Mudhoney's early releases on the Sub Pop label, particularly their debut single "Touch Me I'm Sick" and the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP, were massively influential on the Seattle music scene. More than almost any other release of the era they inspired the dirty, high-distortion sound that would become grunge. Later on, Mudhoney also mixed heavy blues rock and punk rock into their sound at various stages. Although the band has found little commercial success during its long career, which has yielded ten studio albums, it has inspired countless grunge and alternative rock musicians.
Band history
Mr. Epp and the Calculations
The very beginnings of Mudhoney start out in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. While at Bellevue Christian High School, Mark McLaughlin (later known as Mark Arm) and some friends started Mr. Epp and the Calculations, a band named after a math teacher of his. The band was more a joke band than a real band; their first "show" was in class singing Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" and using rolled up maps as guitars because they couldn't play real instruments. "Mr. Epp" finally played their first show three years after they formed in 1981. Around this time Mark Arm and a friend of his, Steve Turner formed a more serious yet still humorous band, Limp Richerds. Mr. Epp appeared on KZAM-AM radio and were introduced being called "the worst band in the world". They played their last show on February 3, 1984 with Malfunkshun at the Metropolis in Seattle.
Green River
Green River was formed in 1984 when Mark Arm and Steve Turner pulled together and recruited Alex Vincent, who had previously played with Turner in Spluii Numa. Looking for a bass player the band asked Jeff Ament to join their band. Ament had recently arrived in Seattle with his band Deranged Diction who had come out of Montana. Another one of Turner's former bandmates, Stone Gossard, also decided to play with them. Steve Turner left the band after the recording of Come on Down due to his distaste in the heavy metal leanings of the band. He was replaced by another Derranged Diction member, Bruce Fairweather. After recording two EPs and a full-length album, the band decided to call it quits in 1987. Gossard, Ament, and Fairweather went on to join Mother Love Bone. Following lead singer, Andrew Wood's death, Gossard and Ament went on to form Pearl Jam and Fairweather joined Love Battery. Arm reunited with Steve Turner to form Mudhoney.
Sub Pop (1988–1991)
Steve Turner wanted to start a band that actually rehearsed before they played. He and Mark Arm began working on some music along with Bundle of Hiss drummer Dan Peters. The trio decided that Matt Lukin, who had recently left Melvins, should join them as the bassist. They named themselves Mudhoney after a Russ Meyer film that none of the band members had actually seen.
Mudhoney's partial success led to a number of other Seattle bands, such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Tad, gaining some recognition. In the early '90s, Sub Pop was not making very much money. As a result, many of its bands left the label to search for backing by major labels. Mudhoney decided to stay and they released their second album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge in 1991. However, after this album was released they were offered a deal with Reprise Records and they left Sub Pop Records to join their new major label in 1992.
Reprise (1992–1999)
As grunge was becoming more mainstream, Mudhoney shifted away from their early grungy music sound. Many of the bands that they were friends with (Nirvana and Pearl Jam) were having huge success and gaining popularity worldwide. Their first album on Reprise was Piece of Cake, which was an album that sounded much more like garage rock than grunge. Despite the fact that the band had signed on to a major label, they still kept their quirkiness and non-careerist attitude with them.
In 1995, when grunge was in its last days in the mainstream, Mudhoney decided to go back to the sound that they used to have. With their album My Brother the Cow they managed to mix both their early heavy dirge songs and some of their more punk rock songs on the same album. The song "Into Your Shtik" is said to be a song which bashes Courtney Love, saying that she should blow her head off too like her husband Kurt Cobain. The album is a fan favorite and is considered one of their finest albums. Two years later they released Tomorrow Hit Today. The album showed that Mudhoney still had their garage rock roots in them as well as including new blues rock type songs.
In 1996, Mudhoney appeared in the comedy movie Black Sheep, starring Chris Farley and David Spade. Mudhoney was shown playing at an MTV concert and then speaking with Farley backstage.
After a few years of touring, Reprise decided to release Mudhoney from their label. One of the reasons was Mudhoney's record sales had reached a career low despite the fact their live shows were drawing more people than ever before. Subsequently, bassist Matt Lukin called it quits, saying that he didn't like touring. The band released March to Fuzz, a retrospective compilation of songs from throughout their career. Many fans thought that the band was going to stop playing music altogether, although they did play a few shows around the Northwest area.
Return to Sub Pop (1999— )
These shows were doing so well that Mudhoney decided to resurrect their careers. They found permanent bassist Guy Maddison (of Monroe's Fur, Lubricated Goat) who had played with Mark Arm in one of his many side projects, Bloodloss. After Arm and Turner spent time with their side project, The Monkeywrench, the band recorded and released Since We've Become Translucent in 2002. In late 2005, the band opened Pearl Jam's South American tour, with concerts in Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In March of 2006, the band released the well received LP, Under a Billion Suns. The band has promoted the album by touring in Europe and the U.S. with bands such as Jennifer Gentle, The Holy Soul and Comets on Fire.
Running Loaded
Mudhoney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your love is blind
And you come running like a dog
You come running
You come running
You come running like a dog
Like a dog
No one remembers how to play
My head is spinning
Your head is mine
If I wasn't loaded I'd be gone
If I wasn't loaded
If I wasn't loaded
If I wasn't loaded
I'd be gone
I'd be gone
No one remembers how to play
No one remembers how to play
No one remembers how to play
No one remembers how to play
No one remembers how to play
No one remembers how to play
The lyrics to Mudhoney's song, "Running Loaded," are simple yet powerful. The first verse depicts a contrast between two types of love: one that is staggering and the other that is blind. The singer seems to be referring to their own love as the staggering type, possibly suggesting that it is overwhelming or intoxicating. This is followed by the repeated phrase "you come running like a dog," emphasizing the idea that the recipient of the singer's love is consistently returning to it in a submissive or loyal manner.
The second verse shifts to depict a sense of being trapped. The singer's head is spinning, possibly due to intoxication, while the second person's head belongs to them. The line, "If I wasn't loaded, I'd be gone," suggests that the singer is staying in the situation due to their intoxicated state, perhaps feeling too dependent on the other person to leave. The repeated phrase "if I wasn't loaded, I'd be gone" emphasizes this feeling of being stuck, as though the singer is close to leaving but cannot do so without sobering up first.
These lyrics leave a lot open to interpretation, but overall, "Running Loaded" seems to be exploring themes of intoxication, dependence, and power dynamics in relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
My love is staggering
I am deeply infatuated and overwhelmed by my emotions
Your love is blind
Your affection is misguided and not based on reality
And you come running like a dog
You pursue me relentlessly and with blind obedience
You come running
You continue to follow me, regardless of my actions
You come running like a dog
Like a faithful pet, you seek my attention and approval
No one remembers how to play
Nobody is in control or knows what they are doing
My head is spinning
I am dizzy and disoriented from substance abuse
Your head is mine
I have control over you and your thoughts
If I wasn't loaded I'd be gone
If I was not under the influence of drugs, I would leave this situation
If I wasn't loaded
If I was not inebriated
If I wasn't loaded
If I was not under the influence of substances
If I wasn't loaded
If I was not intoxicated
I'd be gone
I would not stay in this relationship
I'd be gone
I would remove myself from this situation
No one remembers how to play
Nobody is in control or knows what they are doing
No one remembers how to play
Nobody is capable of rational actions or decision-making
No one remembers how to play
Everybody is lost and unsure of how to proceed
No one remembers how to play
There is no structure or guidance in this situation
No one remembers how to play
There is confusion and chaos all around
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: DANIEL PETERS, MARK MCLAUGHLIN, MATTHEW LUKIN, STEVEN TURNER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tom Chipman
Tough call with so much music in their history now, but I will declare this as my favorite Mudhoney song of all time. Melodically and lyrically perfect, with the band playing it exactly the way it should sound.
Black Velvet
This is a dope track!!! They are killing it
DumbPunk
Fucking perfect, Mudhoney can do no wrong
dintrox
Just re-watched the Killing from last week. Sure enough heard this again and it clicked.
Kencerous
This song was in last nights The Killing! Took me awhile to figure it out. What a blast from the past!
Laura Bello
Thank you .. The killing!
Thms Channel
Yeah! Had forgotten how good Mudhoney are.
Maria Gros
..like the guitar on this one too
Lucas Russi Goddi
I think mudhoney and nirvana are best seattle bands!!! fucking awesome bands ,but mudhoney is alive and are the best punk band or psychadelic band
αλώβητος κανένας
κόμματος