‘Hash Pipe’ was released in 2001 on Weezer’s third album titled ‘Weezer’ but usually referred to as ‘The Green Album’ (since they’ve used ‘Weezer’ as the title of several albums). I’ve always liked the straight forward, hit you on the head with a hammer nature of the main riff. When it came out I was also fascinated that it was a radio single considering the title and the nature of the lyrics. It’s interesting that when I went to the the official video to relearn the song the video now says ‘revised’ and they’ve totally cut out the lyric line in the song with the words ‘hash pipe’. Not bleeped out words – the musical line is totally removed! Ummmm- OK.
Part of the reason we do the cover songs is to work on the recording process and song arrangement so we can apply what we learn to our own songs. Song arrangement is a process people don’t usually consciously think about when they listen to music, but it’s a very important part of making any song have a distinct sound and feel. For instance in ‘Hash Pipe’ even though we used acoustic instruments and don’t have a drum kit to drive the beat, the acoustic version we did sounds a bit denser to me. That’s a result of using a variety of instruments playing more arpeggiated parts. So while the original may have more straight forward power drive, an acoustic version may sound softer but still a bit ‘thicker’. That’s all part of the learning process. This version has two six string acoustic guitars, a twelve string acoustic, banjo, bass, wood block, shaker and tambourine and several tracks of vocals. The lead riff is done with mandolin and a six string banjo.
Electrostatic Rhythm Pigs cover Weezer’s ‘Hash Pipe’:
ChurchHouse Productions Blog 