Released March 20, 1989 Label Stardog/Mercury | Length 8:20 | |
Recorded January 1989 at London Bridge Studios, Seattle, Washington Writer(s) Jeff Ament, Bruce Fairweather, Greg Gilmore, Stone Gossard, Andrew Wood Producer(s) Mark Dearnley, Mother Love Bone | ||
"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" is a song by the Seattle, Washington-based rock band Mother Love Bone. The song is the fourth track on the band's debut EP, Shine (1989). "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" is actually two songs sequenced together. "Crown of Thorns" is found by itself on the band's sole studio album, Apple (1990). "Chloe Dancer" is not available as a stand-alone track.
Contents
"Chloe Dancer" apparently is about Andy Wood's muse/fiancee, Xana La Fuente planning to be a stripper to support them but then she left the club after one hour. "Crown of Thorns" was written about their nasty breakup over his on and-off-again dabbling in heroin and alcohol. “This song is about a relationship ruined by drugs,” she explains. “He wrote it about our near breakup, and how I tried to control him and the drugs-hence his allusion to being tied to the ceiling."
Reception
"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" is critically acclaimed, and considered one of Mother Love Bone's best songs. Jason Josephes of Pitchfork Media described it as "one astoundingly great song." Steven Rosen of The Denver Post referred to the song as "trancelike epic." Spencer Patterson of the Las Vegas Sun comments that the song is "fantastically melancholy." Essi Berelian of the Rough Music Guide writes that it is "beautifully swirling." The Salt Lake Tribune found the song "eerie" and praised Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood's "powerful and emotive voice." The song was included by Rolling Stone in their list of "The Fifty Best Songs Over Seven Minutes Long".
The song was featured in director Cameron Crowe's 1989 film, Say Anything..., but it was not included on the film's soundtrack. The song is featured on the soundtrack for Crowe's 1992 film, Singles. It was also featured in the One Tree Hill episode "Pictures of You" in 2007 and can be found on The Road Mix: Music from the Television Series One Tree Hill, Volume 3.
Cover versions
Pearl Jam, which includes former Mother Love Bone members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, has performed the song "Crown of Thorns" in concert many times, starting with the 10/22/00 show in Las Vegas, which was the tenth anniversary of Pearl Jam's first show. Video of this performance appears on the Pearl Jam documentary Pearl Jam Twenty and this version of the song appears on its soundtrack. The song is also included on the 2003 concert DVD Live at the Garden, in which Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder, in tribute to the late Wood, said, "I think Jeff and Stone will back me up on this, Andy would have loved it here." Two performances of the song by Pearl Jam from 2005 and 2006 were issued on the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set. The two performances took place on September 1, 2005 and July 23, 2006. The band still play the song in live performances as of 2016.
In April 2011, Kevin Wood (Andrew Wood's brother) teamed up with hard rock band Lace Weeper to record Mother Love Bone's "Crown of Thorns" as a tribute to Andy's 21 years passing. The single was released on Kevin's Wammybox Records.
Shawn Smith has also on multiple occasions covered the song, with and without his band Sweet Water. They were also accompanied by Seattle Symphony Orchestra on an occasion to cover the song.
On July 7, 2015 at a NYC show Slipknot and Stone Sour front man Corey Taylor performed a cover of Chloe Dancer.
Accolades
* denotes an unordered list