Inspired by the groundbreaking music of Chrome, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Portion Control, The Legendary Pink Dots, and others, Skinny Puppy experimented with electronic recording techniques and methods. the band composed multi-layered music generally using keyboards, synthesizers, found sounds, drum machines, live percussion, tape splices, samplers, and conventional rock music instruments. Whereas many contemporary remixes and re-edits of songs were created in order to make a song more suitable for dancing or different radio formats, Skinny Puppy approached remixing and re-editing as an artistic process of reinterpreting compositions, often using remixes to push their sound into styles of ambient, dub and techno. Skinny Puppy's often informal, improvisational approach to musical composition is indicated by use of the term brap, coined by them and defined as a verb meaning "to get together, hook up electronic instruments, get high, and record".
Skinny Puppy's first two proper releases, Bites and Remission, fall somewhere between the found-sound chaos of early Cabaret Voltaire and the abrasive, futuristic synthpop of the Units or Crash Course in Science. While the intense synth programming, abstract rhythms, and surreal samples--all Puppy trademarks--are present here, the albums owe as much to new wave as to industrial.
A subsequent EP, Chainsaw, featured a remix of Bites's "Assimilate" that earned the band some attention from club DJs. 1986's Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse earned Skinny Puppy greater attention, as "Dig It" and "Stairs and Flowers" became alternative club and college radio hits; the video for the former was played occasionally on MTV. The album is arguably less club-friendly than its predecessors, as the band continues to refine a claustrophobic, almost surreal sound that buries rhythm and melody. The follow-up, Cleanse, Fold, and Manipulate treads similar territory.
VIVIsectVI was a breakthrough for the band, with "Testure" becoming their biggest club hit to date, and the album itself was received warmly by college radio. The title of the album was a pun intended to associate vivisection with Satanism (ie. the "666 sect"). The album shows SP integrating more political and social themes: "Testure" is an animal rights song; "VX Gas Attack" concerns the use of chemical weapons; "State Aid" promotes sexual abstinence to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV.
Ogre had become very interested in Ministry and Al Jougensen's side projects, and he persuaded the rest of the band to allow Jourgensen to produce Rabies. While "Worlock" (a track Jourgensen didn't produce) remains an industrial club classic, the album was received coolly, as many thought Jourgensen's heavy metal guitar-based signatures did not compliment SP's more complex, intricate sonic sculptures. The band briefly disbanded afterward.
They reformed and returned to their electronic roots with Too Dark Park, a hallucinogenic album that owes as much to psychedelia as industrial music. Two years later, "Last Rights" covered similar territory, culminating in the epic sound sculpture "Download." Although their sound had moved away from industrial dance, these albums expanded the band's audience, and provided the template for many industrial bands of the 1990s.
Following "Last Rights", the band, poised for a major breakthrough in the wake of Nine Inch Nails' commercial success, left their longtime label Nettwerk for American Recordings. Their highly anticipated followup was unfortunately marred by personal tragedy - the death of Dwayne Goettel - and the band's inability to agree on a direction for the record. Numerous producers, including Martyn Atkins (PigFace/Invisible Records founder) and Roli Mosimann (Swans), came and went without success; finally the band regrouped with longtime collaborator Dave "Rave" Ogilvie to finish "The Process". The band expanded their range, working with gothic pop and heavy metal, alongside their familiar electronic textures. While seemingly rushed to completion following Goettel's death (it sounds half-finished in parts), it is an interesting change for the group. Unfortunately American Recordings, tired of waiting for the record, did little to promote it. Skinny Puppy broke up afterward.
With interests in filmmaking, they made a number of music videos, each attempting to further the theme and concept of the composition at hand. Most of these videos received little air play by major music video networks such as MTV (USA) and MuchMusic (Canada) and some were outright banned. For example the video for "Worlock" was universally banned because it is a "non stop gore fest" of clips from various horror movies. Because none of these clips were authorized for usage in the video it has never been commercially available.
Their concerts have been marked by their bizarre and bloody conceptual performance art, which for every concert was planned with the intention of challenging the notions of all who observed. Their music had some acceptance in dance clubs because of its danceable beats, but had little play on commercial radio. Skinny Puppy had little commercial success outside of Canada, but their influence on industrial music is immense.
The band began with the intention of doing something "raw" and "real." Ogre's vocals, one of Skinny Puppy's most recognizable features, are typically roughly growled snarls of half-sentences and fragmented stream of consciousness. Lyrical themes included animal rights, politics, religion, horror, drug abuse, disease, and environmental degradation; these themes were often lyrically and conceptually intertwined. Other core aspects of the Skinny Puppy sound include the mixture of heavy sampling and experimental noise with softer musical styles sometimes approaching synthpop.
Post-punk politics are a recurring theme utilised by Skinny Puppy. Some say the meaning of their name is that their music and lyrics give a view of the world from the eyes of a starving animal. They have long had an interest in animal rights; this is most obvious in their song Testure, which is about vivisection and other animal testing being scientific fraud. During many of their concerts Ogre would take the role of "scientist" and experiment on a stuffed animal. In 1988 they were arrested for their mocked-up vivisections, and found it ironic to be arrested for a parody of what was happening for real across the street from their concert. During their TGWOTR tour, criticism of the Bush regime was a recurring theme, particularly during their performance of VX Gas Attack, a song about atrocities perpetrated by Saddam Hussein, originally released while he was still considered an ally of the United States.
The last two studio albums are points of contention for old school Puppy fans. During the recording of The Process, the band broke up. Even more tragically, Dwayne Rudolph Goettel died, from an apparent heroin overdose at his parent's home, soon afterwards. Some people say that cEvin, Nivek, and Dwayne didn't connect as well on this album as they had earlier because their respective musical interests were diverging at the time, others claim it was the heroin.
Key and Ogre later reunited as Skinny Puppy for a one-off concert in Germany in 2003. Afterwards, they decided Skinny Puppy should continue as an ongoing project. The newly reconstituted Skinny Puppy released The Greater Wrong of the Right in 2004, their first studio album in 8 years, and have been continuing since, constantly evolving their sound.
There have been a number of Skinny Puppy side projects, both before, and after the breakup in 1995. The Tear Garden is a collaboration between cEvin and Edward Ka-Spel (and later most band members) of The Legendary Pink Dots. Other noteable side projects include Download, Hilt, Plateau, Cyberaktif (a collaboration between Key & Goettel and Bill Leeb, a.k.a. Wilhelm Schroeder), Rx (one-off collaboration between Ogre and Martin Atkins), ADuck (Goettel's side project), A CHUD Convention (one-off collaboration with a;GRUHM...), Ogre's contributions to Pigface, Ogre and Mark Walk's band ohGr and solo releases from cEvin Key.
Incision
Skinny Puppy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Crystal method in my brain,
Magnitude it's all the same,
Speed for some, fun at home,
New persistence to the game,
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
In it's spot, only stop
Question what's inside of you
Black clouds, still tears drip dry,
Tell tales still fly so high
Notions can backwards lie
????? [sample]
Crystal method in my brain,
Magnitude it's all the same,
Speed for some, fun at home,
Add new persistence to the game,
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
Here it's fun only sun.
Question what's inside of you
?????
Black clouds, still tears drip dry,
Tell tales hearts fly so high
Notions can backwards lie
Crystal method in my brain,
Magnitude it's all the same,
Speed for some, fun at home,
Add new persistence to the game,
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
Here it's fun only sun.
Question what the fuck's inside
Black clouds, drip dry,
I don't tend to ask them why,
Dripping my life, short it, sort it out
Short it, sort it out
Future shock, incision
Future shock, incision
????? [Sample]
The lyrics to Skinny Puppy's song Incision paint a vivid picture of drug addiction and the dark consequences that come with it. The first line, "Future shock, incision," suggests a brutal and disorienting experience, possibly referencing the feeling of being under the influence of drugs or the act of injecting them. The next line, "Crystal method in my brain," reinforces the drug theme and alludes to the use of crystal methamphetamine. The singer seems to be musing on the uniformity and numbing effect of drug use, with lines like "Magnitude it's all the same" and "Here it's fun only sun." He also explores the idea that drugs allow him to escape reality, with lyric "Notions can backwards lie".
The chorus repeats the same lines throughout the song. These lines are "Speed for some, fun at home, add new persistence to the game, motivate the inner ear creeping death and crystal clear, here it's fun only sun. Question what's inside of you." The first few lines could be interpreted as a reference to the "fun" people have when taking drugs, but the latter part of the chorus suggests that there's something darker at play. The line "here it's fun only sun" might allude to the temporary effects of drugs that make everything seem bright and enjoyable but will eventually lead to burnout and self-demise.
Overall, the lyrics to Incision are a commentary on the disturbing effects of drug addiction, particularly the absorption of personality, loss of self-awareness, and plummeting mental and emotional state.
Line by Line Meaning
Future shock, incision
The feeling of being overwhelmed and disconnected from the present, accompanied by a sense of cutting or separating.
Crystal method in my brain, Magnitude it's all the same, Speed for some, fun at home, New persistence to the game, Motivate the inner ear creeping death and crystal clear
Describing the effects of taking drugs, and how they can make everything feel the same and lead to addiction. The song speaks to the addictive quality of drugs and how they can have severe physical and mental consequences.
In it's spot, only stop, Question what's inside of you
The need to take a step back and reflect on oneself, asking oneself what motivates them and what is driving them forward. It is important to question oneself in order to avoid addiction or other harmful behaviors that may take over one's life.
Sunlight still up in sky, Black clouds, still tears drip dry, Tell tales still fly so high, Notions can backwards lie
Despite the fact that the sun is shining and things may seem fine on the surface, there can still be underlying issues or emotions that are being covered up. Sometimes things that seem pleasant can be deceiving and need to be investigated further.
????? [sample]
This line includes a sample that cannot be interpreted or associated with a particular meaning without more context.
Here it's fun only sun.
This line is a repetition of an earlier line and emphasizes the point that on the surface everything may seem fine and fun, but there can still be underlying issues that need to be addressed.
Question what the fuck's inside, Black clouds, drip dry, I don't tend to ask them why, Dripping my life, short it, sort it out, Short it, sort it out
This final section emphasizes the importance of questioning oneself, and the potential consequences of not doing so. The imagery of 'dripping' emphasizes the idea that life is slowly passing by, and that it is important to take action and make changes where necessary.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Xxx_Terri_xxX
Future shock, incision
Crystal method in my brain
Magnitude it's all the same
Speed for some, fun at home
New persistance to the game
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
In it's spot, only stop
Question what's inside of you
Sunlight still up in sky
Black clouds, still tears drip dry
Tell tales still fly so high
Notions can backwards lie
Crystal method in my brain
Magnitude it's all the same
Speed for some, fun at home
Add new persistance to the game
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
Here it's fun only sun
Question what's inside of you
?????
Black clouds, still tears drip dry
Tell tales hearts fly so high
Notions can backwards lie
Crystal method in my brain
Magnitude it's all the same
Speed for some, fun at home
Add new persistance to the game
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
Here it's fun only sun
Question what the fuck's inside
Black clouds, drip dry
I don't tend to ask them why
Dripping my life, short it, sort it out
Short it, sort it out
Future shock, incision
Future shock, incision
NomSayn
Still get chills listening to one of my all-time favourite SP songs. almost 30 years after listening to this song it still holds such a special place. Incredible art
puffadder01
This is still one of my favorite albums, since I was a kid, and probably always will be.
Vampireleniore
Skinny Puppy is one of the best bands ever.
christopher freed
that is in fact, correct
InduztrialRulz
best puppy song ever, especially live, very organic, how I miss it!
MagnitudePerson
My favorite song from them :) Its too bad they didn't remade it in the 'Weapon' album, i'd love to see a remake of this.
benemuzik
esta cancion buena en fin el EP Remission es el mejor disco de Skinny Puppy, gran banda, extraordinaria......saludos de Peru.
Mark Mower
This is the best song ever period.
Chaossspirit
That Remission EP may be their best work yet.
Xxx_Terri_xxX
Future shock, incision
Crystal method in my brain
Magnitude it's all the same
Speed for some, fun at home
New persistance to the game
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
In it's spot, only stop
Question what's inside of you
Sunlight still up in sky
Black clouds, still tears drip dry
Tell tales still fly so high
Notions can backwards lie
Crystal method in my brain
Magnitude it's all the same
Speed for some, fun at home
Add new persistance to the game
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
Here it's fun only sun
Question what's inside of you
?????
Black clouds, still tears drip dry
Tell tales hearts fly so high
Notions can backwards lie
Crystal method in my brain
Magnitude it's all the same
Speed for some, fun at home
Add new persistance to the game
Motivate the inner ear creaping death and crystal clear
Here it's fun only sun
Question what the fuck's inside
Black clouds, drip dry
I don't tend to ask them why
Dripping my life, short it, sort it out
Short it, sort it out
Future shock, incision
Future shock, incision