Roses Are Free

To me, it's pretty simple. The lyrics make me think of skepticism. "Always be skeptical" is the bottom line to this song. When someone tells you that they "love you," do not take it as fact because they may be "pretending to still love" you. The florist is lying when he tells you that the roses are free, etc.

I agree with demeatloaf's line of thinking. It also is a stab at the social actions people go through without meaning, just to appear normal, like putting up a Christmas tree, telling your spouse you love him, etc. when it is not heartfelt. It is a nice bit of sardonic humor to say the perfect people who adhere to these traditions and are apprearing as "perfect Americans" also are resisting an urge to kill. At the end, he says take the empty symbol of a pumpkin and throw it at the other empty symbol of the tree and just eat the damn pie and forget all about the pretenses.

dear ween, this song confuses the shit out of me. what are you talking about? love, amanda

I agree this song is about skepticism, but more so about free-will and thinking for oneself. All the references to religion in the first verse, then the line "don't believe the florist when he tells you that the roses are free" kind of implies (to me at least), think for yourself and ask questions instead of just accepting other peoples' answers and statements as gospel. The second verse adds onto the concept of free-will and free-thinking. It's saying you can do all these things, but at the end of the day, you have to remember "what you put on the tree" which could mean what you've brought to the plate, what you yourself have contributed. In the end, we have to run our own lives, make our own decisions and believe what we want to believe, instead of just relying on false hopes from all those metaphorical florists out there.

This is the first Ween song I had ever heard. I was in a music store and they were playing it. I was so impressed that I bought their album, and I've been a fan ever since. Don't know what the song means though. Just thought it was catchy.

(continued) To me, the 'pumpkin' sort of symbolises knowledge. You can choose what to do with the answers you receive in life, whether you dismiss them (cast them off into the sea), use them to make something out of your life (unless you think that pumpkin holds your destiny), or, and I love that they end with this one, you can choose to share your knowledge and success with others. Despite how deep this song's lyrics can be taken, it's still one of the most fun and lighthearted pieces of music around. And boy, do they fucking rock it live!

This song uses symbolism and metaphors to depict the US Abortion conflict as well as the struggles of those subject to it. It's saying the pleasures of life and procreating are made out to be all positive but in reality indulging in reproducing and sex can be very costly in money, time, and opportunity.

"Tinsel" - baby "Tree" - family tree "Melon" - yonic, vagina "Pumpkin" - womb "Land of brave and free" - USA "Florist" - Gynecologist "Roses" - pleasure of life and procreation "Wrinkled Raisin" - fetus

"Take a piece of tinsel and put it on the tree" - put a beautiful baby on your family tree

"But don't forget to understand exactly what you put on the tree" - a human life

"don't believe the florist when he tells the roses are free" - don't believe your gynecologist when he tells you having a baby and enjoying your lives are without cost

"Push it into third (trimester) if you know you're gonna climb the hill (having the child)" "Resist the urges that make you wanna go out and kill" - regretting waiting past the third trimester, because they are no longer eligible for an abortion

This song is straight up about how we control and mould our own character. (Dont forget to understand exactly what you put on the tree) means what you live learn and tell yourself is what moulds your character/brain/thinking. After doing psychadelics for a while people find themselves very open minded and sort of vulnerable to allowing certain information into their mind. Ween people know this and the tree is like your brain so dont forget to understand what you put in your head is what will motivate you. Btw this song is utterly motivating and has a happy sort of wonderous and dance like vibe to it. Makes me want to dance like nobody's watching. (Take a wrinkle raisin) it literally means take a raisin soaked in lsd. People sometimes have a sugar cube of lsd. And at odd times people will have a raisin literally that has had lsd soaked into it. So ya( push it into thirds) because the trip can be too intense and mentally exposing to handle and if you break that raisin into three pieces then its gonna be an easier experience. And if you ever go into the florist shop looking for something beautiful for whatever reason. Haha the roses are not for free. But I find after having had a few friends that took too much lsd maybe 4 or 5 tabs they would wander and find themselves in weird situations trying to understand what it is that is happening to them and as one of my friends experienced, the loss of ego definitely takes away the meaning of $$ and after wandering and finding yourself in a corner store grocery/ florist shop you might try to take some of those pretty flowers or candies and walk right out without paying hahah this is literally what I think happened to Gene ween. He may have discovered the greater meaning to how his own mind worked by thinking that those roses were free and trying to walk out with them. Haha . Anyways I do believe this song is simply about waking up to how the mind absorbs information and stores it for future scenarios and that in turn builds our personality/characteristics. Oh ya pumpkins is their slang for lsd too. Theres a song called mourning glory by ween and that song tells us of gener and deaners trip on acid at Halloween and they were looking at some pumpkins and it turns out they got a little too close to someone elses property and that person right freaked out on them and scared them away as if they did something bad.. which maybe they really were appearing that way but who knows.. So as they say throw that pumpkin at the tree it literally means they took acid and theyre saying hey try it. Its not bad. Unless you think that its your destiny. Because if you do then you didnt realize that the psychedelic is meant to make you love the experience of regular life and its regular magical experience it gives us. And if you just keep taking the lsd like the lsd is the amazing experience then you missed the lesson that it teaches so many people of how to love yourself your choices (hopefully good ones exactly what you put on the tree) and I think the rest of the song explains itself. Dont kill people resist the urge of the negative experience. Oh and they are the food band. The best food band ever! Hah So carve a slab of melon and pretend that you still love me. Is just a way of saying that after a strong psychedelic experience friends that undergo these circumstances feel as though they have been through an emotional journey that tends to make them feel as though their melon(thoughts and feelings/mind) has been opened and shown to the friends nearby . So to enjoy our friends company after such intense emotional journeys we find things complicated and we put on our best face (pretend) to forego whatever emotions negative or too intense or just perhaps are unique then we learn to pretend our best that even through such an intense experience we still support the greater good and pretend (which i find has a negative ring to it but thats okay) or perhaps just fake it till we make it type of action for the benefit of the self and others around us. And eventually that greater good of love for life becomes clear. So this song might be about a bad trip that may have revealed some greater truth to Dean or Gene ween about how his own mind worked or works. And after learning that he probably found things easier when trying to make his "destiny" come true. Ween has become a legendary band. And I love this track.

This song is about the celebration of spiritual adulthood and the realization of the paradox that your decisions are both important and ultimately insignificant.

First the broad strokes:

I want to start with a shout out to leeyum13, ben1025033 and HiiammHeidi as I resonated with many of their views. This is such a fun song to decipher because it is overflowing with strong and distinct metaphors. I also consider this a Christmas song that gives a wink to the often heard complaint that people rarely understand the true meaning of the holiday. This song is a psychedelic celebration of the arrival of spiritual adulthood with all of it's responsibilities of awareness, respect, maturity and vigilance. It's asks us to participate in myth, without getting fooled by the literal translation. The overarching theme of the song as sung in the common refrain is a reminder to increase your awareness of the symbolic nature of the rituals we engage in as well as the hidden costs lurking in all transactions. Ultimately the song asks you to care about the choices you make even though at the end of the day they are seemingly insignificant.

Now to step into the weeds a bit and go line for line:

"Take a piece of tinsel and put it on the tree" Tinsel on a Christmas tree represents the stars on the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden hovering over the nativity scene. The 1st line of the 1st verse in the song asks you to engage in a ritual that signifies the titan witnesses to the birth of god. You can also consider the tinsel as the parents place in the heavens as both a witness and participant to the miracle of childbirth.

"Cut a slab of melon and pretend that you still love me" Melon is a symbol for love, fertility and attainment by Hindus. The 2nd line of the 1st verse in the song asks us to indulge in the fruit of love and attainment, even though our heart may not always be in it. It underlies the importance of embracing maturity, following through on commitment and putting one foot in front of the other especially when inspiration is at a low.

"Carve out a pumpkin and rely on your destiny" The Celtic tradition of carving turnips and squash was to help light the way for good spirits to their homes. The 3rd line of the 1st verse in the song asks us again to engage in a ritual with faith without direct knowledge of it's potency or the ultimate outcome.

"Get in your car and cruise the land of the brave and the free" Cruising is considered sailing along without a specific destination for fun. The open road especially in the USA is full of possibilities. The 4th line of the 1st verse asks us to proceed in life without being too rigid, remembering to enjoy life while staying open to opportunities that may come your way.

"But don't forget to understand exactly what you put on the tree" Again, the 1st line of the common refrain is a reminder to increase your awareness of the symbolic nature of the rituals we engage in. Specifically that at Christmas we are recognizing a moment when titans witnessed the birth of God and perhaps the Universe itself. As leeyum13 put it, the tree can be seen as your family tree and you are adding a new member to it. The line reminds you to be a conscious parent, respectful of the fact that parenting itself is a miraculous ritual that you are participating in. .

"Don't believe the florist when he tells you that the roses are free" The 2nd line of the common refrain cautions us to stay vigilant to the hidden costs lurking in all transactions. The florist is only a cultivator. Like parents, he may be skilled, knowledgeable and perhaps even wise, but he is still ignorant as to the true source of creation. The hidden cost to roses are the thorns which represent loss and thoughtlessness. Don’t fall for the surface explanations of fairy tales given to children. Remember to look deeper into the symbolic importance of myths without dismissing them all together. It may be a direct reference to christian salvation that there is much more to it than just asking for it as is sometimes suggested. The cost of this salvation based on other lines in the song can be seen as a lifetime that is sometimes filled with doubt and trials.

"Take a wrinkled raisin, and do with it what you will" Raisins represent regret. The 1st line of the 2nd verse refers to opportunities that died on the vine. What do you do with the feeling of regret and failure? Does it make you stronger, or feel perpetually defeated.

"Push it into third if you know you're gonna climb a hill" The 2nd line of the 2nd verse refers to the need to invest additional energy when facing a challenge. Don't be afraid to answer the hero's call.

"Eat plenty of lasagna 'til you know that you've had your fill" eating lasagna symbolizes having a strong appetite for life. The 3rd line of the 2nd verse is a challenge to the listener to get the most out of life and to not be afraid to indulge in pleasure, but only to the extent that it's truly satisfying.

"Resist all the urges that make you want to go out and kill" Killing symbolizes bringing about an end to something, as in a relationship or another commitment. The 4th line of the 2nd verse asks us to not take stability or an existing accord for granted. We are asked to resist the infantile desire for self destruction and chaos. The quote from the 17th century French writer Pascal sums this line up pretty well. “All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

"Throw that pumpkin at the tree" After so much emphasis was put on reverence and awareness in this song, with this line we are tempted to just throw it all away by destroying one carefully crafted observance with another.

"Unless you think that pumpkin holds your destiny" A schizophrenic reversal of the last lines sentiment. Unless ultimately we choose to embrace this new found spiritual maturity that we find ourselves in. This contradiction prepares you for the last line that will ultimately declare the futile nature of all effort.

"Cast it off into the sea, bake that pie and eat it with me" In other words, go ahead and kill. With this line we recognize the inescapable cyclical nature of life in the form of the Ouroboros. In the end death and loss are inevitable, so it's actually okay to participate in your own self destruction. A quote from Mahatma Gandhi is helpful here, “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” Although these last few lines seem to contradict the rest of the song, it is the ability to absorb this paradox with joy that is the true sign of spiritual maturity.

In summation: Again, this song is about the celebration of spiritual adulthood and the realization of the paradox that your decisions are both important and ultimately insignificant.

This song really sounds like it belongs on Prince's Around the World in A Day... As for meaning, I think I've figured this much out: The first verse is referring to holidays- tinsel on the tree is obviously Christmas, melon makes me think of 4th of July, carving the pumpkin is Halloween. Roses = Valentine's Day. Doesn't really tell you what the song is about, but hey at least it's a theme. The second verse stumps me.