Sex Type Thing

Lyrics and composition

Scott Weiland wrote the lyrics after a girl he was dating was raped by three high school football players after a party. Weiland has stated the song is an anti-rape statement, not a song simply about sex, saying:

This song is really not about sex at all. It's about control, violence and abuse of power.

According to guitarist Dean DeLeo, the song "In the Light" by Led Zeppelin had a direct influence on the main riff in "Sex Type Thing". In an October 1997 interview in Seconds magazine, Glenn Danzig mentions the similarity of the main riff to the Danzig song "Snakes of Christ".

Live performances

Over time, "Sex Type Thing" became the band's traditional closer at live shows. During some performances from 1999 until STP's 2003 break-up, the band would extend the song's bridge into a jam session where Weiland would strip naked in front of the audience and then wrap his lower body in an American flag. The song continues to remain a staple at STP shows.

Music video

During the grunge explosion of the 1990s, the music video for "Sex Type Thing" is usually denoted as the single factor that drove Stone Temple Pilots into the scene. The video was in medium-heavy rotation on MTV during the time, and helped make STP a contender in the grunge war. The video itself hosts a very dark motif, with Scott Weiland (who bleached his hair blond) being tortured in a rather BDSM fashion, with the band members playing their various instruments in the background. Various shots of women are shown being hung by chains. This video is rather distinctive because it is the first to showcase Scott Weiland's trademark "dance". The set was used again for Sunny Day Real Estate's "In Circles" music video in 1994.

Controversy

Upon the success of "Sex Type Thing", controversies regarding the song's lyrics emerged while STP was on tour opening for Megadeth. Weiland found himself in the position of defending "Sex Type Thing" to individuals who took the first-person approach he used in the song ("I am a man, a man/I'll give ya something that ya won't forget/I said ya shouldn't have worn that dress") literally. In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone, Weiland expressed his frustration with the song's reception by saying "It was, 'All right, the "Cop Killer" controversy's dead, let's try to find something else'...I never thought that people would ever seriously think that I was an advocate of date rape."

Track listing

CD Single #1

1. "Sex Type Thing" - 3:38
2. "Piece of Pie" - 5:28
3. "Wicked Garden" [Live] - 4:26
4. "Sin" [Live] - 7:52

CD Single #2

1. "Sex Type Thing" - 3:38
2. "Piece of Pie" - 5:28
3. "Dead and Bloated" [Live] - 4:53
4. "Sex Type Thing" [Live] - 4:01

Note: Live versions recorded at the Reading Festival 1993.

Appearances and covers