Vasoline
| "Vasoline" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Stone Temple Pilots | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Purple | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| B-side | "Meat Plow" "Andy Warhol" (live from MTV Unplugged) "Crackerman" (live from MTV Unplugged)" |
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| Released | June 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | CD single | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Grunge | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 2:56 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Atlantic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Music: Robert DeLeo, Dean DeLeo, Eric Kretz Lyrics: Scott Weiland |
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| Producer | Brendan O'Brien | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stone Temple Pilots singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Vasoline" is a song by American rock band Stone Temple Pilots from their second album, Purple. The song was the second single of the album (and also the second most successful, only behind "Interstate Love Song"), reaching #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for two weeks.[1] The song's odd sounding intro was created by Robert DeLeo, who ran his bass through a Wah-wah pedal to get the said effect. The song's lyrics were written by vocalist Scott Weiland. "Vasoline" also appears on the greatest hits compilation album Thank You.
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[edit] Composition and meaning
As with most other Stone Temple Pilots songs, the lyrics can be vague and hard to interpret, and many interpretations have been suggested by fans. During STP's performance of "Vasoline" on VH1 Storytellers, Weiland says that the song is about "feeling like an insect under a magnifying glass."
Perhaps one of the strangest things about this song is the use of syncopation in the riff that the guitar and bass play. By itself, the riff sounds something like swung eighth notes alternating between the musical notes F natural and G natural. However, in reality the riff is an alternating sixteenth and eighth note pattern as part of a 3-beat rhythmic figure played over a drum beat in 4/4 time, creating a rhythmic tension and release that is characteristic of such figures.
The over-the-counter balm after which the song appears to be named is actually spelled "Vaseline".
[edit] Track listing
- "Vasoline" - 2:56
- "Meat Plow" - 3:05
- "Andy Warhol" (David Bowie) [Live] - 3:05
- "Crackerman" [Live] - 4:03
[edit] Music videos
The music videos (directed by Kevin Kerslake) were in heavy rotation on MTV when the single was released in 1994.[2] There are at least three different versions of the video, labeled "X Version", "Y Version", and "Z Version". All versions are similar, using parts of the same footage with some minor differences and shown in different orders. The single album art is taken directly from the music video.
[edit] Differentiation
- X Version - begins with a shot of flypaper and then a laughing clown
- Y Version - begins with a butterfly-catching girl running up to the camera
- Z Version - begins with a man using a sharpening stone wheel
[edit] Notable Appearances
- "Vasoline" appeared in the video games Rock Band, SingStar Amped and is a learnable song on Rocksmith which uses a actual guitar.
- "Vasoline" is played at some NFL stadiums during kickoffs.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 607.
- ^ http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=26789
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