[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL "9 Songs About Eating People"
06.13.12
BY MIKEY MIGO
Over the past few weeks, there has been a weird spree of cannibalism activity. If you’re reading this then I’m sure you’ve seen articles, posts, videos, and internet “memes” talking about zombies. If you’ve seen the pictures of the case in Florida then you’re as creeped out and disgusted as much as I am. It’s a creepy thought, but there are no zombies. It’s not real. What’s happening is people are doing drugs and going nuts.
It’s just cannibalism… that’s all.
I didn’t expect to type that sentence when I woke up today. I imagine way back at the dawn of humankind. There had to have been a lot of taste testing going on. How did they really know what’s edible unless someone actually tasted it? Some guy took the unknowing risk of tasting sugar, another sampled dirt, and even someone had the task of tasting randomness like rocks. I feel bad for the guy who discovered cannibalism.
I really don’t want to make light of this. People did get hurt and people lost loved ones. It’s just hard to ignore the bizarre nature of these incidents. It’s crazy to the point that the only answer people have is to compare the news to a genre of horror movies.
Music is real though. I’m sure of that. We’re not going to talk about bands like Cannibal Corpse or Fine Young Cannibals, thought their name make them worth noting here. There are plenty of songs, albums, and band names dedicated to zombies. But like I said, zombies are fictional creations and that cannibalism is what you should really be afraid of. So without further rambles, let’s take a look at songs about eating people…
9.) “I Am A Cannibal” by Ke$ha
This is the first time I’ve dedicated any time to this performer. I’m a pretty rational person. I’m not against this stuff, but maybe I’m past it. I did one YouTube search for this topic and this song came up a lot. I gave it a listen. Yeah, it’s bad… but it’s about cannibals! It’s the first song I’ve in a while to use the word “anus”. The vocabulary is awesome. I know I made a big deal about zombies not being real, but I assure you that Ke$ha is alive. That said, isn’t this song catchy?!
8.) “Cannibal” by Static-X
I like Static-X. This is the title track of the band’s fifth album. It’s not a great track compared to their biggest hits, but it’s right on point in terms of cannibalism. Wayne Static described the thought process with "With ‘Cannibal,’ I was thinking of how, when I see people eating these big pieces of meat, it’s really disgusting to me. It’s like they could be cannibals; that you could give somebody a piece of a human and they’d eat it and not know the difference. So, with that basic idea in mind, I was able to write the song around it.." How can you argue with that?
7.) “Silver Spoon” by Grace Slick
I was always a fan of Jefferson Airplane AND Starship growing up. Grace Slick has a really passionate voice and to be honest, I’ve always preferred her tunes over Janis Joplin’s. In this tune she explores frustration with a quirky track about cannibalism. She gets pretty vulgar. The whole “shove in your mouth any way that you can” line is a good example of this. Slick is a vegan now, but at the time she was pissed and annoyed by all the vegetarian neighbors pushing their views. I wish I was Grace Slick’s neighbor.
6.) “Eat the Rich” by Motorhead
The movie Airheads asked the questions “Who’d win? Lemmy or God?” This is a trick question because Lemmy IS God. I’m not a huge Motorhead fan or anything, but I’ve seen nothing to discredit this claim. This 1987 Motorhead track was probably one of the band’s bigger hits. It was written for the dark comedy film of the same title released that year. Like a lot of the tracks on this list, it’s a metaphor. I’m sure they’re not condoning the idea of eating the wealthy. At least, I don’t think…
5.) "Knives Out" by Radiohead
The music video of this 2001 Radiohead single is pretty bad ass. Most Radiohead videos are bad ass though. The song could be taken many ways. Singer Thom Yorke typically describes the song being about cannibalism. The video obviously shows this. What I take from the song is that it’s about that flickering moment of light to dark. In this case, from normal human to cannibalistic human. Almost as if there is a certain art to being a savage. This paragraph proves that it’s almost impossible to not get introspective while speaking of Radiohead.
4.) “Timothy” by The Buoys
There is no metaphor here. This song is literally about people eating people. In 1971, The Buoys released “Timothy”. It’s a story about two trapped miners who eat their friend out of desperation. The friend’s name you ask? “Timothy”. This made it up the charts before getting banned in most places once they realized it was about people eating people. Two weeks on the charts is still impressive. I guess when someone “resorts” to cannibalism, it’s not as evil as “dude went crazy and just started eating people”. Still, bad ass for a 1971 pop song.
3.) “I Eat Cannibals” by Total Coelo
Holy shit. This is a great video and song. It’s one of the most hokey 80’s videos I’ve EVER seen. Just about everything silly I can think of about the 80’s in here. Rihanna ain’t got shit on Total Coelo. The chorus exclaims “I eat cannibal!” So wouldn’t that make them cannibals themselves? I think so. This song promotes cannibal on cannibal violence. How did this group not catch on?
2.) “Eat the Rich” by Aerosmith
While it shares the title with the Motorhead song, it’s not the same song at all. This is actually one of the more underappreciated Aereosmith songs. They had about a million hits come out around this time. I think this one holds up better than most of them. The video was entertaining and is done very well for a candid/rehearsal type of video. Who can really argue with this one? The band’s focus here is to eat the rich. It’s like a cannibal Robin Hood!
1.) “Cannibal Buffet” by Voltaire
Did I pick this song because it specifically says “then we’ll eat your face”? Well, sorta. In this track, we hear a story of a man who gets stuck on an island full of cannibals. If LOST had that plot, I’d watch! If you’re not informed of the awesomeness that is Voltaire then you’re missing out. I’d recommend pretty much any of his albums. If you like good melody, good stories, good goth humor, and an appreciation for the bizzare then give him a look. This song is a perfect example of the post mortem swag Voltaire brings to the table. By far, Voltaire makes cannibalism the most entertaining.
What is YOUR favorite song about people eating people… That’s NOT a zombie song?
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