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Song history
"Between the Lines" was written by Robert with the solo contributed by Dean.[1] The song was written with the '60s pop/rock bands The Animals, The Zombies[2] and Paul Revere & the Raiders[3] in mind. Dean stated that the song conjured up images of a girl in a mini-skirt "with white go-go boots dancing to this song." Dean added, "Most bands do a retro thing and apologize for it. We’re unapologetically retro here. That was the whole idea!"[4] Scott's lyrical interpretation turned "Between the Lines" into a type of love song.[5] Dean commented on this collaboration: "Sometimes we don't feel musically what Scott does lyrically. He took it to an exciting place. It's pretty twisted." Weiland's lyrics reflected on his history with drug abuse and his ex-wife, Mary Forsberg, and their rocky relationship. In reference to the at-times strange lyrics, Weiland said, "Sometimes you throw together random words that phonetically sound good with the melody and then you get to the meat of the song in the chorus."[2] "Between the Lines" was originally the working title of the song, which Weiland incorporated into his lyrics.[3]
"Take a Load Off" was composed by Dean, who considered parts of the song's vocalizations to resemble Jimmy Page's.[4] In writing this song, Weiland listened to and studied poetical lyricists to learn how to free his writing from his autobiographical and "self-obsessed" nature. "There's an art to telling a story, and it can mean anything, or it can mean nothing."[6] Weiland continued to surprise Dean with his melodies. "It’s always a treat for me as a songwriter to hear what Scott does with a melody after I think I’ve finished the job. He takes my melodies and twists them and I’m just astonished."[4]
"Huckleberry Crumble" was written by Robert. When the four band members would get together to make a record, Robert wanted to impress them with his best work. "I purposely try to pick songs that... are really gonna light a fire under everybody's ass." Dean remembered the first time he heard the riff: "Robert walked over to my guitar rack in the studio and he grabbed this Les Paul, that kind of has the very most output, and plugged it into a 100-watt Marshall head and turned everything up real loud, and he goes, 'Check this out.'" Weiland was also taken by "Huckleberry Crumble" from the first moment he heard it. While the demo was played to him in the studio, Weiland immediately began hunting for a pen and pad of paper. Dean recalled, "From the first downbeat of the song, Scott was just in, and just writing down, and I think [he] had the melody within minutes."[6] Musically, the song was inspired by Aerosmith, specifically "Same Old Song and Dance". Dean admits to the similarities: "The arrangement is almost the same: riff, solo, verse, chorus, solo, back to a second verse—it’s pretty much the same setup." He also noted how the song sounds different depending on the type of instruments used to play it. ""It's amazing how, if you were to present that opening riff on a Tele really clean, it's almost a country riff. But if you present it with a Les Paul through a Marshall, it takes on this whole different thing."[5] "Huckleberry Crumble" was originally the working title, which Weiland "gravitated toward", and the band kept the name.[3]
"Hickory Dichotomy" was written by Dean, who first presented it to the band on a laptop with an accompanying drum machine, bass guitar, and additional guitars.[7] Leading up to the recording process, Dean had been listening to country music, drawing inspiration from '60s guitarists like Jimmy Bryant, Speedy West, Pete Drake, and Hank Snow. Their sounds permeated into the song's tones, which Dean described as "countryesque".[5] He recorded the song with one of his Telecasters.[8] Although the song was recorded in standard tuning, the slide guitar solo[7] was performed in open G.[5] Weiland said the song gave him a "Down South" and "swampy kind of feeling", which reminded him of the American television drama series, True Blood. "Hickory Dichotomy" is planned to be included in an episode of the show.[7]
"Dare If You Dare" was composed by Dean. The song was written on a piano[9] while Dean was touring with the band Talk Show.[10] He found the continual chord changes to be challenging when he performed his parts on the guitar. Dean performed the solo using a Les Paul and an Octavia effects pedal, which doubled the note played with a one-octave higher equivalent. Dean was conservative with the effect, however. "I don’t even know if guitar players will be able to tell I used an Octavia because I used it so sparingly. But because I didn’t go heavy with it, that’s why there’s an interesting tonality to the sound." Weiland impressed Dean with his interpretation of the song. Dean stated, "When I heard what Scott did with that chorus, wow, it just knocked me down the first time — and still does."[9]
"Cinnamon" was written by Robert and was one of the first songs recorded in Robert's home studio.[11] Dean recalled a moment at Robert's house. "During a dinner break, my brother Robert grabbed a Tele and asked Eric to lay down a single beat, and in a matter of minutes they had the song tracked." Robert also wrote the guitar solo, but Dean recorded it[9] on a Telecaster set up for Nashville tuning.[8] Weiland considered the song to be a combination of '60s British pop and Ian Curtis (of Joy Division). When asked who the lyrics were directed at, Weiland replied, "I guess I was thinking, probably, about my ex-wife."[12] Dean was pleased with the outcome of "Cinnamon", calling the song "psychedelic... fun, poppy, lighthearted, [and] totally grooving — the flipside to STP that we don’t often show people."[4]
"Hazy Daze" was written by Robert and Dean. Weiland again surprised the band with the direction of his lyrics. While the song is "rocking and kicking", Weiland's lyrics focus on his issues with his father. Dean described the song as lyrically unhappy. "You know, you never know what kind of words somebody might put on your music, and this was one of those cases where I was really surprised... [Weiland] is in a dark place."[9]
"Bagman" was written by Dean. Similar to several other songs on the album, the song was composed with certain intentions, and Weiland lyrically drove the song into a darker place. Dean explained, "It’s about Scott’s dealings with certain people and, well, it can get pretty dark and bleak out there sometimes." Dean described performing the guitar as "painting with these bright colors," but considered the lyric/music dichotomy to be the "yin-yang thing in the band".[4] Dean's guitar solo featured a Telecaster with a Bigsby vibrato accessory.[8]
"Peacoat" was composed by Dean, inspired by a photograph of his four-year old son standing in Central Park during winter, wearing a peacoat. Weiland and Dean got into a disagreement about whether or not the song should have been included on the album. "I couldn’t believe [Weiland] was having second thoughts about it – his singing was so strong!... [He] knocked it out of the park vocally." Weiland's lyrics, of course, changed the ultimate meaning of the song, but the title remained. Dean explained, "These titles crack me up. A lot of them were the working titles and they just stuck. Peacoat is one of them. As a title, it has nothing to do with the song at all."[9]
"Fast As I Can" was composed by Dean, who was proud of his guitar performances on this song. "I was able to express myself with a lot of groovy country licks, using a clean Strat tone. The solo really gets me off. For the chorus, I use a Danelectro, and the solo is a Strat and the verses are a Les Paul. I really mix it all up here." The title stems from the speed of the song, which is estimated at 196 beats per minute, the fastest song recorded by Stone Temple Pilots.[9]
"First Kiss on Mars", composed by Robert, was recorded almost entirely in Robert's home studio.[9][11] Dean described the song as having a "down-home country kind of feel", but added, "that title takes it to this whole other plateau."[13] Again, the dichotomy between Weiland's lyrical direction and the song's original vision worked together. Dean explained, "The interesting thing about our band is where Scott takes these tunes. Robert presented the song, and out of nowhere Scott calls it 'First Kiss on Mars', even though the music is, like I said, kind of country."[9] Weiland explained his reasoning behind the lyrics succinctly: "When I first heard it, it sounded intergalactic."[13] Robert recorded the bass lines with a 1950s six-string Danelectro Longhorn bass.[8]
"Maver" was written by Robert. Weiland used the song to tell a story of a girl who heads to San Francisco to be a star and ends up betting all her money on ponies. Dean found the song to have a "country-gospel vibe" and described the music as having two distinctive sonic layers. "If you listen to the backbeat and check out what the bass and drums are doing, the drums are very distorted, very big and broken up, as is the bass. Yet the rest of the song is very beautiful and ethereal. Great piano playing, too."[4] "Maver" featured the same Telecaster with Nashville tuning used on "Cinnamon".[8] Weiland considered "Maver" to be a song purposely written outside of the band's comfort zone.[14]
