Faget (song)
| "Faget" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Korn | ||||
| from the album Korn | ||||
| Released | October 11, 1994 (Korn album release)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1994, Indigo Ranch Studios, Malibu, California, U.S.[2] | |||
| Genre | Nu metal[3] | |||
| Length | 5:49[1] | |||
| Label | Immortal/Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jonathan Davis | |||
| Producer(s) | Ross Robinson | |||
| Korn track listing | ||||
| ||||
"Faget" is a song by the American nu metal band Korn. It is the sixth track from the band's self-titled debut studio album. The song is about how Korn's lead vocalist Jonathan Davis was bullied in high school for being into arts, wearing eyeliner, being into new wave music (for example, Duran Duran), and wearing frilly shirts. According to Jonathan Davis, he was constantly called names such as "faggot". Also, there was a rumor that Davis was gay. Jonathan Davis said he did not know if he was gay or not. Therefore, Davis tried to get in a relationship with another boy. However, Jonathan Davis disliked the experience, realizing he is not gay, even if people thought he was.
Background, music and writing
"Faget" is about Korn's lead vocalist Jonathan Davis' time in high school where he was relentlessly teased and harassed by jocks for being into arts, wearing frilly shirts, being into new wave music (for example, Duran Duran) and wearing eyeliner. Many people assumed that Davis was gay and would call him names such as "faggot".[4][5][6][7][8] Davis said:
"There's a big rumor about me being a homosexual. Does it really matter? I have lots of gay friends. It shouldn't matter. I was in the New Romantic scene [in high school] with Duran Duran [as his favorite band], wearing makeup. I got called a fag by the jocks. Couldn't walk through the halls without hearing that or being picked on".[9]
Davis has said that some jocks would yell along to "Faget" at Korn shows. Davis then said, "It just shows how dumb and stupid and ignorant they are. Everybody has their own interpretation of it. That's the beauty of music".[9] Davis said, "I went through a new romantic phase and I had the make-up, the frilly shirt, all that shit," began Davis. "I stuck out, I was this big dork, basically, and I suffered for it greatly. I was picked on, called a faggot. Just because I wore makeup and they didn’t know how to deal with it".[10] Davis also said, "I got my ass kicked a couple of times".[10] Davis then said:
"I was shoved and kicked and the teachers would laugh and call me a faggot. They even sent me to a gay counselor. Everyone was telling me I'm gay, I'm gay and I didn't know if I was. So I tried to be with a guy and it was totally disgusting, but I had to find out. Because everyone in the fucking world was telling me I was. Even my own father was embarrassed of me. I'd come to work at his music store and he'd go, "That's some kid I hired"". [10]
"Faget" features an example of Korn's guitarists (James "Munky" Shaffer and Brian "Head" Welch) utilizing what they have dubbed the "Mr. Bungle chord".[11] When speaking about the recording of "Faget", Welch said: "[Jonathan] moved in with us, with his girlfriend, and I remember sitting in the room he rented. I had my guitar in there and I wrote the riff. We just came up with the song "Faget" right then and there. It was the very beginning".[12] Songfacts described "Faget" as "a very emotional and genuine song where Davis lashes out at his tormentors".[13]
Personnel
- Main personnel
- Jonathan Davis – vocals
- James "Munky" Shaffer – guitar
- Brian "Head" Welch – guitar, additional vocals
- Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu – bass
- David Silveria – drums
- Additional personnel
- Ross Robinson - producer
- Eddy Schreyer – mastering
- Stephen Stickler – photography
- Jay Papke/Dante Ariola – art direction and design
- Chuck Johnson – engineering and mixing
Citations
- 1 2 "Korn - Korn : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
- ↑ "Indigo Ranch Studios - CDs and Vinyl at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
- ↑ McIver 2002, pp. 10; 12.
- ↑ "Korn Members Look Back On Writing 'Faget' (Video)". Blabbermouth. August 19, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Part 9: 1998: You're either with Korn and Limp Bizkit, or you're against them". The A.V. Club. February 8, 2011.
- ↑ "Korn". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
- ↑ "GEAR". Kornseed.cro.net. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
- ↑ "Korn, Ice Cube Blur Line Between Rap And Rock. On second stop of 'Family Values' tour, they join Rammstein and others in mixing genres.". MTV. September 29, 1998.
- 1 2 Boehm, Mike (August 25, 1998). "Korn Flings a Couple of Rotten Kernels". The Los Angeles Times.
- 1 2 3 Watson, Ian (January 21, 2015). "Korn's Jonathan Davis: 'I've pulled so many bodies out of cars. It intrigued me'". The Guardian.
- ↑ "Brian "Head" Welch of Korn, Love and Death". Songfacts. June 14, 2013.
- ↑ "Korn Members Look Back On Writing 'Faget' (Video)". Blabbermouth.net. August 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Faget by Korn". Songfacts.
Bibliography
- McIver, Joel (2002). "How did we get to nu-metal from old metal?". Nu-metal: The Next Generation of Rock & Punk. Omnibus Press. pp. 10; 12. ISBN 0-7119-9209-6.
