Freak on a Leash

"Freak on a Leash" Song "Freak on a Leash" is a song written and recorded by American nu-metal band Korn, the song is the second single from their third studio album, Follow the Leader. It was released as the album's second single in January 1999. The song is also featured in the game Guitar Hero World Tour. Concept "That's my song against the music industry. Like me feeling like I'm a fuckin' pimp, a prostitute. Like I'm paraded around. I'm this freak paraded around but I got corporate America fuckin' making all the money while it's taking a part of me. It's like they stole something from me, they stole my innocence and I'm not calm anymore. I worry constantly." – Jonathan Davis Chart performance The song is the second and final charting single from Follow the Leader. It reached number 6 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart and number 10 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, although it failed to chart on the Hot 100, the music industry's standard singles chart for popular music. However, it peaked on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles at number 6, a position equivalent to number 106 below the Hot 100. It was also immensely popular in Australia where the single was certified Gold for shipments in excess of 35,000 units. The music video followed the previous success of "Got the Life", debuting at number 8 on MTV's Total Request Live program on February 9, 1999, and peaking at number 1 on its thirteenth day, February 25. The video would spend ten non-consecutive days at the top position until its "retirement", on May 11. Chart (1999) Peak position U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 6 U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs 6 U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs 10 UK Singles Chart 24 Australian Singles Chart 22 German Singles Chart 58 Dutch Singles Chart 23 New Zealand Singles Chart 43 Live performance The song is usually played during the encore set of the band's live show. Music video A screenshot from the "Freak on a Leash" music video. The music video was created mostly in animation by Todd McFarlane (Follow the Leader's artwork is taken from these scenes), mixed with live shots of the band performing, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. CGI shots were created by VFX shop Hydraulx. The band members also appear as children in the video during a quick shot. The video features a group of children tresspassing to a cliff to play hopscotch. A security guard notices this and accidentally trips on his way to the cliff and fires his gun. Upon inspection, the bullet exits through the wall (it turns out the animated part of the video is in a poster) and goes flying around unstoppably, ignoring friction and other forces to stop it — destroying everything it tears through (yet does not hit or kill anyone), entering a Korn poster, flies around the band and goes back the way it came until it reenters the original poster. It ends with a little girl catching and returning the bullet to the guard, who is shocked. The video for "Falling Away from Me", from the band's follow-up album Issues, picks up where "Freak on a Leash" leaves off. Appearances in media The song was used for Puma commercials, following Korn's endorsement deal in 1998. In The Simpsons' episode, "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot", the intro plays as Santa's Little Helper looks for Homer in a corn maze. The song is featured in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. Accolades Over the years, the song has gained extensive recognition and won numerous awards for its music video. Korn received a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video in 2000, and was honored in the categories Best Editing and Best Rock Video at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The song itself was chosen second best single of all time by the readers of Kerrang! magazine in 2004. Two years later, the music video was voted by UK users into the number 10 spot for the best one-hundred videos of all time on Kerrang!'s official website. The video appeared on VH1's List of 40 Greatest Metal Songs at number 23. The song made VH1's 100 Greatests Songs of the 90's at number 69, and VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs at number 48. Cover versions Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine turned the song into a swing version on their 2006 album The Sunny Side of the Moon: The Best of Richard Cheese. Chloe Lattanzi performed the song on Week 4 of the MTV reality show Rock the Cradle. Track listing French release CD5" 667213 2 "Freak on a Leash" (album version) – 4:16 "Freak on a Leash" (Dante Ross remix) – 4:46 "Freak on a Leash" (Freakin' Bitch remix) – 4:00 "Freak on a Leash" (Josh A's Beast on a Leash remix) – 4:17 "Freak on a Leash" (Lethal Freak mix) – 3:39 "Freak on a Leash" (One Shot remix) – 5:03 MTV Unplugged rendition "Freak on a Leash" Song An acoustic rendition of the song was recorded with Jonathan Davis singing a duet with Amy Lee of Evanescence, at MTV studios in Times Square, New York City for Korn's acoustic set on December 9, 2006. The single initially was set to appear on radio stations on January 12, 2007, but its release was postponed to February 5. It is the second Korn single to be serviced to CHR radio stations, although it did not make a notable impact. The music video for the single was premiered on January 25, 2007 on three music channels: MTV, MTV2, and MTVU (the latter also put the video on its website for streaming). It received heavy airplay on each of the stations. Chart performance Chart (2007) Peak position U.S. Billboard Hot 100 89 U.S. Billboard Pop 100 73 U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs 29 U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs 22 Notes External links Music video @ Sony BMG Channel on YouTube