Possum Kingdom (song)
| "Possum Kingdom" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Possum Kingdom.jpg | ||||
| Single by Toadies | ||||
| from the album Rubberneck | ||||
| Released | August 1, 1995 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Genre | Grunge | |||
| Length | 5:09 | |||
| Label | Interscope | |||
| Writer(s) | Todd Lewis | |||
| Producer(s) | Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf | |||
| Toadies singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"Possum Kingdom" is a song by rock band Toadies released as the second single from their 1994 album, Rubberneck.
The song's origins lie in folklore from the band's native state of Texas. Possum Kingdom Lake is a lake in North Texas near Fort Worth.[1] In the documentary "Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck", Lewis further elaborates that he intended "Possum Kingdom" to be a continuation of the story told in the song "I Burn". While he envisioned "I Burn" to be a story about cult members immolating themselves in order to ascend to a higher plane, "Possum Kingdom" was about one of the immolated people becoming "just smoke, and ...he goes to Possum Kingdom [Lake] and tries to find somebody to join him." [2]
Most of the song alternates between a 4/4, a 7/4 and an 8/4 time signature.
Music video
The music video for "Possum Kingdom" was directed by Thomas Mignone and begins with a body bag being dragged from a lake, then pans to the lead singer, Vaden Todd Lewis, singing in a dark room. It then pans to a shot of the band performing in a small venue with several dozen dancing fans. The individual who dragged the body bag from the river then opens it and begins violently hacking away at it. The video ends by revealing the individual is actually an ice sculptor that is creating the image of a beautiful woman. A drop of water is seen streaming down her face. Filming was done in Dallas, TX.
Charts
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Alternative 30 | 3 |
| U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 Airplay | 40[3] |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 9 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 4 |
In other media
- The music video was featured in an episode of Beavis and Butt-head.
- The song is a playable track in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II and as downloadable content in Rock Band 3.
- The track is used in Girl Talk's "This is the Remix" from his 2010 album All Day.
- It was featured on an episode of Hindsight.
References
- ↑ Todd Lewis, Lead Singer of the Toadies, 1995 interview appearing in Rip Magazine according to SongFacts accessed online at http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4014
- ↑ Todd Lewis, Lead singer of the Toadies, 2014 interview appearing in the documentary video "Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck", directed by Clark Vogeler. Accessed online at http://thetoadies.com/?p=1196
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
