“Queer” is a song written and produced by alternative rock band Garbage for the band’s self-titled debut album. The song started as a demo during sessions between band members Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker, and had its composition finished after singer Shirley Manson joined the band. Manson rewrote the sexualized lyrics to be more ambiguous, and rearranged the song into a subdued trip-hop and rock crossover structure. In 1995, “Queer” was issued as the band’s fourth single in the United Kingdom and second internationally. The song quickly became a modern rock success for the fledgling band, with positive reviews from music journalists, and becoming their first top 20 hit in both the UK Singles Chart and Billboard’s Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also earned attention with its music video by Stéphane Sednaoui, which featured Manson detaining, stripping and shaving a man from a first-person perspective. The video earned much airplay on MTV and was nominated for Breakthrough Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. Wikipedia®.
Garbage – Queer (Official Video)
This song is one of the first completed by the band. Vocalist Shirley Manson had no prior experience of songwriting before her band mates asked her to contribute lyrics to this track. The drums use a sample from the Australian group Single Gun Theory’s song “Man Of Straw.” Drummer Butch Vig said that the lyrics were inspired by “this novel about this woman who was hired to go and make this guy’s son a ‘man.’ The kid is missing a few marbles. But then he realizes that the women who came to his room is also f–king his father.” Most of the video is in black and white and shot from the perspective of a guy being abducted by the band. The video was nominated for Best Breakthrough Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. Songfacts®.
Garbage – Queer Lyrics:
Hey boy, take a look at me
Let me dirty up your mind
I’ll strip away your hard veneer
And see what I can find
The queerest of the queer
The strangest of the strange
The coldest of the cool
The lamest of the lame
The numbest of the dumb
I hate to see you here
You choke behind a smile
A fake behind the fear
The queerest of the queer
This is what he pays me for
I’ll show you how it’s done
You’ll learn to love the pain you feel
Like father like son
The queerest of the queer
Hide inside your head
The blindest of the blind
The deadest of the dead
You’re hungry ’cause you starve
While holding back the tears
Choking on your smile
A fake behind the fear
The queerest of the queer
I know what’s good for you, you can touch me if you want
I know you’re dying to, you can touch me if you want
I know what’s good for you, you can touch me if you want
But you can’t stop
The queerest of the queer
The strangest of the strange
The coldest of the cool
The lamest of the lame
The numbest of the dumb
I hate to see you here
You choke behind a smile
A fake behind the fear
The queerest of the queer
The strangest of the strange
The coldest of the cool
You’re nothing special here
A fake behind the fear
The queerest of the queer
I know what’s good for you I know you’re dying to
I know what’s good for you
I bet you’re dying to
You can touch me if you want
You can touch me if you want
You can touch me
You can touch me
But you can’t stop.
