Vow (Garbage song)
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| "Vow" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Garbage | ||
| from the album Garbage | ||
| Released | 1995 | |
| Recorded | 1994 | |
| Length | 4:30 | |
| Label | Almo Sounds / Mushroom | |
| Producer(s) | Garbage | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Garbage singles chronology | ||
| "Vow" (1995) |
"Subhuman" (1996) |
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"Vow" was the debut single from Garbage. It was released in Spring 1995 ahead of their debut album Garbage.
Contents |
[edit] Song profile
"Vow" was written and recorded at Smart Studios during the 1994 sessions for the debut album. It was one of the first songs Shirley Manson worked on, and the first song completed.
"Vow" is dark and vengeful, riding on the roar of vicious feedback and echoing guitar with a jewel of a hook that lasts until the end, where the screeching drowns out the words.
Garbage guitarist Duke Erikson claims not to even recall which settings he had or even which equipment his guitar was plugged into, but once the feedback loop that was used to great effect on Vow had started he knew he "had to let it carry on, so dark and unsettling" it sounded.
At one point the song was rumoured to be about Lorena Bobbit's phallus-slashing exploits, which made headlines in the mid-90's.
[edit] Single release
"Vow" was submitted to the UK compilation CD series 'Volume' in September 1994, simply because it was the only song the band had finished. After the song was picked up by LA radio station KROQ, and UK Radio 1 DJs Steve Lamacq and John Peel, and subsequent interest in the song, the band felt it only right to put it out as their debut single.
In the UK it was issued in March 1995 through the Discordant label on 7" vinyl only. All 1,000 copies were snapped up. In the US it was issued in June 1995 through Almo Sounds and reached No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also issued in Australia and Europe that month backed with two exclusive new tracks, "Subhuman" and "#1 Crush". In Australia the single reached number 32. The single earned strong reviews, including a four star rating and extremely positive commentary from All Music Guide [1].
The vinyl format in the UK for "Vow" was in an aluminium metal tin—which instantly received attention for the peculiar packaging. Garbage kept this trait for special single formats throughout their career.
[edit] Music video
The promo video for "Vow" was shot in LA in May 1995 with director Samuel Bayer. It was set in a gold sheet draped room while the band played to Shirley Manson's up-front presence and a bald man writhed on the floor under strobe-lights. Shirley later claimed to regret the shades she wears in this video.
During the takes for the promo video, the band were playing live for the first time, and they were enjoying the experience, which subsequently inspired them to start thinking about actually touring, which they had previously decided against.
The video for "Vow" was the second ever video to be shown on MTV Europe's late nineties rock programme Superock which ran from 1997, hosted by model Julia Valet. It followed Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People" clip which was the first.
[edit] Remixes
A remix of "Vow" called 'Torn Apart', made by Garbage themselves, was included on the b-side to the UK and US pressings of the Vow single.
Another unknown remix of "Vow" was used for a Sky Sports TV advertisement in late 1997.
[edit] Live performances
"Vow" was first performed live at Garbage's first gig in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 5 November 1995. "Vow" has been performed regularly throughout the band's four world tours. It has also been performed acoustically in concert a number of times.
On live performances Shirley often ad-libs lyrics from Patti Smith's "Revenge"—usually the lines "I feel upset, so let's do some celebrating. I gave you a wristwatch, baby. You wouldn't even give me the time of day. Don't leave me no space in your little boat, you ain't gonna need, no, you ain't gonna need no little boat. You are living on my time, my dear."
She also has ad-libbed lines from Cole Porter's "Let's Do It" in 1999. The lines from the song that Shirley sang were "The birds do it, the bees do it, even sentimental fools do it, so let's do it, let's fall in love, just one more time, one time tonight"
Shirley Manson also sang lines from Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Mystery Girl" in 2002—"The girl hit hot like a barracuda baby, She was a primal instituation, She was a danger to herself." For the 2005 tour Shirley often sang the lines "Oh, they don't love you like I love you" from Yeah Yeah Yeahs' song "Maps" as well as the Bright Eyes lyric "I want a lover I don't have to love, I want a lover that I do not have to fuck" from their song "Lover I Don't Have To Love".
Shirley has also ad-libbed lines in "Vow" from Marianne Faithfull's "Why D'Ya Do It?", The Beatles "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" and Carly Simon's "You're So Vain".
A live version of the song appeared on the Version 2.0 Special Live Edition, recorded live at the band's performance at the Roskilde Festival, Denmark on 26 June 1998. It also appeared on the 'Live Edition' EP and on the Japanese 'Special Collection' release.
In '05 Chicago she sang the lines from Siouxsie and the Banshees's " Christine".
[edit] "Vow"
Butch Vig: "["Vow"] was one of the first tracks that we had musically. 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."
[edit] Comprehensive charts
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1995 | "Vow" | UK Singles Chart | #138 |
| 1995 | "Vow" | US Billboard Hot 100 | #97 |
| 1995 | "Vow" | US Modern Rock | #26 |
| 1995 | "Vow" | Australian chart | #31 |
[edit] External links
- Vow at MusicBrainz
- Vow at MusicBrainz
| Garbage |
| Butch Vig | Shirley Manson | Duke Erikson | Steve Marker |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums and extended plays: Garbage | Version 2.0 | Beautiful Garbage | 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 | Geffen Records |
