Hash Pipe: Difference between revisions

*[[Weezer (The Green Album)]]

*Hash Pipe (Radio Only Promo)

*Hash Pipe (US Retail CD/US Retail 7" (Black Vinyl))

*Hash Pipe (UK Retail CD)

*Hash Pipe (EU Retail CD)

*Hash Pipe (UK Promo CD) (Jimmy Pop Remix)

*Hash Pipe (UK Retail 7" (Green Vinyl))

*Hash Pipe (US Promo Remix 12" (Black Vinyl)) (Jimmy Pop Remix, Chris Vrenna's Kick Me Remix and Chris Vrenna's Under Glass Remix)

*[[List of Official Bootlegs|Several Official Bootlegs]] (Live Version)

"Hash Pipe" was the first single released from the band's long-awaited third album, ''Weezer'', and the only [[SS2K]]-era song to make it onto the album (although "[[Dope Nose]]" and "[[Slob]]" were later released on ''[[Maladroit]]''). According to an interview with [[Rivers Cuomo]], the song was written on the same night as "Dope Nose" although, according to the [[Catalog O' Riffs]], Dope Nose was written two nights before Hash Pipe. The story is that he took "a bunch of Ritalin and had like three shots of tequila", paced around for a while, then wrote both songs. Cuomo described the process of writing the song during a [[2009]] interview with Terry Gross:

<blockquote>"For a couple of years there, well - I've always been an analytical person, but for a couple of years, I just got really analytical in keeping track of every detail of the process of writing a song and intentionally varying individual elements to see what the result would be. But sometimes these experiments were indistinguishable from how any other rock person would write a song. For example, in mid-2000, I - somehow my experiments evolved to a point where step one was take a pill of Ritalin. Step two was take three shots of tequila. Step three was go out in the backyard, sit down on a chair. Step four was close your eyes and imagine the song. And thats how I wrote 'Hash Pipe'."</blockquote>

Cuomo stated in a 2021 interview that he submitted "Hash Pipe" as a potential song for musician [[Ozzy Osbourne]], but that the song was not used. Said Cuomo, "I think it was in 2000, he asked if I had any songs for him, and I just happened to have written ‘Hash Pipe,' [...] I sent it to him, but he didn’t end up using it. In another reality, it might have been interesting to hear him singing that song."<ref>''Guitar World''. July 2021.</ref><ref>Wardlaw, Matt. "Ozzy Osbourne Had First Dibs on Weezer’s ‘Hash Pipe,’ but Passed" ''Ultimate Classic Rock & Culture''. 13 May 2021. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/ozzy-osbourne-weezer-hash-pipe/</ref> The lyrics for the song are about a "homosexual transvestite prostitute", according to [[Entertainment Weekly interview with Rivers Cuomo - May 25, 2001|an ''Entertainment Weekly'' interview]] with Cuomo from 2001. According to Cuomo, the label was very reluctant to release a song like "Hash Pipe" as the album's lead single. Said Cuomo, "They wanted something more straight-up. Man, it was a huge fight. I got up in a meeting with all the executives and I was screaming." The label wanted to release "[[Don't Let Go]]" instead, but Cuomo was adamant that "Hash Pipe" be the single. Cuomo would, ultimately, be vindicated when the song became one of the band's biggest hits. "Hash Pipe" 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.

The guitar riff was at least partially inspired by the song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oysMt8iL9UE Peter Gunn]", the theme song from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gunn TV series of the same name], composed by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Mancini Henry Mancini].  The theme has proven to be much more enduring than the show, and has appeared in many TV shows and films, both in its original recording as well as cover versions. Cuomo has stated in several interviews, at the time of the single's release, that he stole the riff from ''Spy Hunter'', a popular arcade video game from the 80s which featured a digitized version of the ''Peter Gunn'' theme. It's also been said that the riff may have been "borrowed" from the song "He Shot Himself Up" by The Shods. Cuomo is a friend of Shods frontman [[Kevin Stevenson]], who had previously accompanied Cuomo during [[Homie]] shows in 1997, more than two years before "Hash Pipe" was written.

The opening lyric "I can't help my feelings, I go out of my mind" appears to be a direct quote of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles the Beatles] song "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Can%27t_Do_That You Can't Do That]" from 1964.

There is some dispute among fans over the song's correct lyrics and, as no official lyric sheet has been released, they remain up for debate. Examples of disputed lyrics are "eyes wide"/"ass wide"/"eye swipe"/"ass wipe" and "big cheese"/"big G's" (as in 'money').