B-side "Sin" Format CD
cassette
7" Genre Grunge | Released October 13, 1992 Recorded 1992 | |
Length 5:13 (album version)
4:19 (radio edit) | ||
"Plush" is a song by American rock band Stone Temple Pilots. It is one of the band's biggest hits, and was released as the second single from the 1992 band's debut studio album, Core.
Contents
Composition and inspiration
The song's chord structure was inspired by Robert DeLeo's love of ragtime music, and its lyrics were loosely based on a newspaper article Scott Weiland had read about a girl who had been found dead in an area outside of San Diego. Weiland had also said that the song's lyrics are a metaphor for a failed relationship.
Reception
The song was released in 1992 as Core's second single and became a major rock radio hit in the U.S., peaking at #1 on the Album Rock Tracks and #9 on the Modern Rock Tracks. The song was also one of the first alternative rock songs to reach the #1 spot on the Album Rock Tracks chart during height of the alternative rock/grunge scene. "Plush" won in the category of "Best Hard Rock Performance" at the 1994 Grammy Awards. The music video also earned the band an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1994. "Plush" remains one of the biggest rock hits of the 1990s, and is still commonly heard on radio stations today. The song also was voted #12 on the Australian annual music poll Triple J Hottest 100 in 1993. In 2004, this song was featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack on Radio X. The song also appeared as a playable song in the music video games Rock Band 3 and Power Gig: Rise of the SixString in addition to the VH1 series Hindsight.
Music video
The award-winning music video, directed by Josh Taft, was released in 1993 and had heavy rotation on MTV. It combines a visual interpretation of the song's lyrics with footage of a red-haired Weiland singing with the band as a lounge act in an empty bar. There are two different versions of this video, with minor but very noticeable differences. For example, in the version that appears on the Thank You Bonus DVD, the last shot of the video is a woman looking at a mirror image of herself and viewing her whole body while the mirror image drifts away. In another version, she's looking at a mirror image of her face, with water (possibly rain) dripping down the reflection of the mirror.
Acoustic version
Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean DeLeo performed an impromptu acoustic version of "Plush" on the MTV show Headbangers Ball in 1992. The recording was originally only available on a CD single from the United Kingdom for their single, "Creep", and on the German promotional radio release "Plush (unplushed)", but it was not officially released anywhere else until it appeared on the band's 2003 "greatest hits" compilation, Thank You, alongside the original studio recording. Like its original version, it also became a big hit to rock and alternative radio stations in 2003 (despite not charting on any U.S. or international charts) although it had moderate airplay when the original version had heavy airplay on radio at the time. A rare first take of the same acoustic version on MTV's Headbangers Ball was also available, but it was only found as a B-side to the rare "Crackerman" single. This version was notable for being a longer version of the one which appeared on "Thank You". It has the same length and processing as the original electric version, and also uses the last part of the original electric version. Although most radio stations play the original acoustic version, few radio stations also managed to play the rare acoustic version.
Track listing
- "Plush" [Edit] – 4:19
- "Sin" – 6:05
- "Sex Type Thing (Swing Type Version)" – 4:20
- "Sex Type Thing (Live on the Word)" – 3:32