Shake Hands with Beef

"Shake Hands With Beef" is the name of a single from the Brown Album by the alternative rock band Primus.

Track listing

1. "Shake Hands With Beef" - 4:02

Music video

The video, directed by Les Claypool, features him, Larry LaLonde, and new drummer Bryan Mantia dressed in orange and brown playing atop a garbage can, while a family grills up a dinner of hamburgers in front of their trailer home. At certain points, Claypool and LaLonde grow insect wings and buzz around the barbecue, only to get swatted at by the family members.

The video was recorded at a slower pace and sped up, making the band members appear to be making strange, jerky motions.

Meanings

It has been presumed that "shake hands with beef" is a term for masturbation or the act of giving a handjob to a man. However, Les Claypool has stated before that the song title was inspired from a friend who claimed to be a vegetarian, but would occasionally eat meat. "He'd say, time to go shake hands with beef."

The song was performed live for the first time with Bryan "Brain" Mantia on drums on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 1997. An extended version of this song appears on Primus' "best of" album, They Can't All Be Zingers. All the extended version includes is the music that faded out on the Brown Album, yet ends with a coda, total time being 4:20.