1001 Songs, You Must To Listen, Before You Die: Surfacing

Book published c.2019 edition

Writer | S. Crahan, C. Fehn, P. Gray, C. Jones, J. Jordison, C. Taylor, M.
Thomson, S. Wilson
Producer | Ross Robinson, Slipknot
Label | Roadrunner
Album | Slipknot (1999)

“Slipknot preach individualism,” chief visionary Shawn “Clown” Crahan told the Guardian, “and we help our maggots to get rid of conformity.”
 If the brutal sounds and horror movie visuals didn’t clue you in, the Iowa nine-piece’s “new national anthem” left no doubt about their worldview. Its chorus was splattered across their album artwork, elevating angst to a manifesto: “Fuck it all/Fuck this world/Fuck everything that you stand for/Don’t belong / Don’t exist/Don’t give a shit / Don’t ever judge me.”
 Inevitably, this was interpreted more as nihilism than protest, particularly by younger fans. “If their parents aren’t raising them, then someone has to,” drummer and bandleader Joey Jordison told The Face. “Someone’s gotta tell them how it is.”
 Musically, the song was distinguished by guitarist Mick Thomson’s pitchshifted squeal. And while he compared “Surfacing” to prog gods Rush, the tumultuous track better evoked the head-splitting thrills of standing in a collapsing building.
 However, the band united on their rallying cry. “Surfacing,” percussionist Chris Fehn told Songfacts, “encompasses the attitude of the band and the attitude of how we feel about life: don’t judge me. Everything that you think that you know about the world, and about Slipknot, and about your own life, might not be the case. ... So I think it’s just openmindedness, and just be cool.”

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