The Last Baron

Album: Crack the Skye (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Guitarist Bill Kelliher told The Skinny magazine, that this, "is a crazy 15-minute song that's got all sorts of different elements of Mastodon involved with it. It had five, six or seven riffs in a row when Brent (Hinds, vocals) brought it to us - it didn't really have any shape or direction - and we tried to make sense of it. We had all these powerful riffs and embellished beyond what Brent had done with chorus parts to really craft it into a song. To me it had a Mars Volta feel to it when we started playing the heavily delayed part. The third part of the song has a great breakdown that was one of the very first riffs we had for the record but I didn't know what to make of it, we'd never played anything like that before.

    It's got a freeform freak-out jazz part in the middle there, kind of Frank Zappa-ish, almost like a trumpet playing sound to the guitar parts. It feels like a quick burst of energy. That part comes out of leftfield but it all fits together.

    It sprang to life once the melodies came in and it's got some cool chicken pickin' parts and a really good funk vibe going on towards the end. It also has a kickass solo in the end; it's just a really moving song and a perfect ender for the record. It sums the whole thing up."

Comments: 1

  • Nick from Plains, PaDefinative Favorite off of CTS! nothing can compare to the epicness of this song
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum

Dave Pirner of Soul AsylumSongwriter Interviews

Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.