Huey Newton

Album: St. Vincent (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is named after the co-founder of the Black Panthers. Huey Newton appeared to St. Vincent's Annie Clark in a dream after she took a sedative to relieve jet lag while on tour in Helsinki. "If you take one and go to sleep, you sleep for 12 hours," she told The Observer. "If you take one and don't fall asleep, you're high. It's bananas. You're in that high state between sleepfulness and wakefulness. I had this hallucination that Huey Newton was in the room with me. We didn't talk about the Black Panther party. We just kind of communicated. We understood each other. I was as high as a kite."
  • The lyrics are a series of free association bleak images designed to feel like a Google wormhole. Clark told Uncut magazine: "I wrote the words for in a very furious frenzy, it was just free association. I was trying to be meta with it, and every line is tied to the next in a way that I don't even understand. I did a lot of that. It has the feel of an extended Google search, and is set in the near future, after a long winter."
  • The song later refers to The Heaven's Gate cult. Heaven's Gate is one of Clark's obsessions, which she told NME. "I am fascinated by and love, if you can say that you love a cult where they were waiting for the comet to come and committed suicide, all wearing Nikes."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.

Grateful Dead Characters

Grateful Dead CharactersMusic Quiz

Many unusual folks appear in Grateful Dead songs. Can you identify them?

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. Televangelists

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. TelevangelistsSong Writing

When televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart took on rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, the rockers retaliated. Bono could even be seen mocking the preachers.

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.