Five Minutes Alone by Pantera

Album: Far Beyond Driven (1994)

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According to Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, there was a guy in the front row in San Diego who was heckling lead singer Phil Anselmo. Phil finally had enough, so he incited the crowd to jump this guy. The guy sued them. Then his dad called Pantera's manager and his exact quote was, "You just give me five minutes alone with that Phil Anselmo guy and I'll show him who's big daddy around here." Phil's response was, "You just give me five minutes with that cat's dad and I'll whoop his a--." And that's where that song came from. (From the Best of Pantera booklet.)
The Far Beyond Driven album is a metal milestone. It hit #1 in America and also pleased the faithful, as it stuck to the thrash sound the band used to build their legacy. Mike Portnoy explained in the book Survival of the Fittest: Heavy Metal in the 1990s, "The times were changing and metal was about to go through a tough period. Anthrax and Megadeth and Slayer - and especially Metallica - were about to go through a mid-'90s period where they were experimenting with change. All the popular '80s and early '90s metal bands were putting out their weakest albums in the mid-to-late '90s. Pantera - God bless them - were the only thing holding it together for real metal. And then eventually, it came back around."

Comments: 15

Ryan from FlVinnie and Phil quotes from 2014 Rolling Stone interview:

Paul: The story behind this song is we were opening for Megadeth, and there was a guy that was flipping us off the whole show and so we stopped the show. And I was like, “Listen, in case you haven’t noticed there’s 18,000 people who really dig what we’re doing. You’re the only one doing that stupid s--t without even having to egg the crowd on.” Ten guys just jumped the guy and beat the s--t out of him. His dad called the manager after all the lawsuits and this and that, and basically said, “Give me five minutes with that Phil Anselmo guy. I want to whup his ass.”

Anselmo: There are always gold-diggers out there. The way I remember it was there was this kid that swore that I jumped off the stage and beat him up. Well, that was bulls--t. That did not happen at all. When the father asked for five minutes along with me, our manager responded aptly and perfectly: “No, you don’t.” [Laughs] “I really doubt that,” and basically hung up on the guy. But once that story was conveyed to me, it actually made me angry because it wasn’t f--king true. I basically plucked out those words from my agitator’s mouth and yeah, man, “five minutes alone,” f--king bring it.

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Ozzman from MissouriI want five minutes alone with Phil Anselmo I don't dislike him I've just got a lot to prove
Alex from Mexico City, MexicoSomewhere I heard that this song was written by Phil Anselmo after he was declared dead for around five minutes after doing a speedball (drugs) and a lot of alcohol
Dyanna from Zagreb, Croatiai heard the story a years back - couldnt believe from where the inspiration came from - but song kicks ass
Matt from Houston, Txhope phil got those 5 minutes alone with him. 4 more than he needs to kick his lily ass
Adam from Lodi, OhThis song is awesome and PHil Kicks @ss
Dylan from Hudson, MaThe song is about a fan who was giving Phil a hard time so Phil finally snapped and had the audience attack the kid. The kid's father sued Phil, called up the band's manager, and said "You just give me five minutes alone with that Phil Anselmo guy and I'll show him who the big daddy is" and Phil responded by saying "You give me five minutes alone with that cat's dad and I'll whoop his a--". That's where the song comes from. In my opinion, the kid deserves it if you're messing with Phil because Phil is the man and his dad is an idiot.
Fred from Pootsville, United StatesI don't know about all that...I always have heard that the song was about Affirmative Action...and the lyrics seem to support the subject matter.
Dylan from Perth, AustraliaI was at the concert where Phil said that.
Barge from San Francisco, CaIt also has to do with the Heavy Metal Music media. The use to write stupid stuff about Pantera and made up rumors about them having problems. We love you Vinnie!!!
Josh from Auburndale, FlJayson from ATL is right i have the booklet to the best of Pantera, and seen many interviews with the exact same...
Ahab from Slam Town, CaI hadn't heard the incitement story before, but I have an interview with Phil in a magazine where he says the song is about some guy who sued him for something like $500, claiming Phil deliberately kicked him in the head during a stagedive because he was Mexican or something. I'm not making it up, I swear!
Anders from Faaborg, DenmarkSome kid was being very annoying at a Pantera show, so Phil Anselmo said something that made the crowd attack this guy. After this incident the guys father said in an interview: "You just give me 5 minutes alone with that Philip Anselmo guy..." The title refers to this.
Luke from Memphis, TnThree words- Phil's a bad@ss.
Craig from Dublin, IrelandPhil anselmo thought up off the name as he was sued by a kids father who said phil intested the crowd on him, in an interview phil said just give me 5 mins alone with that guy and he ll be so much different

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