"Mutilated Lips" is a song by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
Ween. It was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album, ''
The Mollusk
''The Mollusk'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Ween, released by Elektra Records on June 24, 1997. It is a multi-genre concept album with a dark nautical theme, with several songs incorporating elements from psychedelia and/or ...
'' (1997), on June 24, 1997.
Composition
The song lyrics refer to being under the influence of psychedelic drugs. It explains that such drugs distort an unattractive girl into appearing to have mutilated lips.
The song's inclusion of acoustic guitar,
bongos
Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...
,
synths
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis an ...
, and keyboards were said to give the song a "psych-folk trippiness".
The lyrics also make reference to the
Ethiopian
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...
emperor
Haile Selassie I
Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...
. Given the extremity of this lyrical non-sequitur, this reference may be an evolved distortion of the
Salassia mollusk.
In other media
The lyrics "Mutilated lips give a kiss on the wrist of the worm like tips of tentacles expanding" was directly referenced in
the novel ''The Procession of Mollusks'' (2009) by Eric E. Olson.
The girl from "Mutilated Lips" was also a character in the novel.
Track listing
#"Mutilated Lips" – 3:49
#"
Ocean Man" – 2:07
References
{{authority control
1997 singles
1997 songs
Ween songs
Elektra Records singles
Songs written by Gene Ween
Songs written by Dean Ween
Songs about Haile Selassie
Songs about drugs