Format CD5" Length 3:17 | Genre Nu metal Label Immortal/Epic | |
Released March 9, 2004
Promo only Writer(s) Reginald Arvizu, Jonathan Davis, James Shaffer, David Silveria, Brian Welch | ||
"Y'All Want a Single" is a song written and recorded by American nu metal band Korn for their sixth studio album, Take a Look in the Mirror. It was released as the album's third single in March 2004, chosen by fans through a poll on the band's official forum.
Contents
Music and structure
At a running time of three minutes and seventeen seconds, the song contains 89 uses of the word "fuck" with the repeated line "Y'all want a single, say fuck that - fuck that fuck that", although the radio edit replaces the word "fuck" with "suck".
Concept
"We were recording this album before we went to Ozzfest. We had 10 songs written and recorded, but we weren't feeling it would be the whole album. We wanted to add 3 or 4 more songs, so we came back to record them. Then our record company was like 'Hey, we'd really love to have a single' and our management, The Firm said 'We would really like to have a smash hit single, man, can you dig it?'. We were really appalled by that scene. They wanted 'Got the Life' or 'Freak on a Leash', and that shit wasn't flying with us at all! For the first time in our lives we were dissecting our music, and trying to analyze the structure of those songs, trying to figure out what made them huge hits. But Korn never works like that, and while we were all wondering, Jonathan came up with a line: 'Y'all want a single? Say: FUCK THAT' and we wrote Y'All Want a Single as a big 'fuck you' to them. Damn, Jonathan is really good at motivating us this way." – James Shaffer
Chart performance
"Y'All Want a Single" was released exclusively in the UK, but it failed to chart. However, it received unsolicited airplay in the US, peaking at number twenty-three on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart in February 2004.
Music video
The video, directed by Andrews Jenkins, presents a mob of fans destroying a record store with statements about the music industry displayed throughout. The video begins with all of the members of Korn entering the record store and destroying all of the music CDs and tapes and dismantling the racks and shelves that they are stored on. As the video moves along, facts criticizing the music industry and major label companies flash across the screen. One caption announces the video itself cost $150,000 to make, a budget smaller than many major label releases at the time. They state opinions based on the idea that the corporate nature of the music industry is questionable.