While in high school, Homme got together with locals Brant Bjork, Chris Cockrell (later replaced by Nick Oliveri) and John Garcia resulting in the formation of Kyuss (firstly known as "Sons of Kyuss"). Queens of the Stone Age formed in 1997, rising from the ashes of Kyuss and began playing together during the now legendary Desert Sessions. Homme has drawn all of the members from that diverse group of musicians for Queens of the Stone Age. The band originally formed under the name Gamma Ray, but almost faced a lawsuit from the European metal band of the same name.
Queens of the Stone Age have gone through many line-up changes since first breaking into the hard rock scene. Their most recent line-up includes: Josh Homme (guitar, vocals), Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, lap steel, keyboards, backing vocals), Jon Theodore (drums, percussion), Michael Shuman (bass, backing vocals), and Dean Fertita (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals).
Former core members include Joey Castillo, Alain Johannes, Natasha Shneider, Mark Lanegan, and Nick Oliveri, among other members and contributors. In 2002, regarding the band line-up, Homme said: "It really is more of a musical experiment… It keeps moving and reinventing itself. That way we never get painted into a corner."
Dave Grohl recorded drums, percussion and backing vocals on Songs for the Deaf and toured in support of the album in 2002 before returning to the Foo Fighters. Grohl also made a live appearance in 2007, to play Make It wit Chu, and recorded tracks on …Like Clockwork, following Joey Castillo's departure.
Mark Lanegan has long been an on/off vocalist for the band, toured from 2001 to 2005 and made live appearances in 2007 and 2010. He has recorded with the band on all albums except for their self-titled debut album. Lanegan has also played keyboards in live performances during the tour preceding the release of Lullabies to Paralyze, before Natasha Shneider joined the band.
Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri were seen as the only two consistent Queens of the Stone Age members. Oliveri had previously played alongside Homme in the band Kyuss and joined Queens of the Stone Age as its permanent bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist, in 1998, upon the release of its debut album, Queens of the Stone Age. Being friends since childhood, the two meshed well together. Oliveri's punk background brought an element of danger and attitude to the Queens' live shows. As the band's two core members, the duo recorded the breakthrough albums, Rated R and Songs for the Deaf, together. Oliveri's unique "howling" singing style made him easily distinguishable on songs such as Six Shooter from the album Songs for the Deaf; he also displays a more melodic singing style in Rated R songs such as Auto Pilot.
However, Homme fired Oliveri in 2004 for excessive partying and an alleged incident of domestic abuse (an accusation which Oliveri strongly denies). The duo repaired their friendship shortly afterwards. Oliveri, however, did not return to the band. In 2013, upon hearing that former contributor Dave Grohl was recording drums for the band's sixth studio album, …Like Clockwork, Oliveri asked Homme if he too could return on bass guitar. Homme ultimately did not grant Oliveri's request. He does, however, appear on backing vocals on the album track, If I Had a Tail.
Diskographie:
1997 - Kyuss / Queens of the Stone Age
1998 - Queens of the Stone Age / Beaver Split
1998 - Queens of the Stone Age
2000 - Rated R
2002 - Songs for the Deaf
2002 - Sample This School Boy
2002 - 2002-10-29: Rock City, Nottingham, UK
2002 - 2002-11-06: Stockholm, Sweden
2003 - Songs For The Deaf Tour Edition
2004 - Stone Age Complication
2005 - Lullabies to Paralyze
2005 - Lullabies To Paralize Tour Edition
2005 - MTV Unplugged (Berlin 2005-06-10)
2005 - Over the Years and Through the Woods
2006 - 2005-12-20: Los Angeles, CA, USA
2006 - Over The Years And Through The Woods
2007 - The Definitive Collection Of B-sides & Rarities
2007 - Era Vulgaris
2008 - Era Vulgaris Tour Edition
2013 - ...Like Clockwork
2017 - Villains
2023 - In Times New Roman...
Mosquito Song
Queens of the Stone Age Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mosquitoes come suck your blood
And leave you there all alone
Just skin and bone
When you walk among the trees
Listening to the leaves
The further I go, the less I know
The less I know
Where will you run?
Where will you hide?
Lullabies to paralyze
Fat and soft, pink and weak
Foot and thigh, tongue and cheek
You know I'm told they swallow you whole, skin and bone
Cutting boards and hanging hooks
Bloody knives, cooking books
Promising you won't feel a thing at all
Swallow and chew
Eat you alive
All of us food that hasn't died
And the knife says
Simmering, pick and pluck
Tenderize bone to dust
The sweetest grease, finest meat you'll ever taste
So you scream, whine, and yell
Supple sounds of dinner bells
We all will feed the worms and trees
So don't be shy
Swallow and chew
Eat you alive
All of us food that hasn't died
The lyrics to Queens of the Stone Age's Mosquito Song have heavy themes of death and violence, with the imagery of mosquitoes sucking blood being just the beginning. As the song goes on, the lyrics describe a visceral, almost cannibalistic desire for the listener's flesh, with lines like "Fat and soft, Pink and weak / Foot and thigh, tongue in cheek" and "Swallow and chew, eat you alive / All of us food, that hasn't died." The chorus also contains the ominous question of "Where will you run? / Where will you hide?," suggesting that there's no escape from the violence and death that the song describes.
However, there's a subtle shift in the final verse of the song, where the perspective seems to change from the one doing the killing and eating to the one being killed and eaten. The passage "So you scream, whine and yell / The supple sounds of dinner bell / We all will feed the worms and trees so don't be shy" suggests that, in the end, everyone is food for something else, and that death is a natural part of the food chain. It's a bleak sentiment, but one that's ultimately about acceptance and coming to terms with mortality.
Line by Line Meaning
I know I know the sun is hot
I am aware of the fact that the sun is hot
Mosquitoes come and suck your blood
Mosquitoes come and feed on your blood
Leave you there all alone
Mosquitoes leave you alone after feeding on your blood
Just skin and bone
You are left with a thin body after mosquitoes suck your blood
When you walk among the trees
When you take a stroll under the trees
Listening to the leaves
Hearing the sound of leaves
The further I go the less I know, the less I know
The more I explore, the less I understand about the world
Where will you run?
Where will you go to escape?
Where will you hide?
Where can you hide to avoid danger?
Lullaby?s to paralyze
Soothing music that can render you motionless
Fat and soft, Pink and weak
Physical description of a person who is plump, tender, and vulnerable
Foot and thigh, tongue in cheek
Body parts that are used figuratively to describe someone's humor
You know I?m told they?ll swallow you whole,
It is said that something will consume you entirely
Skin and bone
You will be left with a thin body after you are eaten
Cutting boards, hanging hooks
Tools used for food preparation
Bloody knives, cooking books
Instruments used for cutting food and sources of cooking knowledge
Promising you won?t feel a thing at all
Assuring you that you will not experience any pain during the process of being cooked and eaten
Swallow and chew, eat you alive
Eating you alive by swallowing and chewing on your body parts
All of us food, that hasn't died
We are all destined to become food after we die
(And the knife says)
The kitchen knife speaks metaphorically
Simmering, pick and pluck
The process of cooking and preparing food
Tenderize, bone to dust
Making meat softer by pounding it and reducing bones to powder
The sweetest grease
The most flavorful and delicious animal fat
The finest meat you?ll never taste
The most succulent meat that you will never have the chance to eat
So you scream, whine and yell
You cry out in agony and despair
The supple sounds of dinner bell
The sound of something indicating that it is time to eat
We all will feed the worms and trees so don?t be shy
All living creatures, including humans, will eventually decay and nourish the earth
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Joshua Michael Homme, Michael Melchiondo, Nick Steven Oliveri
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind