Rolling Stone Australia September 2017

The Song That Reminds
Me of School

MetallicaMasterofPuppets, 1985

“It reminds me of walking to
school. One of the best gifts I
evergotfrommygrandmother
wasaSonyWalkman,andIhad
a handful of dubbed tapes, andMaster of
Puppetswasoneofthem.SoIwalkedto
school,Ilivedafewmilesaway,andthat
tape really got me to school, helped me
avoid the bullies and all the bullshit. I can
rememberbythetimethatsonghitIwas
passing the five-and-dime on the way to my
juniorhighsoIknewIwasabouthalfway.”

The Song That Made Me Want To
BeaSinger

Journey“Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”,
1983

“Iwas10,andIwashangingout
with my cousin Lisa, and we
were sitting in her bedroom
[listening] toFrontiers,the
album.AndIwassingingalong,andshe
stoppeditandsaid,‘Isthatyousinging?’
Andshetookthealbum,shetookmebythe
hand,shedraggedmeouttotheliving
room at my Aunt Susan’s house, and stood
me in the corner and said, ‘Everyone come
in here, you have to hear Corey!’ And she
puttheLPon,andIjustkindaputmyhead
downandstartedsinging.AndIlookedup
and [my family] were all clapping, cheer-
ing,andIwaslike,I’mgoodatsomething.
ItwasthefirsttimeI’dhadthatmoment:
‘MaybeIcouldbeasinger.’”

The Song That Makes Me Want to
Stage Dive

MotörheadCradle to the Grave, 1987

“Thatsongmakesmewantto
run through brick walls. I’d
never heard it untilThe Decline
of Western Civilization Part II
soundtrack, and it brought something out
in me. I was in my basement at my grand-
ma’s house pretending to sing in front of a
liveaudience,andIhadadrumset,andI

hadtakenthecymbalsoffoneofthecym-

balstands,andIhadmanoeuvreditsoit

looked like a mic stand. And I was singing

‘CradletotheGrave’andIwassointoit

that I threw the stand and it bounced off

thewallandhitmeintheeye.[Laughs]It

cutmyeyeopen.Youcanstillseethescar.”

TheSongIWishIWrote

Nine Inch NailsSomethingICanNever

Have, 1989

“That song inspired me to write

‘Bother’ [off Stone Sour’s debut

album].It’ssuchaheartfelt,

dark, gnarly place that if you’ve

never lost a love like it feels like someone’s

takenapartofyourbody,youcan’tunder-

standit.Iusedtoactuallydoaversionin

myacousticset,andIhadtostopbecause

itwouldfuckmeup.Andthewordsareso

poignant.GodIwishI’dwrittenthatsong.

CosIcanseemyheartinit.Trent’ssogood

at that, it’s criminal.”

The Song That Makes Me Cry

Ray LaMontagneBurn, 2004

“It’s just him and a guitar and

it’s probably the fucking saddest

songIhaveeverheard.Itfound

me at a point in my life when I

needed that. It broke me the fuck down.

Youputthaton...I’mstartingtotearup

thinkingaboutit.Icanrememberallthe

times I listened to that and broke down.”

TheSongIWishI’dRecorded

Differently

Stone SourImperfect, 2010

“Thatsongwasoriginallyafull

band piece and it was faster, and

Iallowedmyselftobetalkedout

of playing it that way. And I

knowpeoplelovethatsong,butformeit

wassupposedtohavemoreofanearly

Eighties INXS vibe to it, and I was very

fucking against making it just a straight

acoustic piece, but I got talked out of it cos

people loved it. It’s still cool and it’s a song

that is deeply personal to me, but maybe

some day I’ll re-record it with the full band

the way it was meant to be done.”

TheSongINeverWanttoHear

Again

Justin BieberBaby ft. Ludacris, 2010

“Ishuddertogivethispersonany

free press... That song should

be fucking burned. There are

songs by Taylor Swift that I’d

love to have banned from my country, but

thatJustinBiebersong...Andthat’scom-

ing from someone who really loves the

[Slipknot/Bieber] ‘Psychosocial Baby’

mash-up. But the song itself, no. And I love

[guest rapper] Ludacris, but Jesus Christ,

whothefucktalkedhimintothat?That

makes me hurt. [Shouting] C’mon, Ludac-

ris!You’refuckin’LUDACRIS!I’mangry!”

TheSongIChillOutTo

Creedence Clearwater Revival

LongAsICanSeetheLight, 1970

“It’sverymuchlikeasongwrit-

er’s 12 bar blues kind of vibe, but

not. It’s Fogerty at his best.

[Sings]‘Putacandleinthewin-

dow...’It’salmostlikeaseashantyfor

someone who’s never been to sea. It’s got

that beautiful vibe. So I put that on when

I’m in hotel rooms; when I’m not writing a

bookorrecordingaradioshow,Iputthat

on in my headphones and I just relax. It has

that kind of Seventies analog stress-free

emotion to it. It’s a beautiful song.”

The Song That Makes Me Homesick

The EaglesAlready Gone, 1974

“Iknowit’sarelationshipsong,

butthatsongjustmakesmefeel

likeI’mdrivingoutlikeIjusthit

the city limits and I’m hauling

ass for home. I love long road trips. I love a

trip that will take me three days in a car,

and there’s just something about listening

to this and knowing that you’re very, very

close to being at your destination.”

MY SOUNDTRACK

R&R

The Stone Sour and Slipknot frontman on

which songs have left him with scars

BY ROD YATES

Corey Taylor

30 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com September, 2017