Lacquer Head by Primus

Album: Antipop (1999)

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Songfacts®:

A "lacquer head" is someone who gets high from sniffing paint, glue or other toxic substances (lacquer, which is a wood finish, will also do the trick). The song paints a bleak picture for young people addicted to inhalants, as Les Claypool sings about a girl who gets hit by a truck after sniffing turpentine and a kid who goes into a coma after huffing carburetor cleaner.

Like just about every Primus song, it's delivered with a wink and in no way glorifies the characters in the song. Still, Claypool clarified that it "addresses the dangers of chemical abuse."
This was produced by Fred Durst, lead singer of Limp Bizkit. Primus had a bunch of guest musicians play on or produce tracks on the Antipop album. James Hetfield, Stewart Copeland (Claypool's Oysterhead bandbate), Tom Waits and Tom Morello were some of the other musicians who contributed.
The video is a mix of live footage and claymation that depicts, among other things, a boy sniffing gasoline and glue. The video was banned by MTV, so Primus premiered it on the website for the Long Beach, California, radio station KNAC.

Comments: 5

Tobias from AzLes is on record saying it is an anti-drug song, and is Les taking a jab at people that huff. You can find the interview on youtube (there is a short - https://youtube.com/shorts/DkVBIDd09xg) in which he states this.
Joann from Hackensack New JerseyDangerous images and suggestions. I don't blame mtv.
Rusty from Argyle, Ny"satan" is his brother
Chris from Peabody, Maread the lyrics and you might get a very vague description of a boy who loved his carborator cleaner, perhaps a message about a boy sniffing himself into a coma. the video was banned because of the lyrics in conjunction with a boy getting high from satan putting a helmet on him that had gasoline running through it. had we seen the boy's body parts fly all over the place, thats why mtv would have banned it.
Luke from Martin, TnThe video didn't depict a boy sniffing gasoline and glue. It was banned because Satan rode the boy into a brick wall, causing him to explode.

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