So we’re going to revisit the new/mysterious/unknown song again, along with estimated lyrics.
Here is the latest and best video version (via theholyfilament/SWU Festival)
Lyrics
When lonesome came over me
A future shadow
Her ghost stood there, sang to me
Farewell, so long
I’ll awake you
From this living sleep
We’ll walk the shore
Where you were born
And bedded me
Although I cheat for the things
March forward, my son
A battle beyond frozen hills
Only for doubters
We will rise from the killing floor
Like a matador
The stained glass
A bovine ass
Can see right through
Every truth-soaked lie
Letters will trace every step
Out of this world
With every date, every date
We will be where you will be no more
No more
The stained glass
Or the hangman’s ass
Would serve you well
Now we’re comin’ back
Out of the words
Of these ghosts
We’ll jump the gates
And left to rise, we will rise
We will rise from the killing floor
Like a matador
And the dead live
May the dead live
And the dead live
What more can we give?
May the dead live
May the dead live
And the dead live
The dead live…
(Thanks to maythedeadlive /orinar in Comments for deciphering most of these. I’ve added my own interpretation and lyrics in italics are the ones which I’m less sure of)
Origins
There are three schools of thought on this.
- It is a brand new song. The evidence here is that no one, even among the diehard audio collector element of FNM’s fanbase, has heard it before. In addition, the band has previously mentioned – not least in their fan interview with FNM French Community (on facebook), stubbadub.com and ourselves last year – that they have little in the way of unreleased or unfinished tracks.
- It is an unreleased b-side from the King for a Day…era. The evidence here is the quote taken from Mike Patton’s interview with movieweb earlier this month: “We are doing a tune we’ve never done from that era. I guess that would be a B Side. I don’t know if we released that at all…I don’t know.”
The counterargument to this is that the B-side in question is Absolute Zero, which the band played in Chile. And if it is from the KFAD era, why did then guitarist Trey Spruance not play on the track in Chile when he was on hand to play the full KFAD album. Kik Axe music editor James Zahn was among those to pick up on this. - It is a song from a local band that the band and liked and translated the lyrics for and performed. Could be true but then why has no one noticed the familiar music and the only evidence so far are a few speculative blog comments and tweets.
[…] One of the highlights of Faith No More’s reunion was a new song they played several times, but there was never any news about it. Did you learn anything while […]
[…] One of the highlights of Faith No More’s reunion was a new song they played several times, but there was never any news about it. Did you learn anything while […]
Here’s a little bass cover of this nice song (my interpretation, could not be totally right). Sorry some mistakes!
http://youtu.be/TKFNsPHFhNI
Shut up and fix the lyrics!
A bovine ass= A bovine Eyes
Letters will trace every step = let us retrace every step.
Want to get sentimental? I figured out “They will sum it all up in a sentence” from Jizzlober before the frigging internet!
Thank you Firsa! Awesome interview about my favorite FNM album!!
While slumming around the internet today I found this excellent interview with producer Steve Berlin. About 2/3 of the way through is a pretty insightful account of his time with the band while co-producing “Introduce Yourself”:
http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2012/07/17/viva-los-lobos-interview-with-steve-berlin/
Here is what he had to say about the degree of perfectionism the band has regarding new songs:
“…SB: I remember back then hearing the beginnings of what was to be Epic, their big hit. They had this odd sense of gestation. A song had to be burned in for a year before we could record it. So they were not at all open to the idea of, “Hey, that’s a cool song — let’s just use it!” Everything they did had to be battle-tested, they were just so adamant about everything being just tight beyond anything rational. Certainly in the ’80s, where tightness really wasn’t in the game for a lot of people. They wanted everything to be just rock solid. I’m talking mind-numbingly solid and tight, which I very much appreciated. It was a healthy attitude they had, I think. They’re very serious about their music and they were incredibly ahead of their time…”
I think they have always been this careful about their new stuff ~ we may not see this song on any sort of release for quite a while…
As much as I want it to be a new song, it sounds like it’s from the AOTY era.
The song kicks ass though, and for the life of me I don’t understand why it didn’t make the cut to the AOTY album. But then again Absolute Zero kicks ass too and it didn’t make it to the A-Side.
And they played Spirit in Chile, “canta esta nota, ‘uguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhuuhhhhhhuhh…'”
And both shows in LA. ;-p
Yuri, “Spirit” is song from “Introduce yourself”. They played it last year at the SF shows…
Yuri,
Spirit is the last track from the Introduce Yourself Album. The band has been playing a version of it live since 1983. They recently brought it back for the 2 L.A. and Chile shows last year. Patton threw the song out b/c it was just on the setlist in case they had time to play it (which it appears they didn’t), plus he wanted the band to start playing the next song right away so there wouldn’t be a long pause before he got back up on stage (after riding the camera during Gentle Art). Spirit starts off with the band doing a 4-part harmony and he would have needed to be up on stage with them to do it.
With Joe Pies in 1983 (slightly sped up audio)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc51pHP8Pzg
Album track 1987
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ2wTCdwBtY
With Chuck in 1988 (audio slightly sped up again)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErDKWI0ov7Q&feature=related
In LA 2010 with Patton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0_iU3jbeZw
Also, let’s keep in mind that the song name could be “SPIRIT”. It’s perhaps a codename or a working title as well, of course.
You guys can see that in the leaked setlist that surfaced before the concert (http://multishow.globo.com/platb/files/2231/2011/11/faith_set.jpg).
Other theory that gives it credit is that the band changed the song order after The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. Before the band starts King For a Day, you can hear Patton screaming clearly “Fuck Spirit!” (which was the next song).
Notice that it ended being the first song in the encore.
OK Jimbo i might have cross the line with the ”tools” line so i am sincerely sorry but..honestly man, i have had this song on my mind all day! It’s actually quite easy to listen to then at first and in ”studio” mode it might even sound radio-ish (for FNM standards).. There’s nothing i would have hated more if FNM were to make ”generic” straight forward rock song and The Matador (my title 🙂 ) does have a real sludgey guitar/drums feel to it especially around a minute onwards and i would love to hear the studio version someday! In fact in closer listen i believe there is a real ”western” feel to the song and the bit with ”we will rise..from the killing floor..like a matador” is awesome to say the least, only FNM could pull off something so theatrical without even a real chorus in sight (think Stripsearch/A Small Victory etc..) and to cap it off i really dig Patton’s wail right at the end! I believe this song would not be a single but a great way to get that hunger to make ‘experimental” album and keep the crossover potential at the same time..i hope this explains a little more why i was a bit worked up with your first post but i know it’s just an opinion:)) You might also think that i have a ”biased” view cuz of my love for FNM but i can honestly tell you that if the mysterious song sounded anything like ”Digging The Grave” then i wouldn’t be this excited..(though Digging is also a good song but very straight frwd for these talented dudes!)
Can’t stop listening to this track. Seriously don’t think I’ve heard such cool music, since they called it quits in 98.
Bet its a new song…really, it should be. All the members of FNM are creatively motivated and at the top of their game. If they keep touring without moving forward they are doing everything they said they would not do when they got back together. I find the continual comments such as “were still getting to know each other again” kind of too absurd to believe anyway. Amazing how they continue to grow and get better. Truly believe and expect that their best material could still be coming.
Does Helpless sound like Collision? Does Evidence sound like Ricochet? Does RV sound like Malpractice…? So, there’s no need to worry about that.
I was at SWU and The Mysterious Song is really great. It definitely sounds like a brand new FNM song.
Hey Tyler, keep it easy. I’m a great fan, otherwise I wouldn’t waste time here. And yes I own (bought) all the albums, I even bought bootlegs (and downloaded some more), I saw them in 2009 (and I hurt myself every day for not ahving seen them before the break), blablabla…
Anyway, your opinion is at least as worthless as mine. I don’t like this track, I’m not the only one, and I sincerely hope that if it’s a new song for an upcoming new album, the rest won’t sound like that.
Jimbo – you and your friends are tools!! tell me one bloody song that sounds even remotely like this 7 minute epic that’s out there at the moment??? people like you don’t even buy albums so STFU!!
As for the song i believe it is brand new cuz why else would it not be titled and the bands concentration during the song (particularly Patton) is very high level..it also sounds like a song that would be better in studio sound then played live imo. Most bands would comeback with a ‘generic’ 3 minute rock song but not FNM..they stretch the boundaries , always have and always will..good on them, new album or not i support what ever the band do next as they have played a very big part in my life during 90’s and i ain’t complaining.
Well maybe it’s a new track… Maybe not… but all the fans don’t find it that exciting.
I personnaly (and some friends do as well) find it quite boring actually… With that “already heard that thousand times” feeling…
Anyway, a good audio rip of Chile show would be absolutely amazing and more than welcome !!!
“It’s the elephant in the room. It’s in everybody’s mind but everyone is afraid to talk about it. That’s the reality. All I can do is offer my own opinion, and I’m just 20% of the band. But my thing is, it’s like having a really great plate of food and throwing it on the ground. Everything is great for doing it and if we did it, it’s going to be great. It’s going to be because this is the best energy ever. And people have done a lot of other things since then that could bring a lot more to it than before. But that’s my take on it. I’ve got to let it go with that because if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to happen.” — Billy Gould
People I know asked the band members backstage what the song was, but there were no detailed answers given and they were deliberately being secretive. That’s what is more fun, though, to have that element of mystery and keep us all guessing!
As for the comments regarding the Phoenix festival, I went to the last one in 1997 and saw Faith No More there and even booked the same bed and breakfast for 1998, then it got cancelled and hasn’t happened since. The main reason why they’ve decided to ressurect that festival is mainly because there is no Glastonbury in 2012. I really don’t know how it will do ticket sales wise, as there seems to be so many festivals in the UK already and neither Download or Sonisphere sold out this year, being just a month apart, so it’s a gamble, especially with this crappy economy. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Faith No More are back in Europe for festivals next Summer, let’s have hope!
Thanks, Stu. I always wondered about that.
LOL Yea knowing FNM they will end up calling it “mystery song” anyway, those crazy bastards!
The carpenters song is Everythings Ruined. When i saw them in brixton years ago Roddy asked if anyone was a carpenters fan while playing the intro. Ive read in an interview or may have been on the old cv list that this was rhe code title.
Along with FNM tradition whenever there isn’t an obvious title, I’ve labelled it The Mysterious Song (ie: The Crab Song, The New Improved Song, The Shuffle Song, The Cowboy Song, Hippie Jame Song, Anne’s Song). Roddy has called it The Mysterious Song…that’s what I’m sticking with until the band calls it something different.
“Matador”
“Living Dead”
good title but I rather “the dead live”
I think we need to give the new a song a temporary name, any suggestions??
I like “The Killing Floor”.
The song gets better and better every time i listen to it, its so fresh, like all of their previous material.
The horse is dead guys….just be patient we will know when they want us to. Fingers collectively crossed for a new album and a U.S. tour.
Yeah there was that guy who popped up on here and posted a message claiming to have the full length produced version of “Shuffle” then he disappeared. On the making of A.D. Jim mentions that it was a song he liked on the album.
Either way, the new song is not from AD era, and anything we haven’t heard from that era is probably not worth the conversation. The Shuffle Song sounds like a song that should be left in the closet.
I just rewatched that part of the interview again: FNM only refer to it as “The Shuffle Song” and “Shuffle” but I’ve seen commenters both here and on YouTube refer to the song as “Virus.” However I was wrong in thinking that FNM stated that it was the only unreleased track from the Angel Dust sessions though–they never said that. So maybe there are still tapes with a couple of unheard tracks in Puffy’s closet collecting dust!
3D-Alex:
Thanks for clearing up when “Instrumental” was recorded…that’s the only one I was never sure about.
I agree with others when I say…I’m not really interested in what the words are, only the mood that the song creates in me. I can wait a few years until the band clues us in on the lyrics. I don’t think we ever got full lyrics for Light Up and Let Go or The Big Kahuna, but it doesn’t make me enjoy them any less.
Hey Admin, and everyone else!
I think Patton sings “LET US RETRACE EVERY STEP” instead of “Letters will trace every step” 🙂
“The Shuffle Song” was named “Virus” in that interview FNM 2.0 fan interview was it not?
@Intregra
Trying to figure out the songs that compose the Angel Dust sessions has driven me crazy over the years.
In the Making of Angel Dust MTV video (within the contents of the entire video, not just what aired), FNM discuss that they went into the studio with 17 songs to record and ended up writing two more while in the studio (including “Malpractice”) for a total of 19 songs.
There are 17 songs that are confirmed as being from the AD sessions:
1. Land of Sunshine
2. Caffeine
3. Midlife Crisis
4. R.V.
5. Smaller and Smaller
6. Everything’s Ruined
7. Malpractice
8. Kindergarten
9. Be Aggressive
10. A Small Victory
11. Crack Hitler
12. Jizzlobber
13. Midnight Cowboy
14. Easy
15. As the Worm Turns
16. The World is Yours (The Sample Song)
17. The Shuffle Song
According to 3d-alex’s earlier comment in this thread, Bill Gould confirms that Hippie Jam Song and the track titled “Instrumental” are from KFAD and AOTY sessions, respectively. So those are out.
“I Won’t Forget You” is confirmed as being from the KFAD sessions, so that’s out.
Bill Gould stated in an interview that “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” was recorded in his apartment, so that song is definitely out. Also, the Songs To Make Love To EP lists the band with both recording and producer credits for this track.
While it’s not impossible, I don’t think “Das Schuzenfest” is from the Angel Dust sessions: the Songs To Make Love To EP lists the band with producer credit instead of Matt Wallace. Also, FNM doesn’t mention a polka-style song in the MTV AD session interviews when they’re discussing the all the varying styles of songs and listing their working titles–given the context of the discussion and how open and excited they were about the styles they touched upon, it seems that a polka song would’ve definitely come up in the unedited interview.
Two working names that aren’t associated with any existing songs: “The Carpenters Song” and “The Funk Song.” Are those the unreleased songs? To confuse the matter even more: the band mentions in the 2009 interview where Puffy plays a snippet of “The Shuffle Song” that it is the only song that wasn’t released from the Angel Dust sessions. So I have no freakin idea.
Anyone have any ideas? My head hurts.
tbrando – I’m here all the time man. How’s it going?!
Let me know if and when these rips drop. Gonna break out the 2 audios from LA in a couple of weeks to re-live the amazing shows once again. 😀
V.Toda – nice to see you here again!
Still waiting for the Chile/Brazil/Uruguay audio rip. The Chile show will be on TV in Chile next weekend, so we will get a high quality version of it for sure.
Thanks me – downloading it now.
Yeah Phoenix (for their 4th outing) would be more than al right with me. 🙂
brazil torrent, requires sign up
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=381981&hit=1
Phoenix festival would be amazing, my home town.
Does anyone have any links to soundboards / full videos for Chile or Brazil?
I could’ve sworn a torrent link was posted for the latter a day or 2 ago (somewhere) but can’t seem to find it.
So with Phoenix Festival coming back to the UK next year what are the chances of seeing them ‘back home’ with (even more) new material…?! One can only hope.
Mouse, I thought it was “embedded me,” too.
Okay, that potential straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth info from Lastcupofzorro has me all a-flutter and would just re-confirm for me how amazingly coy and sly FNM are treating their whole reunion/potential re-kindling, etc. They remain, quite possibly, the biggest TEASES of any band, ever. ; ) Gotta love them for it.
Yeah, and the more I listen to this song (must have listened to it about 15 times already) the more it sticks with me. It’s incredibly haunting. If Lastcupofzorro is accurate, and this ISN’T some left-over song, that it IS, indeed, something newly-written, of course it would originate from Billy, as I’m sure the dude is as prolific as hell, and I’ve always seen him as sort of the creative helm of FNM. If it is 2011 brand-spanking new, then my god…. the track still has that sort of indefinable FNM-ness to it, combining elements or tropes that are familiar to the band’s sound, but yet still also has that sort of ungraspable, twist-in-the-gut quality to it that is ALSO familiar to the band’s sound. One of the reasons I loved the band for so long was that there was always that element of surprise… that sort of “WTF?!” reaction to each of their songs. This song makes me go “WTF?!” all over again. Can you imagine how amazing a new ALBUM would be, given each member’s own personal creative growth over all these years?? Can you imagine all of that growth COMBINED??
As a singer myself, I really like the melodic arc of Patton’s vocals in this song quite a bit, though I’m really not interested in hashing out any sort of meaning in the lyrics. As the dude has said in the past, I think he writes more for the sound of the words and how they go together, not for meaning. My old band-mate did this, too, though I guess meaning can come out on a subconscious level. And I really like Jon’s guitar-playing. He’s solid, minimalistic and atmospheric.
i’d like a decent copy of the audio? maybe one that has been EQ’d a little? anyone?
99.9% convinced it’s a new song.
it’s a bit of a grower, too. wasn’t smitten with it at first, but I certainly am now. nice mix of classic FNM flavours, with a entirely new twist.
Just to clarify, the most important music reviewers didn’t mention the new song (very odd), but some of the major newspapers and web portals (a few of them) did. I’m trying to find more new info about the song on the local press. I’ll be back if I find something. Hugs!
I’m from Brazil, and I’ve never listened this song being performed by any local bands. The lyrics are original and the melody isn’t familiar at all, and I listen to a lot of old/new brazilian music. During the show’s broadcasting, nobody talked about FNM doing a cover (or a version) of a local band’s song. The press that reviewed the show today (we were on a national holiday yesterday – the reviews were published today) didn’t even mentioned there was an unknown song on the setlist (quite depressing). So, it’s either a new piece, or a lost B-side for sure. And I’m sorry for my bad english. Hugs!
benrun:
“Instrumental” was recorded for AOTY. I asked Billy a few years ago through email:
>1. When was Hippie Jam Song recorded or for which album?
KFAD
>2. When was Intrumental recorded or for which album?
AOTY
Those were my questions and his answers….