As the Worm Turns by Faith No More

Album: We Care a Lot (1985)

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Songfacts®:

A track from the first Faith No More album, "As the Worm Turns" has lyrics by lead singer Chuck Mosley, who was their frontman for their first two albums. Here, he addresses someone who his down in the dumps because he doesn't have a job, offering some encouragement:

Time is on your side, you're young
Don't waste your time today

In his Songfacts interview, Mosley said the song is "social commentary on being responsible for your own situation."
The band is from San Francisco, and this song is a good example of the punk sound coming out of that area at the time. It was more of a hippie sound as opposed to the more hardcore grooves that were coming from Los Angeles.
The title, which doesn't appear in the lyric, is a play on "As the World Turns," the name of a long-running soap opera.

Comments: 1

Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganIt should be noted that this song was recorded in the studio at least twice: Once with Chuck Mosley on vocals that appears on the We Care A Lot album, and one with Mike Patton on vocals that was one of the outtakes for the Angel Dust sessions.

I think the reference to the soap opera can be interpreted to represent how some people make their situation out to be more dramatic than it really is. Though I've also heard that the phrase, "As the worm turns" was also an idiom to mean that someone's luck was about to change from bad to good.

I love the synth riff, it's one that I learned when I was in the beginning stages of playing the keys, it's simple but requires proper fingering technique to execute right and without your fingers cramping up.

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