Vasoline: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|1994 single by Stone Temple Pilots}}

{{Merge|Vasoline (song)|date=November 2006}}

{{Confused|Vaseline}}

{{Infobox Single

{{Infobox song

| Name = Vasoline

| Covername = Vasoline.JPG

| cover = Vasoline.JPG

| Artist = [[Stone Temple Pilots]]

| alt =

| from Album = [[Purple (album)|Purple]]

| type = single

| B-side = "Meat Plow"<br>"Andy Warhol" (live from [[MTV Unplugged]]) <br> "Crackerman" (live from [[MTV Unplugged]])"

| Releasedartist = [[1994Stone Temple Pilots]]

| album = [[Purple (Stone Temple Pilots album)|Purple]]

| Format = [[CD single]]

| B-side =

| Recorded = [[1994]]

* "Meatplow"

| Genre = [[Hard Rock]]

* "[[Andy Warhol (song)|Andy Warhol]]" (live)

| Length = 2:56

* "Crackerman" (live)

| Label = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]

| released = July 18, 1994<ref>{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=[[Music Week]]|page=31|date=16 July 1994}}</ref>

| Producer = [[Brendan O'Brien]]

| recorded =

| Writers = [[Stone Temple Pilots]]

| studio =

* # 1 <small>U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks </small>

| venue =

* # 2 <small>U.S. Modern Rock Tracks </small>

| genre = *[[Grunge]]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2014/08/the-50-best-grunge-songs.html?p=3 |title=The 50 Best Grunge Songs |author=Michael Danaher |magazine=[[Paste Magazine|Paste]] |date=August 4, 2014}}</ref>

| Last single = "Unglued"

*[[alternative rock]]<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=May 20, 2022 |title=Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time |url=https://x96.com/news/top-500-alternative-songs-of-all-time/ |access-date=June 9, 2025 |website=[[KXRK]]}}</ref>

| This single = "Vasoline"

*[[hard rock]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Connor |first=Rob |last2=Robbins |first2=Ira |last3=Corcaron |first3=Clifford |title=Stone Temple Pilots |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/stone-temple-pilots/ |access-date=2025-06-08 |website=Trouser Press}}</ref>

| Next single = "Pretty Penny"

| length = 2:56

{{Extra tracklisting

| Albumlabel = [[PurpleAtlantic (album)Records|PurpleAtlantic]]

| composer =

| Background = lightsteelblue

* [[Robert DeLeo]]

| prev_track = "Meat Plow

* [[Dean DeLeo]]

| prev_no = Track 1

* [[Eric Kretz]]

| this_track = Vasoline

| track_no lyricist = Track[[Scott 2Weiland]]

| producer = [[Brendan O'Brien (music producer)|Brendan O'Brien]]

| next_track = Lounge Fly

| prev_title = [[Big Empty]]

| next_no = Track 3

| prev_year = 1994

| next_title = [[Interstate Love Song]]

| next_year = 1994

| misc = {{Audio sample

| type = single

| file = stone temple pilots vasoline sample.ogg

| description = "Vasoline"

}}

{{External music video|{{YouTube|ht672-wYelc|"Vasoline"}}}}

|}}

}}

"'''Vasoline'''" is a song by American rock band [[Stone Temple Pilots]] from their second album, ''[[Purple (Stone Temple Pilots album)|Purple]]''. The song was the second single of the album, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Mainstream Rock Tracks]] chart for two weeks.<ref>[[Joel Whitburn|Whitburn, Joel]] (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 607.</ref> The song's odd-sounding intro was created by [[Robert DeLeo]], who ran his bass through a [[wah-wah pedal]] to get the said effect. The song's lyrics were written by vocalist [[Scott Weiland]]. "Vasoline" also appears on the greatest hits compilation album ''[[Thank You (Stone Temple Pilots album)|Thank You]]''. A live version also appears on [[The Family Values 2001 Tour]] compilation.

==Composition and meaning==

During STP's performance of "Vasoline" on ''[[VH1 Storytellers]]'', Weiland says that the song is about "feeling like an insect under a magnifying glass." During an interview with Greg Prato from SongFacts.com on October 14, 2014, Scott Weiland confirmed that the key line in this song came from a misheard lyric: His parents put on the [[Eagles_(band)|Eagles]] song "[[Life in the Fast Lane]]", and Weiland thought they were singing, "Flies in the [[Vaseline]]."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/scott-weiland|title=Scott Weiland : Songwriter Interviews|website=www.songfacts.com|access-date=December 4, 2019}}</ref>

In his autobiography ''Not Dead and Not For Sale'', he adds that it "is about being stuck in the same situation over and over again. It's about me becoming a junkie. It's about lying to [my first wife] Jannina [sic] (Castaneda) and lying to the band about my [[heroin]] addiction."<ref>''Not Dead and Not For Sale'' ([[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]], 2010), pp111</ref>

==Music videos==

The [[music video]]s (directed by [[Kevin Kerslake]]) were in heavy rotation on MTV when the single was released in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mvdbase.com/comingback.html?id=26789|title=Site Maintenance|website=www.mvdbase.com|access-date=December 4, 2019}}</ref> There are at least three different versions of the video, labeled "X Version", "Y Version", and "Z Version". All versions are similar, using parts of the same footage with some minor differences and shown in different orders. The single album art is taken directly from the music video.

===Differentiation===

* X Version – begins with a shot of [[flypaper]] and then a laughing clown [Robert DeLeo]

* Y Version – begins with a butterfly-catching girl [Deanna Stevens] skipping up to the camera

* Z Version – begins with a man using a [[sharpening stone]] wheel

==Track listings==

'''UK, European, and Australian CD single'''<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Vasoline|others=[[Stone Temple Pilots]]|year=1994|type=UK, European & Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=[[Atlantic Records]]|id=A5650CD, 7567-85650-2}}</ref>

# "Vasoline" – 2:56

# "Meatplow" – 3:38

# "[[Andy Warhol (song)|Andy Warhol]]" ([[David Bowie]] cover live from ''[[MTV Unplugged]]'') – 3:05

# "Crackerman" (live from ''MTV Unplugged'') – 4:03

'''German CD single'''<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Vasoline|others=[[Stone Temple Pilots]]|year=1994|type=German CD single liner notes|publisher=[[Atlantic Records]]|id=7567-85646-2}}</ref>

# "Vasoline" – 2:56

# "Meatplow" – 3:38

==Charts==

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

===Weekly charts===

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1994)

!Peak<br/>position

|-

{{single chart|Australia|24|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|song=Vasoline|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|-

{{single chart|Canadatopsingles|21|chartid=2564|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|-

{{single chart|New Zealand|28|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|song=Vasoline|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|-

{{single chart|Scotland|42|date=19940820|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|-

{{single chart|UK|48|date=19940820|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|-

{{single chart|UKrock|23|date=19941015|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|-

{{single chart|Billboardradiosongs|38|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|-

{{single chart|Billboardalternativesongs|2|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|-

{{single chart|Billboardmainstreamrock|1|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|rowheader=true|access-date=December 31, 2020}}

|}

{{col-2}}

===Year-end charts===

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1994)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|US Album Rock Tracks (''Billboard'')<ref name="usrockye">{{cite magazine|title=The Year in Music|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|volume=106|issue=52|page=YE-62|date=December 24, 1994}}</ref>

|6

|-

!scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (''Billboard'')<ref name="usrockye"/>

|7

|}

{{col-end}}

==References==

"Vasoline" is a song by the band [[Stone Temple Pilots]] from their 1994 sophomore album [[Purple (album)|Purple]]. . The song was the second single of the album (and also the second most successful, only behind [[Interstate Love Song]]). The song's odd sounding intro was created by [[Dean DeLeo]], who ran his bass through a [[Wah-wah pedal]] to get the said effect.

{{Reflist}}

==Lyrical Meaning==

As like most other [[Stone Temple Pilots]] songs, the lyrics can be vague and hard to interpret, and many interpretations have been suggested by fans. Although sounding absurd, the most accepted lyrical meaning has the song referring to [[masturbation]], for the subject's past love life had caused him to get in trouble. It's worth noting that many of the lines themselves do actually seem to allude to it. For example, several lines such as these seem to allude very well.

*''"Think I'll be safer all alone"''

*''"Going blind, out of reach"''- ([[Blindness|blindness]] is a common myth surrounding excess masturbation)

*''"Two times it has rendered me, punch drunk and without bail''

==External links==

An interesting note is that [[vaseline]] is a popular [[personal lubricant]].

* {{YouTube|ht672-wYelc|"Vasoline" music video}}

* {{YouTube|Pq63KUAGrdo|"Vasoline" Version Y music video}}

* {{YouTube|KFtbM9f2Zx4|"Vasoline" Version X music video}}

{{Stone Temple Pilots}}

==Syncopation==

{{Authority control}}

Perhaps one of the strangest things about this song is the use of [[syncopation]] in the riff that the guitar and bass play. By itself, the riff sounds something like [[swung note|swung]] [[eighth notes]] alternating between the [[note|musical notes]] F natural and G natural. However, in reality the riff is an alternating sixteenth and eighth note pattern in [[Time Signature|3/4 time]] over a drum beat in 4/4 time, creating a very odd sounding rhythm.

==Music Video==

The song still gets a lot of regular rock radio airplay today, and the [[music video]] (directed by [[Kevin Kerslake]]) was in heavy rotation on MTV when the single was released back in 1994. There were actually three different versions of the video, labeled "X Version", "Y Version", and "Z Version". All three versions are relatively similar, using parts of the same footage with some minor differences and shown at different parts of the song.

[[Category:1994 singles]]

[[Category:1994 songs]]

[[Category:Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake]]

[[Category:Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer)]]

[[Category:Songs about drugs]]

[[Category:Songs written by Dean DeLeo]]

[[Category:Songs written by Eric Kretz]]

[[Category:Songs written by Robert DeLeo]]

[[Category:Songs written by Scott Weiland]]

[[Category:Stone Temple Pilots songs]]