The Mollusk is the sixth full-length album by the band Ween, released by Elektra Records on June 24, 1997. It is a multigenre concept album with a dark nautical theme, with most songs incorporating psychedelic elements while also featuring a heavy progressive rock influence. According to Dean Ween, "I will say that the only record that I ever felt really confident about was The Mollusk. That's my favorite record we've ever done."
Electric Six covered the song "Buckingham Green" on their cover-album Mimicry and Memories (2015).
Starting with the release of their 1994 album Chocolate and Cheese, Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo—known by their stage names Gene and Dean Ween, respectively—began to significantly enhance their approach to studio recording. While their earlier albums were almost entirely recorded by Freeman and Melchiondo themselves at their home using a 4-track recorder, Chocolate and Cheese marked the first time the band produced an album in a professional recording studio. It also notably began their transition from a duo to a more traditional band with the addition of drummer Claude Coleman, allowing Freeman and Melchiondo to experiment with a wider range of musical styles than they could with the drum machine used on previous releases.
Hey little boy, whatcha got there?
Kind sir it's a mollusk I've found
Did you find it in the sandy ground?
Does it emulate the ocean's sound?
Yes I found it on the ground
Emulating the ocean's sound
Bring forth the mollusk, cast unto me
Let's be forever and forever be free
Hey little boy come walk with me
And bring your new found mollusk along
Does it speaketh of the trinity
Can it gaze at the sun with its wandering eye
Yes it speaks of the trinity
Casting light at the sun with its wandering eye
Bring forth the mollusk, cast unto me
Let's be forever and forever be free
You see there are three things that spur the mollusk
From the sand the waking of all creatures
That live on the land
And with just one faint glance
Back into the sea the mollusk lingers