Song Of The Month, February 1997
This month's featured song is "Flower." I've realized that my graduating in May leaves the fate of this site undecided, so I may only have a chance to do another few songs of the month -- there's no way I'm leaving without doing "Flower." Also, as time goes by, I feel more and more responsibility to familiarize fans with Soundgarden's older material, because some of it, like this particular track, is superb.
The EP
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The Song
Originally recorded for 1988's Ultramega OK, "Flower" was written by Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell and is the first track on the band's only full-length SST release. It became the only single from the album, released as a three-song EP in 1989 with "Head Injury" (also from Ultramega OK) and "Toy Box" (previously unreleased). Because of the poor mix that is characteristic of Ultramega OK, Screaming Life producer Jack Endino remixed "Flower" and presented it to Chris Cornell as a sample of the album's potential; there was talk of reissuing the entire record with a new mix by Endino, but the idea was lost in the shuffle as Soundgarden began recording Louder Than Love. Melody Maker called "Flower" "a metallic maelstrom of mutilation" and Sounds said that when performed live, "'Flower' bursts from its introductory psychedelic shimmer, a materpiece of hi-tensile riff damage." Guitarist Kim Thayil describes his technique for creating the eerie opening sounds of the song: "This song marks the first time I ever blew on a guitar. I put the guitar down on the ground near the amp to get a humming feedback, as opposed to a squealy one, and blew across the strings in rhythm with the drums. There's probably some obscure Mississippi blues guitarist like 'Blind Lemon Pledge' who's done that before <laughs>, but 'Flower' is the first time any rock band had recorded the sound of someone blowing across the strings. It sounds like a sitar." He adds, "I've done that live, but people always say, 'Hey he's playing with his beard.'" Drummer Matt Cameron says of his contribution: "I totally missed a drum on 'Flower,' but we left it in there." (Anyone want to figure out where he missed?) The video for "Flower" is something of a rarity; it is virtually never aired on MTV or MuchMusic, and even collections of videos assembled by fans never include it. However, it is special because it features footage of Hiro Yamamoto, Soundgarden's original bassist. The video, as you can probably tell from looking at the images at the left side of your screen, consists of black and white footage of the band both walking around and sticking their faces in the camera and performing the song live.
Sound + Vision
And now, the highlight of this page, the ultra-rare video for "Flower," brought to you by Juan Gutierrez in Mexico (who supplied the tape) and Geoff Kleemola in Canada (who digitized it):
Lyrics
Along her vain parade / Along her veins / All of seventeen / Eyes a purple green / Treated like a queen / She was on borrowed self-esteem / She would do her dance / A painful masquerade / Spinning you into her web / Along her vain parade / In her uniform / Studded brass and steel / Kissing napkin lipstick stains / And smearing sincerity / Along her vain parade / Along her veins / Time crept up on her / She's early gray / Her reflection looks concerned / And flowers hit her grave
Tablature
Authorized Releases
Unauthorized Releases
Credits
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![[VIDEO]](/soundgarden/images/inline/video.gif){kind=small}