The Negative One is a song by the metal band Slipknot. Released on August 1, 2014, it was the band’s first new song since the death of bassist Paul Gray in 2010 and the 2013 firing of drummer Joey Jordison. An accompanying music video premiered on Slipknot’s official website on August 5, 2014; however, no band members were featured. Vocalist Corey Taylor told BBC Radio 1 that he saw the song as more of a “gift to the fans” than a regular single though it was still released as a digital single on iTunes and many other digital music retailers. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2015.
The Negative One returns to a more aggressive and chaotic sound, similar to the sound of Iowa and the self-titled debut album. Among others, it contains double-bass attacks and stomping percussion strikes combined with fast riffs, shrieking samples, and continuous aggressive shouting and screaming by Corey Taylor. The drumming was compared to the style of Lamb of God‘s Chris Adler, which led some to the question if he was the new drummer for Slipknot, although Adler said the rumor was incorrect.
Tracklist:
- The Negative One (album version)
- The Negative One (clean version)
The Negative One
Song by Slipknot Lyrics
Fuck
Fire and caffeine, a lotta nicotine
I’m gonna burn, so I better tell you everything
The competition, the superstition
Never mind ’cause you’re never gonna give in
It’s a crisis, just how you like it
The same drama in a different disguise
I’m bound to walk with a target on my back
At least I’m ready for another attack
The lord of lies, the morning star
You had to be set free
Opposing sides, your choices are
The negative one and me, yeah
Svengali, why are we the enemies?
I never follow, and I never make apologies
Your dementias are gonna get ya
Because your walls can’t support each other
Settle for the cynical, you’re so political
You’re getting ready ’cause the first move is critical
Reciprocity, somebody’s listening
What did we learn from our time in captivity?
The lord of lies, the morning star
You had to be set free
Opposing sides, your choices are
The negative one and me
The negative one and me
I hope you live to see the day
When your world goes up in flames
And as you die, you see my face
You’re the only one to blame, yeah
Fuck
The prescient, the nascent, the quotient
They all will fall
The cystic, symbolic condition
Systemic
Egregious, replete with these lesions
Contaminate
Succumb to the selfish creation
Your failure
Yeah
No accountability, divisibility
I point a finger, but it’s always looking back at me
The centipede’s pulling on the mechanism
Unearthing scars of the cataclysm
When the innocent begin to circumvent
The color fades, but the picture is vibrant
What do you believe? Does it matter now?
Turn away, the killer is disavowed
The lord of lies, the morning star
You had to be set free
Opposing sides, your choices are
The negative one and me
The negative one and me
I hope you live to see the day
When your world goes up in flames
And as you die, you see my face
You’re the only one to blame
The lord of lies, the morning star
You had to be set free
Opposing sides, your choices are
The negative one
The negative one
The negative one
The negative one and me
The negative one and me
The negative one and me
Songwriters: James Root, Corey Taylor
The video was released on the band’s official website via a private YouTube link after a countdown on their official site timed out on August 5. The next day, the video was made publicly available. Directed by Shawn Crahan, the music video features two women performing various acts along with props paying homage to some of Slipknot‘s earlier work. It does not feature any of the band members.
This was the band’s first NSFW video on YouTube and must have an account with 18+ years of age to watch. The video was whitelisted when first released, but now the link is public. However, age verification is still required. As of August 2022, the song has 25 million views on YouTube.
Credits
Sid Wilson: turntables
Chris Fehn: Percussion, backing vocals
Jim Root: guitars
Craig Jones: keyboards, samples, media
Shawn Crahan: percussion
Mick Thomson: guitars
Corey Taylor: vocals
Jay Weinberg: drums
Alessandro Venturella or Donnie Steele: bass
