There have got to be a million songs out there that reference light or space, which means there will be a lot of excellent tunes to choose from for The Song Lyric Sunday Songsters. I scrolled through my digital music library and didn’t find one that pinged for me and so went back to lyric.com and scrolled there until one song did. Remember last week’s Stone Temple Pilots’ tune? While researching it I learned enough to become intrigued with Scott Weiland. When “Barbarella” came along, I said ok let’s give it a listen. Between the song and the video, it’s a winner for this week.

Scott Richard Weiland, né Kline (b. 10/27/67 — d. 12/3/15) was an American singer and songwriter. He was best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from 1989 — 2003 and again from 2008 — 2013, recording six albums with them.

Weiland was also the lead singer of the rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. Velvet Revolver band members included Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, and Dave Kushner; they were active from 2002-2008.

He released one album with rock supergroup Art of Anarchy in 2015. At that time the band members included Ron Thal, Jon and Vince Votta, and John Moyer.

Scott also released four solo studio albums and several collaborations with other musicians.

12 Bar Blues is Weiland’s debut solo album, released in 1998. It was not a commercial success, but it did receive positive reviews. Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic, in a retrospective review, said:

12 Bar Blues is an unpredictable, carnivalesque record confirming that Weiland was the visionary behind STP’s sound. He’s fascinated by sound, piling on layers of shredded guitars, drum loops, and keyboards, making sure that each song sounds drastically different from its predecessor.

David Fricke from Rolling Stone said:

12 Bar Blues isn’t really a rock album, or even a pop album. Weiland, out on his own, has simply made an honest album – honest in its confusion, ambition and indulgence. It was worth the risk.

Pitchfork Media said:

12 Bar Blues is easily the most innovative album Weiland has ever produced for public consumption

Personnel on the album:
Scott Weiland – vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, synthesized bass
Victor Indrizzo – vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, bass, drums
Martyn LeNoble – bass, cello
Blair Lamb – drum programming, guitars
Sheryl Crow — accordion
Brad Peter DiStefano– guitars, bass
Daniel Lanois – synthesizers, production
Tony Castaneda – guitars, bass
Michael Weiland – drums, percussion, drum loops.
Tracy Chisolm – theremin
Holly Reiger– guitars
Jeff Nolan, Zander Schloss – guitars

Barbarella, written by Weiland and Castaneda, the 2nd track, is the only official single released from the album. The song is titled after the sci-fi film Barbarella, while the lyrics of the song pay homage to several science fiction television shows and movies. In the 2023 reissue with bonus tracks, one of the bonus tracks is an acoustic version of the song.

The Barbarella video was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, a husband and wife team. Their music productions have earned them two Grammy Awards, nine MTV Music Video Awards and a Billboard Music “Director of the Year” Award.

Barbarella

You play the game
I'll masturbate and sing a lullaby
You run the race, I'll pay the miles
You sing the pink love fuzz
And dance the musty queer
I'll stay at home? Cause I'm the mouse

So high that I can't fly
More deep than space number 9
Can't tell time by telling time
She's so ready, I'm so heavy
It's so heavy on me
Can't hold time by holding time

Barbarella
Come and save me from my misery
Can't you see it's a disease?
Shoot the bad guys
And I'll gladly sing a tune for you
Lost in space, we could be free

"Let go the God," they say
I do believe but not in yours or yours
I just believe it's all the same
Don't know just who I am
Don't know about the lamb
I'm the meat of the feast

Barbarella
Come and save me from my misery
Can't you see it's a disease?
Shoot the bad guys
And I'll gladly sing a tune for you
Lost in space, we could be free
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Ho, ho

And all the tangerines
They taste like jelly beans
This must be boring by now
Grab a scale and guess the weight
Of all the pain I've given with my name
I'm a selfish piece of shit

Barbarella
Come and save me from my misery
Can't you see it's a disease?
Shoot the bad guys
And I'll gladly sing a tune for you
Lost in space, we could be free

Barbarella
Come and save me from my misery
Can't you see it's a disease?
Shoot the bad guys
And I'll gladly sing a tune for you
We'll watch lost in space on my TV
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Ho ho ho, ho ho ho
Ho ho ho, ho ho ho
Ho ho ho

Lyric impressions

He’s imagining a fantasy duo, where he can turn over responsibility and his protection to his superhero partner. He will take care of the basics and she will fight to protect him from life’s unsavory elements. All of the lyrics are brilliant, with some more so and begging for further analysis, such as:

So high that I can’t fly — it is well-known that Weiland had serious substance abuse issues that interfered with his functionality and creative output. He was known to have been fired from two very good bands because of it.

Can’t tell time by telling time
She’s so ready, I’m so heavy
It’s so heavy on me
Can’t hold time by holding time

Time is a paradox here, where it exists but you can’t tell it and you can’t hold it. She’s so ready and [he’s] so heavy and he’s feeling guilty because of it.

Can’t you see it’s a disease? Gets back to the addiction issue. Maybe relationship issues because she can’t see?

Let go the God could be referring to a higher power or maybe his drug of choice?

Don’t know just who I am
Don’t know about the lamb
I’m the meat of the feast

Many times addicts stop developing emotionally at the place where the monkey jumps on their back. He may not have the capacity to understand all of how and why he got to this place, but he does feel like he has become a product or an object.

And all the tangerines
They taste like jelly beans

What used to be real has become emptiness.

Grab a scale and guess the weight
Of all the pain I’ve given with my name
I’m a selfish piece of shit

We are back to the heaviness of his burden of guilt, which generates (more) self-loathing.

Shoot the bad guys
And I’ll gladly sing a tune for you
Lost in space, we could be free

He is begging for respite with his fantasy partner, Barbarella.

Video impressions

I love how it opens, with an image of a space man (lost in space) crash landing. He is rescued and given the milk of kindness by strangers. In the desert, he is dropped off in Las Vegas, aka Sin City. (Watch and you’ll see where the “g” is cut off of sing towards the end.) The lost in space man orients himself and briefly tries begging. He begins to study the art of the con of gambling and gets very good/lucky at it. He’s at the pinnacle and shows his magic and ends up flying down the road. He comes back and is escorted off of the premises and loaded into a van, where he is taken to a place for experiments. Just when you think it is the end, he blasts off in the top of a pyramid. Could the pyramid be a love triangle between himself, his needs, and his addictions?

At no time does he appear to be part of a community. Nor does he appear to be having a good time. He seems to be going through the motions. He’s earned a fortune for himself (or the house,) but when it is time to depart to find his fantasy partner, he’s left the riches behind.

It’s impossible not to see how melancholy and desperate Weiland looks in the video. The music, lyrics, and visuals mesh so well together. The experience made me think of Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth and so many of Chris Cornell’s songs, where he was screaming for someone to notice how vulnerable he was feeling and to offer him help.

Source: wikipedia

Jim Adams is the host of Song Lyric Sunday. This week Jim wants us to find and share a song that references light or space.