Big Dumb Sex
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| “Big Dumb Sex” | |||||
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| Song by Soundgarden | |||||
| Album | Louder than Love | ||||
| Released | September 5, 1989 | ||||
| Recorded | December 1988–January 1989 at London Bridge Studios, Seattle, Washington | ||||
| Genre | Grunge | ||||
| Length | 4:11 | ||||
| Label | A&M | ||||
| Writer | Chris Cornell | ||||
| Producer | Terry Date, Soundgarden | ||||
| Louder than Love track listing | |||||
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"Big Dumb Sex" is a song and satire by the Seattle grunge band Soundgarden. It appears as the eleventh track on the band's second full-length album Louder than Love, released in 1989. A dub version of the song appears on the "Loud Love" single and the Loudest Love EP.
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[edit] Origin and recording
The song was written by frontman Chris Cornell. Guitarist Kim Thayil on the song:
On a song like 'Big Dumb Sex'...we're playing harmonies with each other. I actually like soloing a lot better without a guitar underneath me. For Aerosmith or regular boogie rock, the chord definitely frames the solo. I don't like that. I prefer to have just the bassline below, because then you don't have the chord hemming you in. In some ways a second guitar will open things up; in other ways it holds things back. But 'Big Dumb Sex' with one guitar wouldn't sound right. Then there are songs we do with two guitars that would sound fine with one; some have one that might be augmented with two for more color.[1]
[edit] Lyrical meaning
The song is memorable for its explicit lyrics concerning sexual intercourse. The chorus of the song contains the line: "Hey I know what to do, I'm gonna fuck fuck fuck fuck you", which is repeated throughout the song (the word "fuck" is said 36 times during the song). The band explained that the song's purpose is to mock glam metal bands, who often metaphorically addressed sexual intercourse in their lyrics.
Kim Thayil on the song:
Hiro, our bass player at the time, hated that song. He thought it was obnoxious butt rock, a total rock'n'roll cliché. We tried to explain to him that the song was making fun of butt rock. We were fed up with bands beating about the bush, just using euphemisms and metaphors for the sex act. We thought we'll ditch all the euphemisms and say what all the disco dance bands had been trying to say for a decade. We were simply trying to kick all the lame-ass rock'n'roll and dance music of the '80s and late '70s in the butt. It's a parody of the whole genre of stupid rock.[2]
[edit] Reception
The song was the reason the album gained a Parental Advisory sticker upon release.[3]
J.D. Considine of Rolling Stone said that "even when [Cornell's] lyrics are as dumb as rocks – as with "Big Dumb Sex"...Cornell delivers them with such full-throated intensity that they actually sound impressive."[4]
[edit] Live performances
A performance of the song is included on the Louder than Live home video release.
[edit] Cover versions
The song was covered by Guns N' Roses on the band's 1993 album "The Spaghetti Incident?", as a medley with T.Rex's "Buick Mackane".
[edit] References
- ^ Woodard, Jodef. "Soundgarden's Kim Thayil & Chris Cornell". Musician. March 1992.
- ^ Gilbert, Jeff. "Primecuts: Kim Thayil". Guitar School. May 1994.
- ^ Kot, Greg. "Seattle's Big Noise Soundgarden Leads a Rock Invasion from the Northwest". Chicago Tribune. October 18, 1989.
- ^ Consideine, J.D. "Soundgarden: Louder than Love". Rolling Stone. June 17, 1997.
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