Snuff (song)

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For the Slayer song of the same name, see World Painted Blood.
"Snuff"
Slipknot snuff.png
Single by Slipknot
from the album All Hope Is Gone
A-side"Snuff" (radio edit)
B-side"Snuff" (album version)
ReleasedSeptember 28, 2009
Recorded2008
StudioSound Farm Studio, Jamaica, Iowa
GenreAlternative rock[1]
Length
  • 4:36 (album version)
  • 4:12 (radio edit)
LabelRoadrunner
Songwriter(s)Corey Taylor
Producer(s)
Slipknot singles chronology
"Sulfur"
(2009) 		"Snuff"
(2009) 		"The Negative One"
(2014)
Music video
"Snuff" on YouTube

"Snuff" is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot.[2] Released as the fifth and final single from their fourth album All Hope Is Gone on September 28, 2009,[3] the song charted at number two on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, their highest-charted single to date, surpassing "Dead Memories".[4]

Roadrunner Records placed "Snuff" at number six for its greatest music videos of all time.[5] The song was also nominated for Best Single at the Kerrang! Awards 2010,[6] but lost to "Liquid Confidence" by You Me at Six.[7]

It is the final single released from the band with their full original lineup before the death of bassist Paul Gray who died eight months later after its release, and also the final single released before drummer Joey Jordison who was fired from the band four years later until his death in July 2021. During recent solo acoustic shows, Corey Taylor has performed an acoustic version of "Snuff" as a tribute to Paul Gray.

"Snuff", "Psychosocial", "Dead Memories", "Wait and Bleed", "Sulfur", "Left Behind" and "Pulse of the Maggots" were released as downloadable songs in the Rock Band series.

Background[]

"This is the slow one. It's another personal one. Again, not naming names, it's about someone who helped me through a lot and I thought she felt the same way that I did and then she really let me down. At the same time, it was good that she did, because it was that final push to me figuring out myself. The lyrics are pretty self-explanatory." – Corey Taylor[8]

"Corey doesn't really write music for Slipknot – but, when he came over to hear the songs Paul [Gray, bassist] and I were working on for All Hope Is Gone, he showed me this… I had him lay a scratch track down in the studio. Then I went in late at night, without telling him, and laid down some drums… When he heard it the next day, he started crying. It's Corey's masterpiece." – Joey Jordison[9]

Music video[]

It was announced on October 14, 2009 by Roadrunner Records that a music video with a high enough production quality to be considered a short film was to be released for "Snuff",[10] which premiered on December 18, 2009 at 11:09 PM CST.[11] It was co-directed by Shawn "Clown" Crahan and P. R. Brown, and features Malcolm McDowell and Ashley Laurence of Hellraiser fame.[12] Corey Taylor is seen for the third time in a Slipknot video without his mask (the other two times being: "Dead Memories" and "Before I Forget") and is cross-dressed at the end of the short film.[13]

The video's meaning is hotly contested. Whether or not he is a killer is still debated today.

As of August 2021, the song has 130 million views on YouTube.

Chart positions[]

Chart (2009–10)[4] Peak
position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[14] 10
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[15] 12
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[16] 2
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[17] 6

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[18] Platinum 1,000,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Track listing[]

Promo single
  1. "Snuff" (radio edit) – 4:12
  2. "Snuff" (album version) – 4:36

Personnel[]

Aside from their real names, members of the band are referred to by numbers zero through eight.[19]

References[]

  1. ^ RahulAneesh (April 13, 2019). "Songs Different From The Artists' Usual Sounds". StudentLife. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  2. ^ "Maggot Brains". Spin. 24 (9): 118. September 2008. ISSN 0886-3032.
  3. ^ "::: A ballad from Slipknot?". FMQB. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Snuff-Slipknot". Billboard. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  5. ^ "The Ten Greatest Music Videos in Roadrunner History: #10 - #6". Roadrunner Records. April 28, 2010. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  6. ^ "Relentless Energy Drink Kerrang! Awards 2010". Kerrang!. June 23, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
  7. ^ Dan (June 29, 2010). "And the winners are..." Kerrang!. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  8. ^ "Snuff by Slipknot". Songfacts. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  9. ^ Bryant, Tom (July 14, 2012). "Hell unleashed". Kerrang #1423. p. 25.
  10. ^ "New Music: Slipknot, Megadeth, Killswitch Engage". Roadrunner Records. October 14, 2009. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  11. ^ B. Crawford, Allyson (December 18, 2009). "Slipknot, 'Snuff' — Short Film Premiere". Noisecreep. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  12. ^ Snuff short film featuring Ashley Laurence[permanent dead link]. Dailyradar. Horrorblips. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  13. ^ Moore, Debi (December 18, 2009). "See Slipknot's Short Film Snuff Starring Some Familiar Faces". Dread Central. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012.
  14. ^ "Slipknot Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard.
  15. ^ "Slipknot Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  16. ^ "Slipknot Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  17. ^ "Slipknot Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  18. ^ "American single certifications – Slipknot – Snuff". Recording Industry Association of America.
  19. ^ Huey, Steve. "Slipknot | Biography & History". AllMusic.
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