Album: Iowa (2001)

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Songfacts®:

• This misanthrope anthem captures the outsider spirit of Slipknot, a band of nine lunatics from Des Moines, Iowa who wear bizarre masks and orange jumpsuits on stage. They wrote this song while they were on the road touring, exposed to industry types and all manner of human detritus. But the s--t happens back home in Des Moines too.
  
  "Sometimes when I drive around my humble little city that I live in, and I see people not letting you merge into traffic, and just the hustle and bustle of all these goats running around the city, it just makes me sick," Slipknot drummer Chris Fehn (#3) told Songfacts. "And people trying to keep up with the Joneses, that attitude, you know. Maxing out your credit card so you can have stuff that means nothing. But there's so many great people in the world, don't get me wrong. I don't drive around all jaded like that. But sometimes I just get that feeling when I look at society as a whole, my god, what a gyp. But that's where metal and music came in for me. It gave me that escape away from not wanting to be part of the norm."
• The music was written by Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison; the lyrics by lead singer Corey Taylor. Many Slipknot songs are informed by the lowlifes Taylor encountered growing up, when his mom traveled all over the place doing her best to raise him and his sister without a dad. He had it rough and often felt like no matter what he did, it was never good enough. A lot of that comes through in this song's lyric.
• "People = S--t" is the second track on Slipknot's 2001 album Iowa, the follow-up to their 1999 major-label self-titled debut. The opening track is the minute-long "515," which acts as an intro. That song is a scramble of angry sounds put together by their DJ, Sid Wilson.
• Slipknot drummer Chris Fehn mentions this as one of the strongest of their songs. "I just like the dark, heavy make-you-think-about-stuff songs," he told Songfacts. "I love 'Eeyore,' and the classics too, 'Spit It Out.' 'People = S--t,' I mean, when you bust into 'People = S--t,' I want to destroy. I cannot help it. But it's always nice to just hear the weird ones."

Comments: 6

• Anonymous from SomewhereSpotify added this to my 'songs that don't swear' playlist.
• Kenneth from Sulphur Springs, TxCrahan is right were all just bloodthirsty monsters who love to slaughter and destroy everything we touch.Humanity had a meaning before but now its just a word we use to make ourselves sleep better at night.In other words were all damned souls and theres no use fighting our nature. If you have a better opinion of the human race then enjoy it while it lasts cause sooner or later youre going to open youre eyes to the truth and when that day comes youre lfe ceases to have any meaning and you walk a hollow shell of what humans were meant to be.Sorry for being so deppressing.
• Kelsie from Pittsfield, MaWhen asked why "People=S--t" Crahan says "We are what we are, we just waste and we ruin and we corrupt, and we destroy," so People=S--t basically because we are our own worst enemy, we are going to be the end of the earth and no one seems to give a sh*t.
  The message trying to get across is that of the human race is depleating itself of the simple pleasures in life and that everyone is now fake. Fake meaning people, society, everyone, is now pretending to be someone else. Not caring about others, and just themselves. In this act, they are a disease put on earth and we must show them the reality of life. They kill themselves, and or others, because they do not know what is going on in the real world because they are so wrapped up in the world politics and media, they hide reality from people because it will scare them. People need to know. People are the #1 cause of destruction on this earth and this needs to change, but the sad fact is, we can't. That is what they are trying to get across."
• Syton from Colorado Springs, CoThere should be more comments on this song. Slipknot=one of the greatest bands of all time. I don't know where people like me would be without this kind of stuff around. This song rocks hard as hell!
• Patty from Alamo, Txout of all the songs this is my favorite when i hear it i wanna go hit someone....but i will apologize for hitting them....=D...
• Jerimias from Nuuk, GreenlandGod, this song rocks!!!

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