Released June 1, 1994 Recorded 1994 Length 2:56 | Format CD single Genre Grunge | |
B-side "Meat Plow"
"Andy Warhol" (live from MTV Unplugged)
"Crackerman" (live from MTV Unplugged)" | ||
"Vasoline" is a song by American rock band Stone Temple Pilots from their second album, Purple. The song was the second single of the album (and also the second most successful, only behind "Interstate Love Song"), reaching #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for two weeks. The song's odd-sounding intro was created by Robert DeLeo, who ran his bass through a wah-wah pedal to get the said effect. The song's lyrics were written by vocalist Scott Weiland. "Vasoline" also appears on the greatest hits compilation album Thank You. A live version also appears on The Family Values 2001 Tour compilation.
Contents
Composition and meaning
During STP's performance of "Vasoline" on VH1 Storytellers, Weiland says that the song is about "feeling like an insect under a magnifying glass."
In his autobiography Not Dead and Not For Sale, he adds that it "is about being stuck in the same situation over and over again. It's about me becoming a junkie. It's about lying to Jannina [Castaneda, first wife] and lying to the band about my heroin addiction."
Perhaps one of the strangest things about this song is the use of syncopation in the riff that the guitar and bass play. By itself, the riff sounds something like swung eighth notes alternating between the musical notes F natural and G natural. The riff, however, is an alternating sixteenth and eighth note pattern as part of a 3-beat rhythmic figure played over a drum beat in 4/4 time, creating a rhythmic tension and release that is characteristic of such figures.
The over-the-counter balm after which the song appears to be named is spelled Vaseline. Alternatively, it is believed that the name is a portmanteau of "Vaseline" and "Gasoline", which may be an allusion to a chemical mixture that is popularly known to be the composition of a flammable compound similar to, if not that of, Napalm.
Track listing
- "Vasoline" - 2:56
- "Meatplow" - 3:39
- "Andy Warhol" (David Bowie) [Live] - 3:09
- "Crackerman" [Live] - 4:03
Music videos
The music videos (directed by Kevin Kerslake) were in heavy rotation on MTV when the single was released in 1994. There are at least three different versions of the video, labeled "X Version", "Y Version", and "Z Version". All versions are similar, using parts of the same footage with some minor differences and shown in different orders. The single album art is taken directly from the music video.