A song a day: Queens of the Stone Age – A Song for the Deaf

Following on from Kyuss, I might as well mention a Queens song. I really loved Matt's appraisal of the transition from Kyuss to Queens, "Josh is a big, big guy who's trying to be a nobler savage than Kyuss would allow." And in some ways he's right, there is a brutality and ugliness to some of Queens music but it is often elegant and unexpected rather than the bludgeoning Kyuss could dish out. For me, Songs for the Deaf was their high point, not only for that magical musical cocktail of Homme, Oliveri, Grohl and Lanegan but lyrically, the songs are amazing. I have always loved the lyrics to this song (co-written by Homme and Lanegan) because the sense of menace and panic is beautifully rendered:


Beautiful senses are gone
Canary in a gilded cage
Singing… (Undefined screams)
Sweet soft and low
I will poison you all
Come closer racing to your tongue


The dark rolling bass line combined with thundering guitars makes it a musical highpoint in an album of aces. This is a dark, dark song but it is perfect and whenever I stray to the seductions of other bands this always reminds me why Queens is one of my favourite bands. As the astute writer in the youtube comments wrote: This song kicked my soul in the balls...

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