The Playlist: Garbage

They tore through the rock scene of the mid 90s, offering grunge-style guitars, mixing, and “wall of sound” production quality as the backdrop for the angry, emotional and sultry lyrics of a red-headed Scot.

Their self-titled debut album and sophomore effort – ‘Version 2.0’ – sold millions and their songs were heavily featured in such films as ‘Big Daddy,’ ‘William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet,’ and the James Bond movie ‘The World is Not Enough.’

While Shirley Manson, Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker are currently on an indefinite hiatus as a band – the music (and music videos) of Garbage left an undeniable mark on the music industry.

This week I will take a look at my favorite five songs from a band that has been a personal favorite since I discovered them my senior year of high school.

Vow

I can't use what I can't abuse
And I can't stop when it comes to you
You burned me out but I'm back at your door
Like Joan of Arc coming back for more…

After catching some momentum from airplay on Los Angeles’ KROQ radio station, the band released ‘Vow’ as their debut single in mid 1995. It failed to make any waves on the charts – peaking at 97 on Billboard’s Hot 100 – but received strong reviews from critics and paved the way for the success of their debut album, which would go onto be certified 2x Platinum.
“[“Vow”] was one of the first tracks that we had musically,” according to Butch Vig. “The idea for it came from a newspaper article that I read about a woman who had gone back to get revenge on an abusive husband, so we thought it would be cool to get a bit of retribution in there.”
That woman was once rumored to be Lorena Bobbit.



Stupid Girl

You pretend you’re high
You pretend you’re bored
You pretend you’re anything
Just to be adored
And what you need
Is what you get…

“It became an anthem for a girl settling for less than what she wants or deserves,” Shirley Manson once said.
Using a drum sample from The Clash’s ‘Train in Vain,’ it was the band’s fourth single from their self-titled debut and is one of their biggest songs to date – peaking at No. 2 on the US Modern Rock charts. The song took in a Grammy in 1997 for ‘Best Rock Song’ and ‘Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group’ and its video earned the band ‘Best New Artist’ at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.
“People still ask us who the 'Stupid Girl' is,” said Vig, “and that's impossible to answer. The song is sort of meant to be a wake up call. It could be about an ex-girlfriend; it could be about a rock diva that we all know, it could be about your sister. It could also be called 'Stupid Boy'.”



You Look So Fine

I'm not like all the other girls
I can't take it like the other girls
I won't share it like the other girls
That you used to know…

It wasn’t released as a single in the US but the haunting, pseudo-obsessive closing song from ‘Version 2.0’ was a Top 20 hit overseas. According to reports, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston walked down the aisle to the song when they were married in 2000. Think maybe that had something to do with their breakup or was it all Angelina?
“I wrote it about someone I was madly in love with who unfortunately did not feel the same way about me,” said Manson.
“We had an idea that we wanted to break down the album and build it back up again,” said Vig. “We wanted something meditative and calming at the end. It's like The Carpenters, that rush of vocals.”



Only Happy When It Rains

I’m only happy when it rains
I’m only happy when it’s complicated
And though I know you cant appreciate it
I’m only happy when it rains
You know I love it when the news is bad
Why it feels so good to feel so sad
I’m only happy when it rains…

This may sound a little pessimistic but, the longer I work as a journalist, the more I realize this could very well be the theme song of the media world. After all, happy news rarely sells papers.
It was the band’s breakthrough hit in 1995 and has since been used in such TV shows as ‘The X-Files,’ ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ and ‘Crossing Jordan.’
“It's about the grunge attitude in America, which is a pretty morose attitude to have,” Manson said. “We were being pretty tongue-in-cheek. But it's also a song about wanting love, but knowing that life will always get in the way, and of knowing that, and yet not being obliterated by that. It's a song for people that know what it's like to live on the dark side.”



Push It

This is the noise that keeps me awake
My head explodes and my body aches
Push it, make the beats go harder
Push it, make the beats go harder…

What do you get when you throw the Beach Boys, Salt-N-Pepa and a whole bunch of dark, loud music into a blender? The first single from the highly-acclaimed ‘Version 2.0’ album.
Sampling both Brian Wilson’s ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ and the R&B ‘Push It,’ ‘Push It’ set the tone for the success of the band’s sophomore effort and its music video was one of the most critically acclaimed of 1998.
“On "Push It", it was how far can we go, to just get so intense,” Vig said. “The verses are slow and dreamy and pull you in, and then, of course, it gets very confrontational. The Beach Boys thing was a conscious thing, Shirley just came up with the lyric don't worry baby, and we wanted to try having a vocal chorus answering her. I think it was Steve who sampled the Beach Boys right off the record. So we had Shirley Manson singing and the Beach Boys answering her. It was amazing.”



That’s what I have for this week. Be sure to come back next Thursday for the next Playlist.

Questions and comments are always appreciated at grahamcawthon@shelbystar.com.