Sex Is Not the Enemy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Sex Is Not The Enemy" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Garbage | ||
| from the album Bleed Like Me | ||
| Released | 2005 | |
| Genre | Alternative | |
| Length | 3:07 | |
| Label | Geffen / A & E Records | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Garbage singles chronology | ||
| "Bleed Like Me" 2005 |
"Sex Is Not The Enemy" 2005 |
"Run Baby Run" 2005 |
"Sex Is Not The Enemy" was the second UK single from fourth Garbage album Bleed Like Me. It was released in June 2005, to support the band’s UK shows at London’s Brixton Academy and the Download and Glastonbury festivals, following the title track’s release as a single in North America.
"Sex Is Not The Enemy" has been confirmed as the third Australian single release from "Bleed Like Me" by their record label Festival Mushroom Records. It is also rumoured to be the third North American single however record company Geffen have not confirmed speculation.
Contents |
[edit] Song profile
"Sex Is Not The Enemy" was first written in 2003 during Garbage's troublesome sessions for their fourth album at Smart Studios. The song went through several re-writes before the final version was completed at the end of 2004, and was included on the finished album.
Sleek and riding upon a seething bassline, "Sex Is Not The Enemy" was a return to the old-school pop that Garbage has become famous for, updated for the year 2005.
Bass on "Sex Is Not The Enemy" was played by Justin Meldal-Johnsen.
"Sex Is Not The Enemy" is published by Deadarm Music/Almo Music Corp (ASCAP) and Vibecrusher Music/Irving Music, Inc (BMI).
The song's full legal title is "Sex Is Not The Enemy". It is registered at ASCAP under 'Title Code: 492670992' and at BMI as 'BMI Work #7363921'.
[edit] Single release
"Sex Is Not The Enemy" was released in the UK on CD single, DVD single and with a special 7" release. At the start of the release week, all copies issued of the 7" were housed in a simple card sleeve, but by the end of that week, copies had been issued complete with a red tape cover, similar to the previous single release "Why Do You Love Me".
The song was only playlisted by XFM and reached #24 on the chart. Nevertheless, it was one of the least successful Garbage singles in the band's history, falling to #66 the next week and then dropping out of the chart completely.
The single's failure may be explained because the song loses much of the energy present in its live performances in the studio recording that was released.
[edit] B-sides
Released with "Sex Is Not The Enemy" in the UK were the album cuts "Honeybee" and "Never Be Free", as well as a documentary on the making of the single's promo video.
[edit] Honeybee
"Honeybee" was originally written and recorded at Smart Studios during the difficult 2003 sessions for Garbage's fourth album Bleed Like Me.
Slow and slushy, the song centres on the unrequited fixation of someone who has idolised their love from afar.
"Honeybee" had appeared on early tracklistings for the album but was eventually left off.
Drums on "Honeybee" were performed by Matt Walker.
"Honeybee" is published by Deadarm Music/Almo Music Corp (ASCAP) and Vibecrusher Music/Irving Music, Inc (BMI).
The song's full legal title is "Honeybee". It is registered at BMI as 'BMI Work #7519521'.
"Honeybee" has not yet been performed live.
[edit] Never Be Free
"Never Be Free" was originally written and recorded at Smart Studios during the difficult 2003 sessions for Garbage's fourth album Bleed Like Me.
Additional guitar on "Never Be Free" was performed by John 5, and bass guitar was played by Justin Meldal-Johnsen.
"Never Be Free" is published by Deadarm Music/Almo Music Corp (ASCAP) and Vibecrusher Music/Irving Music, Inc (BMI).
The song's full legal title is "Never Free". It is registered at BMI as 'BMI Work #7519522'.
In late October 2003, a simple one track EMI Chrysalis CD-R promo appeared for sale on a music collectors web-site titled "Never Be Free". By the time the disc been noticed by Garbage fans worldwide, the disc had already been withdrawn from sale.
It is still not known if the disc for sale is actually connected to the actual Garbage song - for a start in 2003 Garbage were not signed to an EMI label, they were by that time, and are still, signed to a Warner Music Group label - however the webmaster of the popular "The Garbage Discography" fan-site published details of the disc and contacted the UK branch of Chrysalis about the disc.
Chrysalis replied that the song was an "unreleased and unfinished musical composition" which had not been authorized for any use whatsoever. A branch in the USA then demanded that the webmaster remove all details of the disc from his website as it "infringed" their copyrights.
By that time most Garbage online forums and sites were already buzzing with news about the disc, so the webmaster refused to comply. Chryslais never got back to him, or followed up on their threats of legal action and the furore surrounding the disc had largely been forgotten.
In April 2005 Garbage guitarist Steve Marker had posted a picture on his online blog of a wallchart at Smart Studios. The wallchart contained various listings of the song titles from the Bleed Like Me sessions - including what looked like the song title "Never Be Free".
Garbage sites and messageboards began to go wild at the news - "Never Be Free" had not been listed the previous year on Garbage's website as a track that the band had worked on, and the story of the infamous CD-R was retold.
In actual fact, there was never any evidence that Garbage were ever involved with the CD-R that had leaked, or that the B-side "Never Be Free" is the same song that was on it. The only thing that links the CD-R to the song, other than the name, is that in the November 2003 email from Chrysalis USA to the Garbage Discography webmaster, the song was referred to as "Never be Free" (co-written by John Lowery). John Lowery is the real name of former Marilyn Manson guitarist John5, who plays guitar on the track.
"Never Be Free" has not yet been performed live in concert. When asked if it ever would be performed live, Duke Erikson said he simply wouldn't know where to begin.
[edit] Music video
The video features a stunt Garbage played at one of their US shows. Shirley "exposed" her breasts (actually a flesh-coloured bra) and was dragged off the stage by policemen (actually impostors hired by Garbage).
The video was shot by Sophie Muller over two days in May 2005, with the stunt sequence filmed on-stage at Washington D.C.'s 9:30 Club on April 21st.
"We didn't tell the audience that this was a setup, that we were shooting a video," drummer Butch Vig explained. "It was weird; there was this huge, like, 'Ahhh.' I heard this groan and moan, and then everybody started going 'Booooo' and yelling 'Bull-shit!' and throwing stuff up on the stage. Most people thought that she had been arrested.
"We shot a lot of footage of Shirley running around New York - like, she was getting up on a soapbox with a bullhorn and just yelling at people. And it was funny, 'cause people thought, 'Oh, another crazy woman.' They just ignored her."
[edit] Remixes
Upon release in the UK, no remixes of the song appeared on any of the single formats, however in the following months a number of releases appeared featuring a wealth of new mixes by various artists.
The first "Sex Is Not The Enemy" mixes to surface were on a CD-R promo, which appeared in late June 2005. This release contained mixes from Ils (Illian Walker) and a remix from Devil's Gun. In August 2005 two further promos, this time both on 12" vinyl, appeared containing mixes from either Freaks or Naughty (A.K.A. DJ Hell and Fischerspooner.
None of these mixes has appeared on a commercial Garbage release so far, however they may be issued in worldwide territories at a later date.
Complete list of remixes:
- Sex Is Not The Enemy (Devil's Gun remix) promotional only
- Sex Is Not The Enemy (Freaks abnormal speakeasy) promotional only' - Appears on an unofficial release'
- Sex Is Not The Enemy (Freaks revolting dub) promotional only' - Appears on an unofficial release'
- Sex Is Not The Enemy (Il’s dub remix) promotional only
- Sex Is Not The Enemy (Il’s vocal remix) promotional only
- Sex Is Not The Enemy (Naughty dub) promotional only' - Appears on an unofficial release'
- Sex Is Not The Enemy (Naughty instrumental) promotional only' - Appears on an unofficial release'
- Sex Is Not The Enemy (Naughty vocal) promotional only' - Appears on an unofficial release'
[edit] Live performances
"Sex Is Not The Enemy" has been performed at every show on the "Bleed Like Me" tour, and was first performed live onstage at the Olympia in Paris, France.
It was performed live for television show "Album de'la Semaine" on Canal + (France), Soundstage on PBS and on Fuse Comp'd in the US.
[edit] "Sex Is Not The Enemy" quotes
Shirley Manson: (speaking in 2003) ""Sounds like old school Garbage to me but hey...what the hell do I know?"
Shirley Manson: ""Sex Is Not The Enemy" is sort of a manifesto in a way. I had no idea it was until I looked back and thought ‘Oh my god, this really is an anthem to my sexual politics".
Steve Marker: "At first it wasn’t supposed to be anything other than a party song of course Shirley’s lyrics that she came up with gave it a new dimension. I think it’s touching on sexual politics and censorship."
Shirley Manson: "This is a party song on the surface, but it’s actually dealing with my amazement at how the Bush administration in America is really reactionary and clamping down on gay rights, and women’s reproductive rights and civil liberties in general. I thought it really weird that when Janet Jackson revealed her tit at the Super Bowl it was on the cover of USA Today for three days in a row and, meanwhile, there was no mention of the Iraq war. It was only focusing on Janet’s beautiful tit, which I thought was bizarre".
[edit] Comprehensive charts
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Sex Is Not The Enemy" | UK Singles Chart | #24 |
| 2005 | "Sex Is Not The Enemy" | Scottish regional chart | #22 |
[edit] External links
| Garbage |
| Butch Vig | Shirley Manson | Duke Erikson | Steve Marker |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums and extended plays: Garbage | Version 2.0 | beautifulgarbage | Bleed Like Me | Absolute Garbage |
| Singles: "Vow" | "Subhuman" | "Only Happy When It Rains" | "Queer" | "Stupid Girl" | "Milk" | "#1 Crush" | "Push It" | "I Think I'm Paranoid" | "Special" | "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" | "When I Grow Up" | "You Look So Fine" | "The World Is Not Enough" | "Androgyny" | "Cherry Lips" | "Breaking Up the Girl" | "Shut Your Mouth" | "Why Do You Love Me" | "Bleed Like Me" | "Sex Is Not the Enemy" | "Run Baby Run" |
| Videography |
| Videos and DVDs: Garbage Video | Live at Eagles Ballroom 2002 |
| Related articles |
| Alternative rock | Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie | Angelfish | The World Is Not Enough | Mushroom Records | Almo Sounds | Interscope Records |
