March 7 and April 5 and May 2, 2021 Classic Seether Fine Again, again. All the Disclaimers You'd Want.

 

O.K., so I changed my mind.  I want to say a few words about Disclaimer II, but I will not run my dagger through Seether's lyrics as I would not spear a Shakespeare sonnet.  Too over the top?  

1) Gasoline.  See the post from February 28, 2021 Classic Seether Gasoline - A New Adventure. 

2) 69 Tea.  The more I listen to this, the more I want to listen to it.  What is it telling me? At this point I've been listening to so many interviews that Shaun's own interpretation is interwoven in my own.  From him, it's about being in pain and having organized religion do nothing but tell you to have faith and believe in something you can't see.  The lyrics are very interesting.  Being part of an organized religion compared to being in a mental health facility.  People in an organized religion being fake "trendsetters".  Some of those people who are religious would likely listen to the "Save me smiling Jesus, get off that cross" and have an instant reaction that the song is blasphemous and shut it off.  I don't agree at all.  He's legitimately asking for help.  There is a difference between Jesus Christ and people's interpretation of Jesus Christ.  It's funny how it often turns out that the judgmental attitude attributed to Jesus end up being the very things those people are condemning others about.  The last lines are quite interesting.  "Say, you will take my pills, say you will faking ill."  Swallow my religion whole and pretend you're all better, or that nothing was wrong in the first place.  But also reminds me of when a person is depressed.  Take pills and you'll be fixed.  But even more the attitudes and opinions about depression.  If you truly believed, you wouldn't be depressed.  You are not really depressed, you are just being dramatic, over emotional, looking for attention.  You are "faking ill".   This is what I hear when I listen.  There is an interview where Shaun talks about this song being about his mom and dad that explains the 69 part.  Still don't understand the "tea".  It's like the song Pig.  I love the song but what the hell does it have to do with pigs?  Listen to the Saron Gas version of 69 Tea.  It's starts more stripped down at the beginning and the vocals are almost gentle in the verses.

3) Fine Again.  This was their first single from Disclaimer in 2002 and remains one of Seether's most well-loved songs.  Fine Again was on the Saron Gas album and, from the liner notes, was written by S. Welgemoed and D. Stewart, i.e. Shaun and Dale, as were Gasoline, Driven Under and Broken*.  This song is heartbreakingly beautiful.  "I'm fine" meaning I'm not fine.  Leave me alone.  The word fine makes me think of the character Ruth Zardo in the Louise Penny novels.  She is a cranky old woman with pet duck who is also a famous poet.  Ruth, not the duck.  She wrote a book of poetry called I'm FINE.  F.I.N.E. as in Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic and Egotistical.

4) Needles.  The music on Needles is clear and very strong. I can hear the instruments separately, bass line, drums, guitar, more distinctly than usual.  The lyrics are very tough to listen to.  Makes me feel very sad and horrified at the same time.  Maybe knowing Shaun said the song is about his mother is coloring my reaction, but the way he sings, "Fuck you for killing me" is in a tone of voice I've heard between kids and their parents.  It sounds scarily authentic.  What son writes lyrics like that about his mother?  The type of mother that earns those type of lyrics.  Kids always love their parents and miss them no matter how awful the parents are.  Sometimes "I hate you" and "I love you" sound the same.

5) Driven Under.  Another truly great song about another truly bad relationship.  The music video is great, too.  The way the townspeople watch him like he's some sort of bug.  The fire that burns in reverse.  I've also watched Sympathetic where Shaun is walking around what appears to be New York City and looks like he's freezing his jujubes off.  So, these young men came over from South Africa in January 2002 and it was summer weather in Johannesburg, about 70℉ (21℃) and they arrived in New York that averages a low of 26℉ (-0.5℃).  And I wonder, irreverently, if the whole Driven Under car fire might have been welcome for the heat.

6) Pride. Very hard driving, pounding lyrics of two word sentences interspersed with more ethereal almost hypnotic sections.  Back and forth.  And then it's gone.

7) Sympathetic. Country before Country Song.  I'm always surprised at the unexpected turns in Seether's music.  That is what keeps me listening.  Familiar as home but always intriguing and exciting.  This song sounds just gorgeous.  

8) Your Bore.  Not good enough, huh?  You are with the wrong person.  Move on.  I felt this way with some people.  You can't make someone love you.  Just a side thought, written by young men, the answer to not being enough is, "I'll break you and leave you scarred. "Get the fuck away."  As a former teenage girl, the female version answer was less confrontational and more often, "What's wrong with me, I'll change and be anything you want."  The music and lyrics here feel like sitting in a room on a couch in the corner where your boyfriend ignores you and talks to everyone but you.  The creeping boredom, the anxiety, the depression and the growing anger.

9) Fade Away. Another Seether love song.  So romantic and beautiful.  I've been listening to various hard rock bands that come up on Seether Radio--Shinedown, Stone Sour, Hinder, Staind, Three Days Grace, 3 Doors Down, Papa Roach and many more--and they may look intimidating but they definitely have romance in their souls.  Along with themes such as "Fuck you, Go ahead, make my day, Do you feel lucky, punk" or "I feel like a monster, I'm depressed as hell, I'm just crazy" and strong social commentary there are a lot of relationship songs.  "I love you, I miss you, I wish you were here" or "It didn't work out, It's not working out but we are staying together because we can't help it, I love you but you don't love me"  Everyone is looking for someone to love them.  Everyone.  If you can sing to your love, even better.

10) Pig. The music is very tense. Something is building but you don't know when it's going up in flames.  The instruments played together that sounds like big double drumbeat.  The intro to the Saron Gas version is so different than the Disclaimer II; also faster and the vocals are higher.  Just a great song with strong lyrics.  Still don't know why it's called Pig.  I may never know. September update: Actually, I do know.  I purchased the Saron Gas Fragile album and Pig [forgive me] is a different animal on Fragile.  Faster, darker, angrier.  Instead of the instrumental ending on Disclaimer it ends with Shaun saying and finally screaming "Pig" and "You Pig".  

11) F**k It.  Fuck it!  The chorus in a nutshell.  This is another ambiguous relationship song from Seether.  Dream-like music in the verses "I guess I like it when we play.  I guess I like it when you hate me".   But he stays because, Fuck it! they have  such a strong connection.

12) Broken. Probably one of the most beautiful rock love songs. Certainly one of the most loved and beloved Seether songs in whatever version you love best.  Disclaimer II has both.

I'll stop here because there are different versions of Disclaimer** and Disclaimer II.  All three, Disclaimer, Disclaimer II [regular version] and Disclaimer II [deluxe version] have the same songs #1-12.  Disclaimer stops right there.  The Standard version has #13 Sold Me #14 Got it Make #15 Cigarettes and #16 Broken (featuring Amy Lee).  The Deluxe version has #13 Sold Me #14 Cigarettes #15 Love Her #16 Take Me Away #17 Got it Made #18 Out of My Way #19 Hand On and #20 Broken (featuring Amy Lee).  

*On rereading, of the 12 here all are listed as written by both Shaun and Dale except #2 69 Tea and #10 Pig written by Shaun.  Now I first realized I needed another copy of Disclaimer II when I found I was missing the bonus DVD with, my personal kryptonite, behind-the-scenes footage.  Imagine my horror when I realized when I got it that my previous purchase was the "clean" version.   So what's the difference?  The clean CD has a single sheet of paper with the cover on one side and a list of credits on the other side.  Which is interesting because it does have who wrote what song and the which songs the four different drummer played on.  [On which they played, if you prefer.]  I'll scan it in so you can see it.  No lyrics, no notes, no Parental Advisory.  So what's also interesting is that on the list on songs on the back cover #11 is named XXXX XX [clean] and FXXX IT [explicit].  I guess that one little word is so egregious that it can't be spelled out in public view.  Once you open the shrink wrap on the version with the lyrics, you're on your own, however.  And, of course, listening to the clean version, there is a musical hold where once the word Fuck was sung.  I know, I should let this go, but with all the violence and mean-spirited words in this world, it's seems like protecting us from this one word seems a little...

Anyway, "Fur Cue"*** and the horsy you rode in on.  I'll send my clean version of Disclaimer II to anyone who can name the album I'm referring to without looking.  Like you'd want it.

**Here's the Rolling Stone Review on Disclaimer from September 19, 2002 by Robert Cherry

Seether hail from sunny, rock-impoverished Johannesburg, South Africa. But everything else about them screams Seattle in the Nineties, from singer Shaun Morgan's Eddie Vedder vocal timbre to his band mates' simmer-to-a-scream dynamics. Morgan stuffs Disclaimer with angst-y images of burning houses, "rats everywhere," expired dreams, "monthly blood" - even bed-wetters. And that's just the first three cuts. "Fine Again" is a jackhammer lullaby that carries the DNA of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and comes with a real downer of a singalong chorus: "I am aware now of how everything is going to be fine one day/Too late, I'm in hell." Not much optimism here, but a little toe-tapping catharsis counts for a lot.

ROBERT CHERRY
(RS 905 - Sept. 19, 2002)

***Watch the Seether vs. the Box interview from 2011 which explains that Fur Cue is NOT an Afrikaans slang term.  It's flat-out funny.