Faget (song)

"Faget" is a song by the American nu metal band Korn. It is the sixth track from the band's self-titled debut studio album. The song is about how Korn's lead vocalist, Jonathan Davis, was bullied in high school for being into arts, wearing eyeliner, being into new wave music, and wearing frilly shirts. According to Jonathan Davis, he was constantly called names such as "faggot".

"Faget"
Song by Korn
from the album Korn
Released	October 11, 1994 (Korn album release)[1]
Recorded	1994, Indigo Ranch Studios, Malibu, California, U.S.[2]
Genre	Nu metal[3]
Length	5:49[1]
Label	Immortal, Epic
Songwriter(s)	Jonathan Davis
Producer(s)	Ross Robinson

Background, music and writing

After his high school years, Davis (pictured) stopped wearing eyeliner and frilly shirts and started to wear baggy Adidas clothes and long hair.

"Faget" is about Korn's lead vocalist Jonathan Davis' time in high school where he was relentlessly teased and harassed by jocks for being into arts, wearing frilly shirts, being into new wave music (for example, Duran Duran) and wearing eyeliner. Many people assumed that Davis was gay and would call him names such as "faggot".^{[4][5][6][7][8]} Davis said:

"There's a big rumor about me being a homosexual. I was in the New Romantic scene [in high school] with Duran Duran [as his favorite band], wearing makeup. I got called a fag by the jocks. Couldn't walk through the halls without hearing that or being picked on".^[9]

"Faget" features an example of Korn's guitarists (James "Munky" Shaffer and Brian "Head" Welch) utilizing what they have dubbed the "Mr. Bungle chord".^[10] When speaking about the recording of "Faget", Welch said: "[Jonathan] moved in with us, with his girlfriend, and I remember sitting in the room he rented. I had my guitar in there and I wrote the riff. We just came up with the song "Faget" right then and there. It was the very beginning".^[11] Songfacts described "Faget" as "a very emotional and genuine song where Davis lashes out at his tormentors".^[12]

Personnel

Main personnel

• Jonathan Davis – vocals
• James "Munky" Shaffer – guitar
• Brian "Head" Welch – guitar, additional vocals
• Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu – bass
• David Silveria – drums

Additional personnel

• Ross Robinson – production
• Eddy Schreyer – mastering
• Stephen Stickler – photography
• Jay Papke, Dante Ariola – art direction and design
• Chuck Johnson – engineering, mixing

References

1. "Korn - Korn : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
2. "Indigo Ranch Studios - CDs and Vinyl at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
3. McIver 2002, pp. 10, 12.
4. "Korn Members Look Back On Writing 'Faget' (Video)". Blabbermouth. August 19, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
5. "Part 9: 1998: You're either with Korn and Limp Bizkit, or you're against them". The A.V. Club. February 8, 2011.
6. "Korn". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
7. "GEAR". Kornseed.cro.net. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
8. "Korn, Ice Cube Blur Line Between Rap And Rock. On second stop of 'Family Values' tour, they join Rammstein and others in mixing genres". MTV. September 29, 1998. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013.
9. Boehm, Mike (August 25, 1998). "Korn Flings a Couple of Rotten Kernels". Los Angeles Times.
10. "Brian "Head" Welch of Korn, Love and Death". Songfacts. June 14, 2013.
11. "Korn Members Look Back On Writing 'Faget' (Video)". Blabbermouth.net. August 19, 2015.
12. "Faget by Korn". Songfacts.

Bibliography

• McIver, Joel (2002). "How did we get to nu-metal from old metal?". Nu-metal: The Next Generation of Rock & Punk. Omnibus Press. pp. 10, 12. ISBN 0-7119-9209-6.