Ah, I was looking forward to this one! Such a strange track, with drum groove, the metallic-sounding snare, that ominous repeating guitar riff-- but to me, it has always been one of the standout tracks on the album. In terms of the lyrical content and subject matter-- with a title like "Rx Queen", it's almost assuredly got something to do with drug usage (Rx being the symbol for a pharmacist's drug prescriptions). The phrase "white pony" itself is a slang term for cocaine. I always interpreted this song as being from the perspective of an addict who is so thoroughly hooked that he actually personifies his drug of choice and treats it as a significant other. In the first verse, the line "I won't stop following you" would be a declaration of how committed he is to chasing the high. In the second verse, "We'll stop to rest on the moon" could signify the intensity of the high; but later in the same verse, "steal[ing] a carcass" seems to suggest that, deep down, he's also aware that feeding this addiction is forcing him to become intimately acquainted with mortality and decay. In the third verse, the line about "turn[ing] newborn baby blue" evokes imagery of someone who isn't breathing, suggesting an overdose. And the constant assertion in the chorus, "You're my girl, and that's alright / If you sting me, I won't mind" makes sense in this context too, if you consider the drug to be one he is shooting up with a needle (and it also suggests his indifference to the negative effects to his health).
This song breaks my heart. It’s one of the few times Chino felt so full volume with no distortion in his voice what sounds like a sweet loving sentiment. But there’s so much darkness behind it, and the melody in the verse is so ominous
My favorite song on the album Chino apparently came up with the drum riff and based the song around it. The Drums sound programmed, or at the very least it's a live drum sample with various effects or echo on top. Frank Delgado starts the song live by playing the drums as a looped sample, and Abe plays regular drums over the sample part. The main 'Dark' riff is echoed by a synth as well. RX Queen can be taken to mean 'Prescription Queen' It's apparently about Chino's ex-wife Celeste and about how we was head over heels in love and would do anything for her despite it being a toxic relationship. She was possibly either an addict or on some sort of serious prescription meds. Many online have speculated the girl in the song has AIDS, but hearing it's about Celeste from Chinos own mouth this is very unlikely and the kind of thing people would have speculated in the late 90s. Celeste had 2 kids with Chino but was apparently totally disinterested with his music and the band. He has since remarried. When asked about the song Chino was quoted: "Its about my wife...Dont ask." EDIT: They confirmed in the 20th anniversary interview that it was Chino that did the drums of RX Queen "Chino used to love to go out and sit on Abe’s drums and play while they were mic’d up. It drove Abe crazy" He recorded a couple kicks and snares in a grove and the producer created a loop out of it and put effects on it 0:32 The etheric almost piano like sound between the heavy riffs is actually Stephen playing the bridge on his guitar
I wanted to sample the drum break for a track a while back so I opened it up in fl studio and found that the drum groove was surprisingly unquantized (at least in the very beginning.) The hi-hats were locked in but the kick and snare had a very human quality to them that I never noticed before. Based on what I found, I'm pretty sure the hi-hats are programmed but the percussion hit on each snare is a sample layered after the fact
@@morganguinta1473 That would make sense, a digital sounding hi hat from a drum machine over an sample of Abe doing the kick drum + snare with an echo effect It was probably made as a sample itself and looped as the percussion for the track. They play the drums as a looped sample live, so that was probably how the did it in the studio as well
@@morganguinta1473 It was a sample of Chino sitting at Abe's drums, doing a groove that was looped with an echo effect on top. The Producer revealed that in the albums 20th anniversary interview.
The best thing about this album is that it doesn’t seem like this album is about anything. Very few of the songs seem to actually make sense, and that feels intentional.
I think Chino said he didn’t write about personal experiences for this album and focused on making up fictional stories/situations. To me the whole album feels like a fever dream. There was nothing like it at the time. There’s still nothing like it.
It's a fantasy album. The songs all have narratives, just based primarily in fiction. It's also a psychedelic album, so a lot of the lyrics kind of find their own meaning in the context of the music. You could say that the album doesn't make much of a statement lyrically but I'd argue that IS the statement. Chino has always talked about how he doesn't like to whine in his lyrics, but he still taps into some profound shit. RX Queen is about Chino's wife, and is easily one of the sexiest tracks on the album because of its imagery.
I just learned apparently this was written/recorded in Scott Weiland's studio (Stone Temple Pilots) and his vocals are also on the track, but he's not credited because they didn't discuss crediting before or after the session at any point. Makes sense to me too because that vibrato guitar line sounds like something STP would do.
Gotta say that I never really got into Deftones music, but this series is making me hear the band in a completely different way, this album is amazing!
It's a year later and you likely don't care and won't read this, but I feel compelled anyway. This song and Knife Prty are by far my favorites on the record. That drum sample just instantly hooks me even though I've heard it ten thousand times. I was really hoping you'd notice and comment on my favorite part of the song, which is also my favorite part of the whole album, but you didn't so maybe I can point it out to you and perhaps you'll appreciate it too. It's during the "look at em now" part that you did talk about. In everything that's going on there in the mix there's a single Chino voice that sings an Eb "ah" and then another and then (and this is THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE RECORD) he sings "ah" Bb C Bb A. Omg I love it so much. I got here from your Pyramid Song video and then your Everything IIRP video where you mentioned your "Radiohead playlist" and when I went looking for it, I found this playlist and have been having a great time with it. Thanks for the videos! Oh yea and I meant to mention that I also hang out in a world of jazzy tension. Not with my voice, just in general.
From what I remember in a Modern Drummer interview, the drums are live and put on a loop. Abe is tapping the hi-hat next to Chino, while Chino is playing the rest of the groove. It's hi-hat(16th notes), kick drum, snare and Ribbon Crashers percussion effect. And possibly some other effects. The "garbage can snare" is a timbale. The sample itself is like 9 seconds long. I bought Ribbon Crashers explicitly for this song (and David Silveria from Korn but that's another day)
Ok well that explains why it sounds like a loop haha. Because there are no fills or any variety. Thanks for the info! p.s. I was a huge KoRn fan back in the day and loved David's drums. Still my favorite drummer for KoRn.
@@iximusic I may or may not own a tequila sunrise Tama drumkit bc of David too. 😂 A little embarrassed of the color now, but they're a beautiful kit. It went from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack, to Pearl Jam then to Korn and it just took off from there, so David was a massive inspiration for me growing up.
@@iximusic Ever since I heard Feiticeira I wanted to play drums like Abe. I taught myself that by playing drums along with the track/Slowing its speed but mostly sucked at it. My brother suggested getting a double kick pedal and that was a game changer and I started to improve. Zach Hill from Team Sleep is another of my favourites!
It's that off-beat that gets me every time. Because the drums are so steady, it reminds me of a well-oiled machine that is starting to break down. Also, I'd never noticed the accents on the hi-hat until now.
Not sure but I think it's a programmed loop and Abe is playing on top of it.There are definitely some overdubbed hats etc. besides the obvious distorted "dub-snares".
I've thought about this and came away with the conclusion that I'm drawn to artists who use abstract and ambiguous lyrics. Deftones, Radiohead, et al. Goddamnit it's good.
Headphones song. Nice thick song, you could spread on toast and eat it. Frank really flexes here and when Chino sings "I see a red light in June..", maybe I've just dissected it one too many times but I hear a little bit of vibrato there when he sings '..juuune..'.❤
I think the drum part is probably a looped sample of him playing. it's probably too "human" to be a drum machine but too mechanical to be an entirely live performance. I don't think anyone could play that insanely consistently for that length of time.
Hello ixi music, i am afraid to ask, but i really want to ask if you could help me? I am not into music theory but i always wonder which scales and chords "Nathan Fake" uses in his wonderful little melodies in songs like "north prink", "paean", " Kanyon" to name a few. I think most to all of his work is connected melodywise and i can't find nothing in the web. So i hope you could take a very short look and tell me what his music is about. Maybe you like it because i very much like the music you analyses here. Would be very thankful to know. Best Markus
lol ixi ??? you really don't know what this song is about?? its drug use, drugs especially by a Syringe. I mean come on it's right in the lyrics, You're my girl and that's all right if you sting me I won't mind , sting being the prick of the needle, girl being the drugs.
Ah, I was looking forward to this one! Such a strange track, with drum groove, the metallic-sounding snare, that ominous repeating guitar riff-- but to me, it has always been one of the standout tracks on the album.
In terms of the lyrical content and subject matter-- with a title like "Rx Queen", it's almost assuredly got something to do with drug usage (Rx being the symbol for a pharmacist's drug prescriptions). The phrase "white pony" itself is a slang term for cocaine. I always interpreted this song as being from the perspective of an addict who is so thoroughly hooked that he actually personifies his drug of choice and treats it as a significant other. In the first verse, the line "I won't stop following you" would be a declaration of how committed he is to chasing the high. In the second verse, "We'll stop to rest on the moon" could signify the intensity of the high; but later in the same verse, "steal[ing] a carcass" seems to suggest that, deep down, he's also aware that feeding this addiction is forcing him to become intimately acquainted with mortality and decay. In the third verse, the line about "turn[ing] newborn baby blue" evokes imagery of someone who isn't breathing, suggesting an overdose. And the constant assertion in the chorus, "You're my girl, and that's alright / If you sting me, I won't mind" makes sense in this context too, if you consider the drug to be one he is shooting up with a needle (and it also suggests his indifference to the negative effects to his health).
Wow, nicely put. I feel you.
Youre right. The power of interpretation is limitless
Bloody good song and this is one where I also love the remix with the organ playing the ominous chord progression
Great comments- I think with pony is heroin though, from H or horse as code for heroin. That fits with the sting lyric as well for injecting heroin
This song breaks my heart. It’s one of the few times Chino felt so full volume with no distortion in his voice what sounds like a sweet loving sentiment. But there’s so much darkness behind it, and the melody in the verse is so ominous
One of my favorite albums since its release and only recently did I learn that Scott Weiland is singing the harmony during the chorus
wow really? I love Scott
That’s cool! Didn’t know that
My favorite song on the album
Chino apparently came up with the drum riff and based the song around it.
The Drums sound programmed, or at the very least it's a live drum sample with various effects or echo on top. Frank Delgado starts the song live by playing the drums as a looped sample, and Abe plays regular drums over the sample part. The main 'Dark' riff is echoed by a synth as well.
RX Queen can be taken to mean 'Prescription Queen'
It's apparently about Chino's ex-wife Celeste and about how we was head over heels in love and would do anything for her despite it being a toxic relationship. She was possibly either an addict or on some sort of serious prescription meds. Many online have speculated the girl in the song has AIDS, but hearing it's about Celeste from Chinos own mouth this is very unlikely and the kind of thing people would have speculated in the late 90s. Celeste had 2 kids with Chino but was apparently totally disinterested with his music and the band. He has since remarried.
When asked about the song Chino was quoted: "Its about my wife...Dont ask."
EDIT: They confirmed in the 20th anniversary interview that it was Chino that did the drums of RX Queen
"Chino used to love to go out and sit on Abe’s drums and play while they were mic’d up. It drove Abe crazy"
He recorded a couple kicks and snares in a grove and the producer created a loop out of it and put effects on it
0:32 The etheric almost piano like sound between the heavy riffs is actually Stephen playing the bridge on his guitar
I wanted to sample the drum break for a track a while back so I opened it up in fl studio and found that the drum groove was surprisingly unquantized (at least in the very beginning.) The hi-hats were locked in but the kick and snare had a very human quality to them that I never noticed before. Based on what I found, I'm pretty sure the hi-hats are programmed but the percussion hit on each snare is a sample layered after the fact
@@morganguinta1473 That would make sense, a digital sounding hi hat from a drum machine over an sample of Abe doing the kick drum + snare with an echo effect
It was probably made as a sample itself and looped as the percussion for the track.
They play the drums as a looped sample live, so that was probably how the did it in the studio as well
@@morganguinta1473 It was a sample of Chino sitting at Abe's drums, doing a groove that was looped with an echo effect on top.
The Producer revealed that in the albums 20th anniversary interview.
Can't fckin wait for Knife Prty♡♡♡
The best thing about this album is that it doesn’t seem like this album is about anything. Very few of the songs seem to actually make sense, and that feels intentional.
I think Chino said he didn’t write about personal experiences for this album and focused on making up fictional stories/situations.
To me the whole album feels like a fever dream. There was nothing like it at the time. There’s still nothing like it.
It's a fantasy album. The songs all have narratives, just based primarily in fiction. It's also a psychedelic album, so a lot of the lyrics kind of find their own meaning in the context of the music. You could say that the album doesn't make much of a statement lyrically but I'd argue that IS the statement. Chino has always talked about how he doesn't like to whine in his lyrics, but he still taps into some profound shit. RX Queen is about Chino's wife, and is easily one of the sexiest tracks on the album because of its imagery.
Man…what would go so hard is a piano cover…thank you for this 🙏 love your breakdown! ☺️
only recently learned Scott Weiland of STP is on backup vocals on this song. so good
I've been listening to this album since 2000 (13 years old) and i just learned this today!
it has elements of depeche mode and the cure as the band were definitely influenced by them as i just love what deftones do.
I just learned apparently this was written/recorded in Scott Weiland's studio (Stone Temple Pilots) and his vocals are also on the track, but he's not credited because they didn't discuss crediting before or after the session at any point. Makes sense to me too because that vibrato guitar line sounds like something STP would do.
Apparently in a interview long ago, chino mentioned he had this drumbeat for years before finally putting it to song 🖤🤘❤️
Gotta say that I never really got into Deftones music, but this series is making me hear the band in a completely different way, this album is amazing!
It's a year later and you likely don't care and won't read this, but I feel compelled anyway. This song and Knife Prty are by far my favorites on the record. That drum sample just instantly hooks me even though I've heard it ten thousand times. I was really hoping you'd notice and comment on my favorite part of the song, which is also my favorite part of the whole album, but you didn't so maybe I can point it out to you and perhaps you'll appreciate it too.
It's during the "look at em now" part that you did talk about. In everything that's going on there in the mix there's a single Chino voice that sings an Eb "ah" and then another and then (and this is THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE RECORD) he sings "ah" Bb C Bb A. Omg I love it so much.
I got here from your Pyramid Song video and then your Everything IIRP video where you mentioned your "Radiohead playlist" and when I went looking for it, I found this playlist and have been having a great time with it. Thanks for the videos!
Oh yea and I meant to mention that I also hang out in a world of jazzy tension. Not with my voice, just in general.
this song always felt like it should be on the Crow soundtrack
fucking obsessed with this movie and book
This is my fave song from this album! The bass is so good ❤ thank you for your analysis!
One of my favorites by them. I get it stuck in my head all the time still.
And my favorite singer did the background vocals during the chorus. RIP Scott Weiland
From what I remember in a Modern Drummer interview, the drums are live and put on a loop.
Abe is tapping the hi-hat next to Chino, while Chino is playing the rest of the groove. It's hi-hat(16th notes), kick drum, snare and Ribbon Crashers percussion effect. And possibly some other effects. The "garbage can snare" is a timbale.
The sample itself is like 9 seconds long.
I bought Ribbon Crashers explicitly for this song (and David Silveria from Korn but that's another day)
Ok well that explains why it sounds like a loop haha. Because there are no fills or any variety. Thanks for the info!
p.s. I was a huge KoRn fan back in the day and loved David's drums. Still my favorite drummer for KoRn.
@@iximusic I may or may not own a tequila sunrise Tama drumkit bc of David too. 😂 A little embarrassed of the color now, but they're a beautiful kit.
It went from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack, to Pearl Jam then to Korn and it just took off from there, so David was a massive inspiration for me growing up.
Drums played to mimic a heartbeat. 💓
5:40 "I wanted to play Abe Cunningham's drum groves!" 😍 Me as well, ever since I heard this album! He is such a unique drummer! You da best ixi!
Ha right on! Do you remember the first Abe groove you learned?
@@iximusic Ever since I heard Feiticeira I wanted to play drums like Abe. I taught myself that by playing drums along with the track/Slowing its speed but mostly sucked at it. My brother suggested getting a double kick pedal and that was a game changer and I started to improve. Zach Hill from Team Sleep is another of my favourites!
@@neptunethemystic It was My Own Summer For Me but I share your enthusiasm for Feiticeira!: th-cam.com/video/rmesBvfLZAo/w-d-xo.html
@@iximusic oh yes love My Own Summer drums.. Also Around The Fur (track) drums are so satisfying to play!!
I've always loved this song! It reminds me of someone from my dream, a sadistic noblewoman who can shape-shift into a giant mantis.
So cool. I love how abstract and evocative their music is!
It's that off-beat that gets me every time. Because the drums are so steady, it reminds me of a well-oiled machine that is starting to break down. Also, I'd never noticed the accents on the hi-hat until now.
Love this description ❤
Cause you're my girl
And that's alright
If you sting me
I won't mind
sting
sting
sting
Not sure but I think it's a programmed loop and Abe is playing on top of it.There are definitely some overdubbed hats etc. besides the obvious distorted "dub-snares".
I'm really keen to see you break down Passenger and analyse Maynard's vocals!
Yeah do passenger!!
Deftones yep, one of those bands i definitely enjoy to hear and this track's top!!
It’s Abe playing, he’s just using triggers
This feels SO Nine Inch Nails, except he's more committed on the 3rd scale degree.
I also thought for a long time he was saying "Stay" xDD
I like the active listening videos keep going 😁😁😁
I've thought about this and came away with the conclusion that I'm drawn to artists who use abstract and ambiguous lyrics. Deftones, Radiohead, et al. Goddamnit it's good.
Abe is one of my favorite drummers. Fun stuff here...
Headphones song. Nice thick song, you could spread on toast and eat it. Frank really flexes here and when Chino sings "I see a red light in June..", maybe I've just dissected it one too many times but I hear a little bit of vibrato there when he sings '..juuune..'.❤
🍞 🧈
Very enjoyed your curiosity
Don't second guess yourself. There's programmed drums AND Abe in this track
I think the drum part is probably a looped sample of him playing. it's probably too "human" to be a drum machine but too mechanical to be an entirely live performance. I don't think anyone could play that insanely consistently for that length of time.
You should check out PALMS and CROSSES the other two bands Chino is part of.
Team sleep as well 👍🏼
@calebweathers205 Team Sleep is my fave side project of his.
would love to watch you breakdown their b-sides and covers album
Hello ixi music,
i am afraid to ask, but i really want to ask if you could help me?
I am not into music theory but i always wonder which scales and chords "Nathan Fake" uses in his wonderful little melodies in songs like "north prink", "paean", " Kanyon" to name a few.
I think most to all of his work is connected melodywise and i can't find nothing in the web.
So i hope you could take a very short look and tell me what his music is about.
Maybe you like it because i very much like the music you analyses here.
Would be very thankful to know.
Best
Markus
🔥🔥🔥
Cant wait for Passenger
My favorite drummer is Egg Cunningham!
🥚
Everything you're saying @7:13 makes me think you would also enjoy The Mars Volta.
The verse guitar melody reminds me of The Wretched
Koy no yokan is my favorite album would you do a song from there 🥰
Yes! One of my favorites too.
@@iximusic 🥹 some of the best poetry, and sincere vocals ugh my soul!!
Probably drums have some sort of distortion effect, so they sound somewhat strange.
there is a drum track, but Abe is also playing off of it.
I WONT NEIN AGAIN LOL
Hagenes Forges
Pacocha Canyon
It just isn't a Deftones track unless it sounds like EGG
Will you ever make a discord?
I have one for my Patrons!
This song just doesn't do it for me
lol ixi ??? you really don't know what this song is about?? its drug use, drugs especially by a Syringe. I mean come on it's right in the lyrics, You're my girl and that's all right if you sting me I won't mind , sting being the prick of the needle, girl being the drugs.
I very much disagree.
I used to like the Deftones, then I came to the realization that their music is just random BS they feel people will like.
good enough for me