The Real Song For The Deaf

Album: Songs For The Deaf (2002)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Long before ASMR was a thing, Queens Of The Stone Age released "The Real Song For The Deaf," a 92-second collage of soft pulses and taps. According to Nick Oliveri, the main songwriter on the Songs For The Deaf album along with group leader Josh Homme, the song was, in fact, created for deaf people. "We got an organization of deaf people to rub balloons against the mic at such a low frequency that they could feel it," he told Planet Sound. "Turn up your speakers at home and you'll, ah, hear it."
  • Some artists embedded hidden songs at the end of their CDs that you could only hear if you left it playing after the final track, but Queens Of The Stone Age put "The Real Song For The Deaf" at the beginning as a hidden track, which is far less practical. The only way to hear it was by starting the disc (Track 1 is "You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire"), then rewinding it. Not every CD player had this rewind function, so it didn't work for everyone.

    There is a hidden track at the end of the disc as well called "Mosquito Song."
  • The album is called Songs For The Deaf under the aegis that it's so heavy, even deaf people can hear it. "The Real Song For The Deaf" is the only track that deaf people can take in, though, but according to a report in Metal Hammer, when Queens Of The Stone Age played a show in Hull, England, at a club called Spiders, a group of 37 hearing-impaired individuals showed up because they thought it was literally a "songs for the deaf night."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Randy Houser

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.