The Saddest Metal Song of All Time? — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Because a musician has one song that
2. 0:02stands out above the rest, doesn't
3. 0:04necessarily mean it's a reflection of
4. 0:06the rest of their work. Hell, sometimes
5. 0:08a song's popularity can even turn the
6. 0:10musician against it. Radiohead shot into
7. 0:13stardom with the track Creep, but felt
8. 0:15the song stunted their growth as artists
9. 0:17and have only played it a handful of
10. 0:18times in the last 25 years. It weighed
11. 0:21on them so badly that after suffering
12. 0:23through another one of the thousand live
13. 0:24requests, frontman Thom Yorke yelled
14. 0:27back at a fan, "Fuck off, we're tired of
15. 0:29it."
16. 0:32Other times though, a unique song in an
17. 0:34artist's catalog can be pleasantly
18. 0:36surprising in how well it's received. By
19. 0:392008, Slipknot was known for its
20. 0:42shocking, scary look, its dark, heavy
21. 0:44sound, and basically your mother's worst
22. 0:46nightmare manifested into a nine-piece
23. 0:48metal band. They were set to release
24. 0:50another single, one surely to be full of
25. 0:52distorted guitars, blazing drums,
26. 0:54screaming vocals, and beer keg hits.
27. 0:57Instead, came a deeply introspective
28. 0:59track, a slow and brooding song
29. 1:01featuring acoustic guitar, smooth
30. 1:04vocals, and hauntingly beautiful lyrics.
31. 1:07It wasn't only the change of sound that
32. 1:09was unexpected, but for the band, it was
33. 1:11the widespread positive response to it.
34. 1:15It would end up becoming one of
35. 1:16Slipknot's most popular songs, Corey
36. 1:18Taylor's heartbreak ballad, Snuff.
37. 1:25It was late 2007 and members of Slipknot
38. 1:28had started to prepare for their next
39. 1:30album. As usual, drummer Joey Jordison
40. 1:32and bassist Paul Gray were leading the
41. 1:34songwriting charge when it came to the
42. 1:36music, but as frontman Corey Taylor came
43. 1:38over to hear what they had come up with,
44. 1:40a new song emerged. Corey was in the
45. 1:43middle of a divorce at the time and was
46. 1:44really struggling with heartbreak.
47. 1:47Normally, he wouldn't write lyrics until
48. 1:48the rest of the guys had come up with
49. 1:50the music, but he felt compelled to
50. 1:52express himself as he was engulfed in
51. 1:54this new depression. It was one of those
52. 1:56things where it's like you knew you
53. 1:57weren't supposed to be together, but
54. 1:59there was just something there that felt
55. 2:03so good. And when it was ripped away
56. 2:05from you, it just felt like there was a
57. 2:06hole in your chest, man. And knowing
58. 2:10that and having to discard those
59. 2:12feelings was tough. What Joey and Paul
60. 2:15heard that day was a slower song written
61. 2:17on acoustic guitar. On the outset, it
62. 2:20didn't sound like a Slipknot song. Yet,
63. 2:22Joey and Paul saw the conviction in
64. 2:24Corey's performance and in the lyrics.
65. 2:26What they heard that day would
66. 2:27eventually become the fifth single from
67. 2:29Slipknot's 2008 All Hope Is Gone. It
68. 2:32would be Snuff. Snuff was Corey's unique
69. 2:35way of expressing this pain and anger he
70. 2:36felt inside of him. As opposed to most
71. 2:39of Slipknot's previous work, you hear in
72. 2:41this a more morose and introspective
73. 2:43Corey instead of just plain angry. He's
74. 2:46blaming himself for the failed marriage
75. 2:48and asking her to leave him quickly to
76. 2:50rip off the band-aid of the breakup. So,
77. 2:53if you love me, let me go.
78. 2:56And run away before I know.
79. 3:00My heart is just too dark to care.
80. 3:04I can't destroy what isn't there.
81. 3:07As the song progresses, Corey gets
82. 3:09angrier. He feels betrayed because she
83. 3:11didn't fight to save the relationship.
84. 3:14Yet, he still recognizes he still loves
85. 3:16her. My own Spanish long ago I told them
86. 3:19to let
87. 3:20you
88. 3:21go.
89. 3:22Upon first release, Snuff divided a
90. 3:24chunk of Slipknot's loyal fan base. It
91. 3:26being slower and mellow made it more
92. 3:28accessible for newer listeners, which
93. 3:30was a put-off for some of their more
94. 3:31dedicated followers. The most common
95. 3:33criticism was that it sounded like an
96. 3:35outtake from Corey's other band, Stone
97. 3:37Sour. Writing that down and sharing that
98. 3:40with people was probably one of the
99. 3:41heaviest songs I've ever written. With
100. 3:43Slipknot,
101. 3:45everything we're trying to do is not
102. 3:47only heavy, but emotional.
103. 3:50It comes from that prism of heartbreak,
104. 3:52depression, but then self-awareness to
105. 3:55realize that that this pain can become
106. 3:58something beautiful. And that's really
107. 4:00at the heart of everything that Slipknot
108. 4:01is. To end the song, Corey reflects the
109. 4:04ultimate message in the track. Corey
110. 4:06admitting his soul is too dark to let
111. 4:08love in and reluctantly telling her to
112. 4:11leave.
113. 4:16The heartbreak leaves him so emotionally
114. 4:18scarred, he begs his wife to stay away.
115. 4:20He knows he wouldn't be able to handle
116. 4:22another breakup if they were to mend the
117. 4:23relationship.
118. 4:25If fans weren't sure about this new
119. 4:26heartfelt side to Slipknot, the band
120. 4:29sure didn't pull any artistic punches
121. 4:31with the music video. Co-directed by the
122. 4:33band's percussionist Shawn Clown Crahan,
123. 4:36the video is more of a short film. It
124. 4:38features Corey stalking a woman in an
125. 4:40apartment. You don't see her face until
126. 4:42the end where it's revealed the woman is
127. 4:43just a cross-dressed Corey. It's as if
128. 4:46the woman is a figment of Corey's
129. 4:47imagination as he recalls the memories
130. 4:50in the apartment together. The video
131. 4:52kind of culminates in what
132. 4:54the behavior profiling calls a stressor.
133. 4:58The man is so lost without that other
134. 5:01person that he becomes that other
135. 5:04person. The personality psychologically
136. 5:07twists itself to save itself. Snuff
137. 5:11ultimately charted at number two on the
138. 5:12Billboard Rock Tracks chart, their
139. 5:14highest charted single to date. Although
140. 5:17it divided some fans at the time, over
141. 5:18the years it has become a fan favorite,
142. 5:21but not necessarily for the meaning
143. 5:22Corey initially intended. Snuff was
144. 5:25Slipknot's last single before the death
145. 5:27of bassist Paul Gray. Corey would go on
146. 5:30to play the song at a few select shows
147. 5:32dedicating the song in Paul's memory. I
148. 5:34was just lucky that
149. 5:36the band took it seriously and it was
150. 5:38really Paul, man, to his credit that led
151. 5:41the charge on that song. Like he was the
152. 5:43one who really saw the potential of it
153. 5:45and to this day it reminds me of him
154. 5:47now.
155. 5:48Snuff is a great example of how when you
156. 5:50take artistic risks, it can pay off and
157. 5:53broaden you to a new audience. For the
158. 5:55average music fan, Snuff might be the
159. 5:57first song they think of when Slipknot
160. 6:00is mentioned. Then I get under the skin
161. 6:02of the die-hard maggots as Slipknot fans
162. 6:04affectionately call themselves, but why
163. 6:07is it so bad for the band to take an
164. 6:09artistic risk? Not only was it a risk
165. 6:11for Slipknot to release a ballad as a
166. 6:13single, but an artsy experimental video
167. 6:16is almost unheard of in the metal world.
168. 6:19In hindsight, maybe a part of Snuff's
169. 6:21longevity is if you look at it through
170. 6:22the lens of Paul Gray's death. The
171. 6:25lyrics could be interpreted as Corey
172. 6:27expressing his anger over Paul's
173. 6:29self-destructive behavior and leaving
174. 6:31Corey with all this grief. But over the
175. 6:33years, Corey has become grateful that
176. 6:36Snuff now reminds him of the great
177. 6:38relationship he and Paul had. It no
178. 6:40longer reminds me of the hell that I'd
179. 6:43gone through. It reminds me of Paul. And
180. 6:45that to me is is one of my my favorite
181. 6:49gifts that that Paul ever gave me as a
182. 6:51as a musician. So, that one
183. 6:54really is is pretty special.