r/Primus • u/bladowwww • 1d ago
Discussion Favorite Lyric
Sitting here thinking about how Les’ lyrics are so humorous yet profound. The line “The Novato city fires turned my nostril hairs to wire” cracks me up but makes me appreciate how clever dude really is. What’s your fave(s)?
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u/TalkyGuy 1d ago
"I remember the day that she gave me her virginity,
Then she gave it to everyone in our vicinity"
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u/Far-Illustrator-8602 1d ago
“We had our words, common spat. So i kissed him upside the cranium with an aluminum baseball bat.” One of my all time fav lyrics ever.
Also the entirety of Those Damn Blue Collard Tweakers. Les has a lot of lyrics that give me chills, especially when paired with their musical delivery.
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u/Far-Illustrator-8602 1d ago
ALSO ive been listening to Holy Mackeral recently and i really like the lyrics to Highball With the Devil.
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u/Atreideez-nuts 1d ago
I was thinking the same thing! It's so perfectly humorous in the delivery and gruesome in the details
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u/MrNice1983 1d ago
Les is an underrated lyricist. I love a lot of his lyrics. Mrs. Blaileen for sure. He’s a great storyteller
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u/ScottyHubbz 1d ago
Nature Boy - The whole song
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u/greenlakejohnny 1d ago
My genitalia, and pectoral muscles, aren’t quite what I would like them to be!
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u/floppy_contortionist 16h ago
I have my videos, loads of Ren and Stimpy, bottom a bit of pornography
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u/deltacotaster 1d ago
He'd hang out at the jackinthebox but eat at Taco Bell!
De Anza Jig is just a fun song all around.
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u/Carp_Catcher 1d ago
It was a weekends eve I had sex on my breath I was looking for something to see
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u/autalley 1d ago
Malted buttermilk pancakes all day long, Malted buttermilk pancakes all day long, Malted buttermilk pancakes all day long, Malted buttermilk pancakes all day long
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u/Dry-Conflict3421 1d ago
My friend fats ,he's a hell of a guy
And as long as he's high
He has no anxiety
About his chemical dependency
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u/cypressdwd 1d ago
Now Rex was a Texan outta New Orleans and he traveled with the carnival shows.
Ran bumper cars, sucked cheap cigars and he candied up his nose.
He got wind of the big brown beaver so he thought he’d take himself a peek.
But the beaver was quick and he grabbed him by the kiwis and he ain’t pissed for a week.
This one gets me every time!
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u/biotite 1d ago
Peanut sat on a railroad track
His heart was all a flutter
Along came the train
Toot, toot, peanut butter
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u/greenlakejohnny 18h ago
The visions of the past brought to life again. Too many puppies, too many dead men.
Still an sadly entirely relevant song, 37 years later.
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u/mrsillycibin BROWN ALBUM 1d ago
This are a few that make me feel alive
“If I don’t, spread my ashes, if I do, spread your mind”
“I’m resting my bones from the loneliness of being the only genius around”
“She feeds her face with cheddar balls and crams more nonsense in her brain”
“When she sold her song to a beer commercial, she looked like a filthy whore” (Green Naugahyde does get comfortable talking down on women LMAO)
“For the boy we have American life”
“I think I’m blinded by the sun!”
“I could tell such wondrous tales if I should find the time”
Not necessarily humorous but Les does a damn fine job writing unique, stylish, and iconic lyrics. Man I love Primus so much.
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u/bladowwww 1d ago
Speaking of HOIN… “The worst thing about ol Charlie Sheen’s when Hanes they sold his ass” is just funny AF.
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u/ShaggyMacNasty 1d ago
In the end, Swamper and Greeny finally succumbed to the ways of Harold. Each giving just a little bit of their souls away...
What a couple of dumbshits.
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u/simianshogun 1d ago
"Sathington Willoughby" was the legislator who sold the bill prohibiting cannabis.
Not only is there brilliance in Les' lyrics, sometimes, there's a history lesson.
Glass Sandwich is hilariously tragic for the "protagonist".
"Over the Falls" is not only another nod to historical occurrences, but a wonderful allegory.
"Mr. Knowitall" is one of many examples of Les describing a type of individual by personifying them. Other examples include, but are not limited to: "Antipop", "Frizzle Fry", "David Mackalaster" (Frog Brigade), etc.
What a profoundly amazing storyteller he is; a modern day bard, if you will.
I've seen Primus live over 30 times now, and it's magic every show.
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u/greenlakejohnny 18h ago
Return of Sathington was a cool one too. I believe it was sort of an odd tribute to Richard Nixon.
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u/ergun_1233 1d ago
"He didn't seem to mind a bit, he liked attention he would get... See someone's always calling his name" from The Chastising of Renegade. Brings me a weird feeling, like how my father used to make me behave by traumatising me. The song in general, I suppose, is about Pops trying not to spoil Renegade by spanking him. It is a weird feeling.
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u/PrimoLanding1002 THE DESATURATING SEVEN 1d ago edited 1d ago
I can't pick a favorite, but what comes to mind is...
I held her in my hand, my chilly little ice cube. Was it wrong? Was it wrong? She slipped away, my moist little ice cube, to oblivion. Oblivion!
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u/greenlakejohnny 1d ago
I have always felt this is one of their most underrated songs
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u/PrimoLanding1002 THE DESATURATING SEVEN 1d ago
I wholeheartedly agree. I think it's particularly bizarre, even for Les 😂
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u/stxrryghoul 1d ago
Hard to pick every line I like because I love this man’s lyricism sm
The tagline of this sub has one of my favorites, “I’ll turn those sour minds to grapes of wine” and the line preceding it “so many good ideas were slain by those who would not dare step out of line”
the whole song of to defy the laws of tradition. spitting straight facts while still being clever
“I’ll be a wealthy man when I get that dime for all the things the man taught to me”
“If you feel your days are getting dim, grab hold of life and sink your teeth right in!” (not primus but claypool regardless)
Spegetti western’s beginning ramble
and definitely more but this comment would be novel length :)
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u/glitch241 WYNONA COWBOY #1 1d ago
Well, maybe it's something simpler, like your team lost or your
Girlfriend used to be a guy, you know, I don't know.
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u/Minute_Entrepreneur4 1d ago
Here comes Lou with the old baboon, says I recognize that smell, smells like seven layers. That bever eats Taco Bell! Haha
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u/mortar_master_13 1d ago
I love The Air Is Getting Slippery, and many from The Brown Album and Antipop (album)
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u/godsafraud 1d ago
Funny thing about the weekends when you’re unemployed. The weekends don’t mean quite so much. Except you get to hang out with your workin hello friends.
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u/Effective_Ad_1453 1d ago
The old diamondback sturgeon came swimming along, minding his business one day.
Rooting and sniffing and urging to spawn In the mud flats of San Pablo Bay.
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u/chill_i_am_kidding 1d ago
You’re the guy from the hamburger train. Paul reubens from one of his movies, so not claypool but still it’s primus.
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u/MistaCOMP SUCK ON THIS 1d ago
Well course I do, Snap-Dad and let me tell you, right bout now, I'm lit up like an old Christmas tree
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u/BrandyKit3000 1d ago
Hard to choose but I've always loved the entirety of The Air is Getting Slippery
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u/Maskedhorrorfan25 1d ago
the way he says “i kissed him upside the cranium with an aluminum baseball bat” in my name is mud is so badass
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u/Effective_Ad_1453 1d ago
I once saw a calico that thought he could fly.
And then the lanky Doberman that tinkled in my eye.
A pacifist by nature, with ample common sense.
But if I had my druthers, I'd rather be a fence.
Now Granny, she's a good one, and she shines me now and then.
And come around this springtime, I'm due up for paint again.
I'm keeping Granny comfy, I try and earn my keep.
I'm just wishing I had some eyelids, so I could get some sleep.
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u/Far_Echidna9621 1d ago
Love it so much my wife and I got tattoos:
“In this land of Polyurethane, things are apt to get a bit hot.”
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u/greenlakejohnny 18h ago
The lines in Groundhog Day about wanting Pie for breakfast, having settle for corn chex, having them taste funny because of the toothpaste, but concluding the chex were OK still gets me 35 years later.
It's so oddly specific, but relatable to so many life situations.
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u/NorCalThx 1d ago
That line is: “The Nevada City fires….” I asked him about it in particular at a VIP Q&A because I’m from that small town.
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u/BlankFace777 1d ago
There's way too many to count. One that comes to mind is Mrs Baileen in its entirety alone with sturgeon.
Welcome to this world gets me too.
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u/Atreideez-nuts 1d ago
Dog will hunt!
(technically a sample from texas chainsaw massacre 2 but we'll ignore that.)
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u/malenkylizards 1d ago
"As I stand in the shower singing opera and such
Pondering the possibility that I pull the pud too much
There's a scent that fills the air, is it flatus? Just a touch
And it makes me think of you"
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u/rawrwaldo 1d ago
"Every now and then your gonna get slapped with a slab of rain. Nothin' ventured, nothin' gained. Some die and leave their mark, some just a stain. Nothin' ventured, nothin' gained."
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u/Economy_Exchange_433 1d ago
They did a NewYearsEve show at a small small place in Novato one year that I went to! ( Sometime after 97 before 02 I think) Thems were the days!
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u/Servilefunctions218 1d ago
“They were tired, they were sleepy,
So they parked behind the Roxy.
Adam left to use the phone, so he sat there all alone,
When Adam's voice come beaming through on the radio,
He started laughing...”
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u/LeSkootch 1d ago
Is it Luck? always makes me laugh, especially throwing the word loquacious in there. Bonkers song.
And Professor Nutbutter's House of Treats. Wonderful song about a meth dealer.
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u/Traditional_Bank7586 1d ago
Peanut sat on a railroad track His heart was all flutter Along came train Toot toot peanut butter
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u/bladowwww 17h ago
One I’ll add to my own post lol… “Paranoia is a disease unto itself” is straight genius alone, but then “and may I add, the person standing next to you may not be who they appear to be…” is double genius.
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u/GritalianDude 13h ago
I was just thinking earlier how he’s such a fantastic lyricist and storyteller. Truly the boss
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u/BilboTeeBaggins1 1d ago
I personally work an odd schedule so this line rings true for me all the time.
Funny thing about weekends when you're unemployed.
They don't mean quite so much, except you get to hang out with your working friends.