a more confident piece of music, albeit that it betrays Ween’s inability to nail down the targets of their songs i.e. the whole “When I’m here, you’re there” refrain.  They are cords of vulnerability which transcend the whinging in Nan and the wannabe rock shapes being thrown in Captain Fantasy, though the performances are irresistible.

I’ve talked about who Ween sound like in the first two tracks, but the third selection, Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy) sounds like no one else except Ween and it’s devastating for all that, moving as it does into genuinely dark territory.  As YouTube commenter, Cousinted put it, “I’ve heard two very plausible explanations as to what this song is about: child molestation or heroin addiction.  Thus I can only assume it’s about a heroin addict being molested by his dad who is also shooting horse.”
I tend to veer towards the child molestation theory with an added side order that the father is going to kill the child before killing himself.  I nearly had an attack of morals and decided not to include it, but it’s simply too sublime not to include especially the beautiful piano break at 2:12.  The track was recorded for their 1992 album, Pure Guava, which was clearly seeing creative exhaustion kick in for Dean and Gene as they could only put together 19 tracks for this album.

Henry was right.  All praise The Boognish!

All videos courtesy of destr100.