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.
Knowhere
Skinny Puppy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Day you will have no one to run to sell the satisfyer
Sex slave all encompasses high gets you by broken glass
In a crystal blown problem room and one
The (slut who last) slept in your bed in you head
Runs the genitals down no sensation promise your heart to
In your head where it must have some reason, all I said
To run to nowhere nowhere nowhere to run to] looking back
Looking back looking back one of
In the background, ogre repeats: nowhere nowhere nowhere
Nothing like what's said on the bootlegs also layered
Misused your gift is misused your gift is not used
Two looks back wonder which is real and the naked you will see the truth so what your gift is
Snippets which don't make much sense]... when it is done
Not used at all [I have no idea except for occasional
You will have no one to run to no one to run to.
The lyrics to Skinny Puppy's song Knowhere are dark, cryptic and filled with unsettling imagery. It speaks about being lost and having nowhere to turn to, while also delving into themes of sexual exploitation, detachment, and the misuse of one's gifts.
The opening line "a leech passing unseen kicked in mouth (firm?) will prove" can be interpreted as a metaphor for being taken advantage of or exploited without realizing it. The next lines "Day you will have no one to run to sell the satisfyer / Sex slave all encompasses high gets you by broken glass" suggest the idea of giving in to pleasures and desires at the expense of personal freedom and self-worth.
The refrain "nowhere nowhere nowhere to run to" is repeated throughout the song, highlighting a sense of being trapped or stuck in a hopeless situation. The final lines "Two looks back wonder which is real and the naked you will see the truth so what your gift is / Snippets which don't make much sense / Not used at all" could be an introspective reflection on one's life choices and how they may have led to a sense of disillusionment or feeling disconnected from one's purpose.
Overall, the lyrics to Knowhere are highly interpretive and leave a lot of room for personal reflection and analysis.
Line by Line Meaning
a leech passing unseen kicked in mouth (firm?) will prove
You have allowed someone to take advantage of you without even realizing it, and eventually that person will betray you and you will be left defenseless.
Day you will have no one to run to sell the satisfyer
One day, you will be alone, with no one to turn to, and you will have to find comfort in something that is ultimately unfulfilling or even harmful.
Sex slave all encompasses high gets you by broken glass
You are trapped in a cycle of seeking pleasure and escape, but it is slowly destroying you and leaving you broken.
In a crystal blown problem room and one
You are caught in a situation that is both fragile and dangerous, where one small misstep could cause everything to fall apart.
The (slut who last) slept in your bed in you head
You are haunted by memories of someone who took advantage of you, leaving you feeling dirty and ashamed.
Runs the genitals down no sensation promise your heart to
You are using sex to fill a void or distract from your pain, but it is ultimately leaving you numb and empty inside.
In your head where it must have some reason, all I said
You are trying to make sense of the chaos and confusion in your mind, but it is difficult to distinguish truth from illusion.
To run to nowhere nowhere nowhere to run to] looking back
You feel trapped and alone, with no way out of your current situation, and it is causing you to reflect on your past mistakes.
In you head all I said all I said [intense screaming
Your inner demons are screaming out and tormenting you, and you are struggling to find a way to silence them.
Looking back looking back one of
As you reflect on your past, you are confronted with painful memories and difficult choices.
In the background, ogre repeats: nowhere nowhere nowhere
The repetition of 'nowhere' emphasizes the feeling of being trapped and hopeless.
Nothing like what's said on the bootlegs also layered
The distorted and layered sound suggests that the true meaning of the lyrics is being obscured or hidden.
Misused your gift is misused your gift is not used
You have a talent or potential that you are not utilizing, and it is causing you to feel unfulfilled and wasted.
Two looks back wonder which is real and the naked you will see the truth so what your gift is
As you look back on your past, you are questioning what is truly important and meaningful in life, and you will need to take off the façade and confront your inner truth.
Snippets which don't make much sense]... when it is done
The disjointed snippets of lyrics suggest that the true meaning of the song is difficult to comprehend and may only become clear with hindsight.
Not used at all [I have no idea except for occasional
The repetition of the phrase 'not used at all' underscores the idea that you are not living up to your full potential and may be wasting your life.
You will have no one to run to no one to run to.
The repeated phrase emphasizes the feeling of being alone and isolated, with no one to turn to for help or support.
Contributed by Riley M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.