Purity (song)

"Purity" is a song by American heavy metal band Slipknot, which appeared on the original version of the band's self-1999 titled debut album. Due to copyright infringement issues, "Purity" and the interlude track "Frail Limb Nursery" were removed from later editions of the album. "Purity" was later reinstated for the 10th Anniversary edition of the album where it was preluded by the end of "Frail Limb Nursery".[4]

"Purity"
Song by Slipknot
from the album Slipknot
ReleasedJune 29, 1999 (June 29, 1999)
Recorded
  • February 1999
Studio
GenreNu metal[1]
Length4:14 (original release)
4:25 (10th anniversary edition)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

Writing

"Purity" and "Frail Limb Nursery" were inspired by a story published online about a girl named Purity Knight, who was kidnapped and buried alive.[5] The website, called Crime Scene, presents fictional stories as real life crime cases.[6] Originally, the website included no disclaimer saying that it was a work of fiction. Many readers believed the story to be true, including Corey Taylor: "I still think the story's real. It fucked our whole world up when we read it. Can you imagine a girl being buried in a box and have all this lecherous bullshit drip down on her from this guy? It just hurts your head."[7]

According to Taylor, the song "was originally called 'Despise' but it didn't work when we tried to put it together… Ross [Robinson] took it and helped us restructure it."[8] In an interview, Taylor claimed the lyrics had been written five years prior to the song's release, that only the name had been inspired by the Purity Knight story. He also said that inspiration came from films such as Boxing Helena and The Collector, and not the story.[9]

"Frail Limb Nursery" is the prelude to "Purity", and directly samples the audio used on Crime Scene.[10] The outro of the track "Tattered & Torn" features the intro to "Frail Limb Nursery" on the later edition of the album, though the latter was never included on any rereleases.[11]

Release and controversy

After the album's release, the band had to remove the track after allegations of copyright infringement. The website that inspired the song presents fictional stories as real life crime cases,[6] and originally included no disclaimer saying that it was a work of fiction. The case was complicated by audio samples from the authoring website being included in "Frail Limb Nursery", the prelude to "Purity".[12]

However, to prevent the entire album being pulled, the band removed "Purity" and "Frail Limb Nursery". Slightly remastered standard and digipak versions of the album were issued in December 1999, replacing both tracks with "Me Inside".[13][14] Although "Frail Limb Nursery" was never rereleased, "Purity" was included on the DVD Disasterpieces, the live 9.0: Live, the greatest hits album Antennas to Hell, and the studio version on the 10th anniversary edition of Slipknot.[15]

Personnel

References
  1. "The 50 best nu metal albums of all time". April 2022.
  2. ASCAP. "Slipknot Repertory". ASCAP. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  3. Anderson, Rick. "Slipknot – Slipknot : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic.
  4. Coffman, Tim (December 31, 2022). "When Corey Taylor Had to Tell a Judge That 'Purity' Was About Abducting & Enslaving a Woman". We Are The Pit. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  5. "Purity". OpiumofthePeople.net. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  6. "Crime Scene FAQ". Crime Scene. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  7. Song Meanings Retrieved 2009
  8. Bryant, Tom (July 14, 2012). "Hell unleashed". Kerrang #1423. p. 24.
  9. "Corey Taylor Speaks About Purity – YouTube". YouTube. November 23, 2011. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  10. "Here's What Songs & Films Slipknot Sampled On Their 1999 Self-Titled Album". The Perp. July 3, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  11. Menchaca, John (June 28, 2019). "Revisiting Slipknot's Monstrous Self-Titled Album 20 Years Later". CVLT Nation. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  12. "Slipknot- Frail Limb Nursery, Crimescene.com- Purity Knight Recordings". Who Sampled. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  13. Arnopp 2001, pp. 159–161.
  14. "Wrecking Crew". Guitar. November 2001.
  15. Disasterpieces (DVD). Roadrunner Records. 2002.
  16. Huey, Steve. "Slipknot – Music Biography, Credits and Discography : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  17. "Josh Brainard interview 2003". MFKR1.
  18. "Song Chart from Indigo Ranch Session - Showing Only 8 Members Involved - Chris Fehn Didn't Record Anything on the ST Album". December 28, 2021.
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