Claypool and Gates had taken LSD and drove along the grapevine eating candy and blasting the stereo. The song "Introduce Yourself" by Faith No More was playing on the radio. Gates had taken on the appearnce of a demon to Claypool. Once in San Fransisco they stopped the car behind The Roxy Theatre. Gates said he was going to go use the phone. Claypool sat alone in the car, when he heard Adam's voice come on over the radio. Adam had called the local radio station and was on the radio.
Over The Electric Grapevine
Primus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To be with chuckles and the others.
With electric in the air and peroxide in their hair,
They looked like golden brothers.
They drove a Datsun, an automatic,
The radio blaring static,
He made a face into the light and burst out laughing at the sight.
From all the candy, the seats were sticky,
As they were drawn into the grapevine.
Then "introduce yourself" came on as they barreled through the fog.
The demon puffing madly on a mentholated log.
They were tired, they were sleepy,
So they parked behind the Roxy.
Adam left to use the phone, so he sat there all alone,
When Adam's voice come beaming through on the radio,
He started laughing...
The lyrics to "Over The Electric Grapevine" by Primus tell the story of a group of friends who leave San Francisco to meet with Chuckles and other friends. They are described as having "electric in the air and peroxide in their hair" and looking like "golden brothers." They travel in a Datsun with the radio blaring static and share candy, but the seats are sticky.
In the middle of their journey, as they are drawn into the grapevine, they hear the song "Introduce Yourself" and the demon on the mentholated log appears. The group of friends become tired and park behind the Roxy Theater. Adam leaves to use the phone, while the others wait for him, and Adam's voice comes through on the radio. This causes one of the friends to burst out laughing, possibly due to the absurdity of the situation.
The lyrics to this song seem to be referencing a real-life experience that the band members had while on tour. The grapevine referred to in the song is likely the stretch of the I-5 freeway in California, where many accidents and deaths have occurred. The song also references Chuckles, who is believed to be a real person who worked security for the band. Overall, the song tells a story of youthful adventure and camaraderie, with a touch of surrealism.
Line by Line Meaning
They headed southward from San Francisco,
The group traveled south from San Francisco.
To be with chuckles and the others.
To join Chuckles and his friends.
With electric in the air and peroxide in their hair,
They had a vibrant energy and dyed hair.
They looked like golden brothers.
Their bond was visible and strong.
They drove a Datsun, an automatic,
They traveled in an automatic Datsun car.
The radio blaring static,
The radio was loud and full of static noise.
He made a face into the light and burst out laughing at the sight.
One of them made a silly face, causing them to laugh.
The hysteria ensuing would dominate the night.
Their laughter would set the tone for the night ahead.
From all the candy, the seats were sticky,
The car seats were sticky from all the candy they ate.
As they were drawn into the grapevine.
As they were pulled into a certain social group or scene.
Then "introduce yourself" came on as they barreled through the fog.
The song "Introduce Yourself" played as they drove through the fog.
The demon puffing madly on a mentholated log.
A person, possibly Chuckles, smoking a menthol cigarette intensely.
They were tired, they were sleepy,
The group was exhausted and needed rest.
So they parked behind the Roxy.
They parked their car behind the Roxy theater.
Adam left to use the phone, so he sat there all alone,
Adam went to make a phone call, leaving the others alone in the car.
When Adam's voice come beaming through on the radio,
When Adam's voice was heard loudly over the car's radio.
He started laughing...
Adam started to laugh.
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: LES CLAYPOOL, REID L. III LALONDE, TIMOTHY W. ALEXANDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nicholastijerina8638
That story Behind the song 'Over The Electric Grapevine' As told by Les.
"That song is about a trip that I took to Los Angeles with Adam Gates who actually is the artist who did the picture that we're going to use for the record. He's just an old friend of mine and he had a band called Monkey Rhythm a while ago and they were going to shoot this video down in L.A. Some college students that they knew were going to do it as a project so he and I drove down to Los Angeles one night in his Datsun and we were fried on acid. So there were many very interesting things that happened to us on the way down. It was a full on Hunter S. Thompson experience. So I couldn't really tell the whole story in the song because there was just so much shit that went on but there's little references to different things. But I remember, we're driving along and it would be completely dark and every now and then I would lean up and grab the little map light thing that folds out and aim it at my face and click it on and go--like some crazy face and he'd start freaking out because it was the most hilarious thing in the world to us.
And we pulled into some truck stop to get gas and I bought a pack of cigarettes. I hadn't smoked in years. I bought some cigarettes and I stole a lighter and we bought a bunch of candy and, being idiots, bought a bunch of stuff, got back in the car and I started smoking all these cigarettes just to be a bastard filling the car with smoke. We were just fucking with each other the whole way down. I had this gum that when you bite it, the stuff squirts in your mouth, you know? And I didn't realize it was that kind of gum 'cause I hate that stuff. So I had this gum and I took it and I was squeezing out the juice and I was sitting there just squeezing it onto his shoulder while he was driving, the juice from this gum and I ate it. And he's like, what are you doing? And somehow the whole car seemed like it was full of this sticky stuff. It was everywhere. It was like the most horrible feeling.
So we ended up in L.A. and there's references to us flying over the grapevine through the fog and hearing--Faith No More's new song had just come on the radio, from the Introduce Yourself record, which was my favorite Faith No More record. It came on the radio and it was the total perk me up and we go flying over the grapevine. And we get to L.A. and we had been listening to this radio station, I guess Deep Purple was coming to town or something so that whatever heavy metal station down there was playing Deep Purple all the time. And we were going back and forth from that station and this college station where these people were talking on the radio. It was like Howard Stern type stuff. They were bullshitting.
So we're driving along and it was too early for us to show up at this video shoot, but it was late and we were tired and we didn't have a hotel or nothing, we didn't have any money. So Adam goes, "Well, we played the Roxie before." 'Cause I didn't know L.A. at all. He says, "Well, we played the Roxie before. Let's pull in behind the Roxie." So we pull into the parking lot behind the Roxie and we park and I'm lying there and he takes off. And I'm flipping through the channels and some Deep Purple song comes on so I'm listening to it on that station. I'm just lying there kind of half asleep kind of still frying and
the song ends and I flip the radio back to the college station and I hear Adam's voice on the radio and he's all, "Yeah, when you think of acid, think of Monkey Rhythm." Click. "That was Adam calling from a phone booth. His friend is asleep in the car right now behind the Roxie. And they've driven down here..." and I was like whoa. It was like total mindbender, you know. Pretty soon Adam comes walking back around the corner. I told him, I just heard you on the radio. He goes, "No way, they played that over the air? " So that's what that song is about. It was just one of those crazy weekends. Hunter S. Thompson would be proud, I think, of that weekend."
Fun fact: That Datsun still runs well. Now owned by one of my neighbors who uses it as a daily driver. It's an old white Datsun b210. Maybe ill snag a pic later
@jackpandora3160
They headed southward from San Francisco,
To be with Chuckles and the others.
With electric in the air and peroxide in their hair,
They looked like golden brothers.
They drove a Datsun, an automatic,
The radio blaring static,
He made a face into the light and burst out laughing at the sight.
The hysteria ensuing would dominate the night.
From all the candy, the seats were sticky,
As they were drawn into the grapevine.
Then "Introduce Yourself" came on as they barreled through the gog.
The demon puffing madly on a mentholated log.
They were tired, they were sleepy,
So they parked behind the Roxy.
Adam left to use the phone, so he sat there all alone,
When Adam's voice come beaming through on the radio,
He started laughing...
@nicholastijerina8638
That story Behind the song 'Over The Electric Grapevine' As told by Les.
"That song is about a trip that I took to Los Angeles with Adam Gates who actually is the artist who did the picture that we're going to use for the record. He's just an old friend of mine and he had a band called Monkey Rhythm a while ago and they were going to shoot this video down in L.A. Some college students that they knew were going to do it as a project so he and I drove down to Los Angeles one night in his Datsun and we were fried on acid. So there were many very interesting things that happened to us on the way down. It was a full on Hunter S. Thompson experience. So I couldn't really tell the whole story in the song because there was just so much shit that went on but there's little references to different things. But I remember, we're driving along and it would be completely dark and every now and then I would lean up and grab the little map light thing that folds out and aim it at my face and click it on and go--like some crazy face and he'd start freaking out because it was the most hilarious thing in the world to us.
And we pulled into some truck stop to get gas and I bought a pack of cigarettes. I hadn't smoked in years. I bought some cigarettes and I stole a lighter and we bought a bunch of candy and, being idiots, bought a bunch of stuff, got back in the car and I started smoking all these cigarettes just to be a bastard filling the car with smoke. We were just fucking with each other the whole way down. I had this gum that when you bite it, the stuff squirts in your mouth, you know? And I didn't realize it was that kind of gum 'cause I hate that stuff. So I had this gum and I took it and I was squeezing out the juice and I was sitting there just squeezing it onto his shoulder while he was driving, the juice from this gum and I ate it. And he's like, what are you doing? And somehow the whole car seemed like it was full of this sticky stuff. It was everywhere. It was like the most horrible feeling.
So we ended up in L.A. and there's references to us flying over the grapevine through the fog and hearing--Faith No More's new song had just come on the radio, from the Introduce Yourself record, which was my favorite Faith No More record. It came on the radio and it was the total perk me up and we go flying over the grapevine. And we get to L.A. and we had been listening to this radio station, I guess Deep Purple was coming to town or something so that whatever heavy metal station down there was playing Deep Purple all the time. And we were going back and forth from that station and this college station where these people were talking on the radio. It was like Howard Stern type stuff. They were bullshitting.
So we're driving along and it was too early for us to show up at this video shoot, but it was late and we were tired and we didn't have a hotel or nothing, we didn't have any money. So Adam goes, "Well, we played the Roxie before." 'Cause I didn't know L.A. at all. He says, "Well, we played the Roxie before. Let's pull in behind the Roxie." So we pull into the parking lot behind the Roxie and we park and I'm lying there and he takes off. And I'm flipping through the channels and some Deep Purple song comes on so I'm listening to it on that station. I'm just lying there kind of half asleep kind of still frying and
the song ends and I flip the radio back to the college station and I hear Adam's voice on the radio and he's all, "Yeah, when you think of acid, think of Monkey Rhythm." Click. "That was Adam calling from a phone booth. His friend is asleep in the car right now behind the Roxie. And they've driven down here..." and I was like whoa. It was like total mindbender, you know. Pretty soon Adam comes walking back around the corner. I told him, I just heard you on the radio. He goes, "No way, they played that over the air? " So that's what that song is about. It was just one of those crazy weekends. Hunter S. Thompson would be proud, I think, of that weekend."
Fun fact: That Datsun still runs well. Now owned by one of my neighbors who uses it as a daily driver. It's an old white Datsun b210. Maybe ill snag a pic later
@enidesouzabarros8852
Comment sections needs more people like this!
@juiptercampers7807
While reading yourur comment I was playing back the song and visioning the road TRIP ... Can't understand the lyrics but I'll go with vthe vibe.
@evanhusted4641
Dude holy shit! Very interesting... I've always wondered the back story to this track 😂🤘
@enidesouzabarros8852
This story was retold on Green Ranger from Green Naugahyde
@mgh_777
Funny stuff. I can only imagine all the things that would be going through my head if I heard that on the radio, ranging from paranoia, to eureka, to laughter, to feeling like I need to no longer be in the car, to being afraid to get out of the car, etc . . . 😂
@3kingkill3
The guitar in this song sounds like it's in a straight jacket... fucking insane...
@2manyghosts
I listen to drugs while on Primus.
@adammillwardart7831
Best comment lol
@stephenmcguire9934
I was going to ask what they said but then i remembered " do more"