HERE WE GO AGAIN, MOTHERFUCKER . . .
Corey gives us his track-by-track breakdown of The End, So Far
ADDERALL
“Adderall is my version of melancholy Sunday, basically, and it’s setting the tone for the rest of the album. Lyrically, it’s looking inside to be able to pull things out.”
THE DYING SONG (TIME TO SING)
“That song is really about the death of empathy and humanity, because of how technology has pulled us out of social circles and social niceties, social anything.
It’s the musical equivalent of bashing your head against a fucking wall.”
THE CHAPELTOWN RAG
“That’s about how social media has turned other media into something that is more fantastical than it is any sort of honest reporting. Anyone with a website now considers themselves a reporter – you don’t even know where the real news is. I’d say you can wade through all the bullshit and get to the real news, but where’s the real news? And when that’s the case, there’s a real danger. It’s the salacious side of people thinking they’re reporting, but it’s really just their filter, it’s just them. When facts are replaced by feelings, how are we ever supposed to learn anything?”
YEN
“‘Yen’ is actually slang for yearning. It’s old school, but I liked the application, because the song is about that yearning you have for the person you’re actually with, which is a very distinct and different yearning from the yearning for the people that you don’t have. To me, that’s why this song is worth singing about; it’s about my wife, and she brings things out in me that I never knew existed.”
HIVEMIND
“A song that gathers everyone together. That feeling that you get at a concert, when you’re a part of the group, but you’re also yourself, especially for people like me. The only time I feel connected to a group of other people is when I’m at a show. Any other time, I don’t like being part of a group; I’ve never joined a club or whatever. And even when I’m in an audience, I don’t really have a connection, but some bands bring it out in me, like when I see Iron Maiden or the Misfits. That brings it out, because you’re just so caught up in the motion of it. So, that’s what Hivemind is about – people coming together for one beautiful moment, but then they scatter like fucking ’roaches once the house lights come on!”
WARRANTY
“This is a tongue-in-cheek look at what people expect from Slipknot. It’s basically me turning very specific retail terms into metaphors about what people think they own when it comes to Slipknot, and the fact that after all these years our warranty hasn’t run out, but they’ve had to replace us with a new one. That’s my inner metal dad coming out!”
MEDICINE FOR THE DEAD
“Medicine For The Dead is one of those songs about anyone who deals with depression, physical depression and clinical depression, who knows the feeling that you get when you start to feel the numbness come on, and you know there’s nothing you can do about it, you just have to ride it out. Even if you take meds for it, there’s nothing you can do. The fact that the minutes and the hours feel so long, and you’re waiting for that wave to go away. For me, it takes at least three days of dealing with that. I don’t take meds for it, I just try to deal with it and surround myself with people who will coax me out of it. So, Medicine For The Dead is almost from the therapist’s standpoint, where you’re trying to find the right combination of chemicals for the numb, for the living comatose.”
ACIDIC
“Acidic is my tip of the hat to one of my biggest influences, which is Acid Bath. This is the ‘blues’ song that Jay was talking about in certain interviews, but to me it has more of that Southern sludge vibe. The demo really made me feel like I was listening to something off [1994’s] When The Kite String Pops, which is an amazing, underrated album. It just has this drudge, this slow march towards doom, and I really wanted to play with the metaphors in the lyrics about that, realising that we’re all heading towards the same fate.
Do we embrace it or do we fight against it? It’s got one of my favourite lines, which is, ‘I’m livin’ in a dead man’s shoes / stolen coat, not much hope for these Cardiac Blues.’ It’s my homage to the boys in Acid Bath.”
HEIRLOOM
“This is from the standpoint of a survivor of domestic abuse, whether it’s someone younger or in a relationship. It’s about getting through those situations, and wondering if any of that has stuck to them. What are they going to pass on in their life?”
H377
“H377 is about embracing the fact that everybody hates you! It’s the pure pleasure of group misanthropy. I realised a long time ago that not everybody is going to like me, largely because of my opinions and the fact that I don’t keep my big mouth shut, and because of the fact that there’s not one person on the planet who is loved by everyone. Even Tom Hanks, the beloved Tom Hanks, there was a movement saying that he was eating babies! Tom Hanks? Are you out of your fucking mind? That was the first sign that no one will ever be completely beloved. So, H377 is really me setting the tone for the fact that I love it: I love the fact that I’m the hero and the villain in my story, and I couldn’t give a fuck less! The more people say shit about me, the more I just wanna be myself. As my wife said, anyone who’s that mad about your existence is not an enemy, they’re a fan! And I’m completely fine about that. Pull up a seat, because it’s gonna get better, and you’re not gonna like it!”
DE SADE
“That’s another song about giving in to the darker sensations that we’re all born with, and revelling in them. It’s a beautiful melody line, and it fits really well. It’s just a great, dark love song that I think people will really dig, and it’s got great guitar work by both Mick and Jim.”
FINALE
“This is really about the fact that we’re turning around and looking at our career so far, our lives and decisions so far. Some of you may not have agreed with it, and some of you may have celebrated with us. But to us, it’s just a life, just a career, it’s just what we were born to do. And we love it. Whether times are thin or flush, we love it.”