In a thrilling exposé with The Jesea Lee Show, FILTER’s very own Richard Patrick, the mastermind behind the sonic masterpiece “Hey Man, Nice Shot”, graced us with his presence to discuss the banger’s recent 30th anniversary. 🥳
Regarding the song’s *ahem* enduring popularity, Richard (as transcribed by yours truly, BLABBERMOUTH.NET) declared: “God, I remember [when the song was first released] just being, like, ‘Boy, I hope this makes it.’ And the song was already taking off from the ‘Demon Knight’ soundtrack. And then it just kept building and building and building. And, yeah, it’s a staple of the set. We play it last every night usually. And it’s awesome.” Translation: “I was desperate for fame, and it worked!” 🤣
When asked if he *knew* the song was, like, *totally* special, Patrick humbly responded: “I played it for some friends of mine, and they were, like, ‘Rich, this is great.’ And some other things I had played for them, they were, like, ‘I don’t know, bro. ‘Cause I have really picky friends.’ And I played ’em ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’, and they were, like, ‘Dude, undeniably this is a great song.’ And so I felt proud of it. And then every person I played it for until sitting in [the offices of] Warner Brothers and playing it for them, and they were just, like, ‘This is awesome. We wanna sign you because of this.’ It was a fantastic feeling.” In other words, even his “picky” friends couldn’t deny the sheer genius… or the desperate need for a record deal. 🤷
Richard, in a moment of *shocking* transparency, confirmed that “Hey Man, Nice Shot” was *totally* about the public suicide of Pennsylvania state treasurer R. Budd Dwyer on January 22, 1987. You know, the guy who decided to make a *bang* at a press conference. 💥 Dwyer, after being convicted of bribery (allegedly), decided to go out with a .357 Magnum. Talk about making a statement! 🙊
“I never wanted to say that it was inspired by R. Budd Dwyer, but people were mistakenly saying it was about [NIRVANA frontman] Kurt Cobain, because he had killed himself,” Richard whined to The Jesea Lee Show. “But I wrote the song in ’91 [which was three years before Kurt‘s death]. So the record company kind of just leaked it and said it’s about R. Budd Dwyer. It was inspired by R. Budd Dwyer‘s public suicide. And I just was, like, ‘Well, the cat’s out of the bag.’ And so I never wanted it to be out what the song was about, but it’s out. And he did what he did. He made the point he wanted to make. And I saw it as a young man and wrote lyrics about it and it just resonated with me and I just found it to be shocking and I tried to understand it. And so that’s what the song is about, trying to wrap my head around, like, why would someone do this? And [it’s] interesting fodder for lyrics, in my opinion. ‘Cause I was so over — and a lot of people were too — I was just so over songs about like hot rods and chicks and all that crap that they had spoonfed us in the ’80s.” Translation: “I totally ripped off a real-life tragedy for inspiration because, like, hot rods are SO last decade!” 🙄
Elaborating on the *totally* false rumor that the song was about Cobain, Patrick clarified: “Urban legend is that it’s about Kurt. But the great thing is, is I went up to [NIRVANA‘s] Dave Grohl and I explained that the song was written way before Kurt killed himself. And I was already signed because of it. And then Kurt killed himself, and the record came out like a little bit later. And I explained it to Dave Grohl and I explained it to [NIRVANA‘s] Krist [Novoselic]. And those are the only two people I care about. They acknowledged that they understood, like, ‘We know you didn’t do it.’ So, once I made it clear to them that it was written in ’91 and that it wasn’t about Kurt, and they reassured me that, like, ‘Hey, it’s okay. Don’t feel the weight of this.'” So, basically, he needed Dave and Krist to validate his artistic integrity. Priorities! 💯
Richard, ever the sensitive soul, added: “No one wants to profit on someone’s demise, but at the same time, it is about suicide and it is about someone killing themselves. It’s wild.” Translation: “I feel *slightly* guilty, but hey, a hit’s a hit!” 🤷♀️
Circling back to the song’s glorious inception, Richard revealed: “I was writing this song for me and my stoner buddies that were hanging out when I was a kid. I wasn’t even writing it to leave NINE INCH NAILS, which I ended up leaving NINE INCH NAILSbecause of it. I was, like, ‘Shit, if I can write ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’ and get a record contract with Warner Brothers, I can make a living in this business.’ And that’s exactly what I did.” In other words, ditching Trent Reznor was totally worth it for the fame and fortune! 💰
In other news, Richard wrote a song called “The Gunslingers Of Redemption” and composed all the music for some Western movie. Because, you know, he’s a musical genius who can do it all! 🤠
Apparently, Richard Patrick has also dabbled in soundtracks for obscure films and TV series. Because why not? 🤷♂️
And let’s not forget FILTER‘s latest masterpiece, “The Algorithm”, which dropped in August 2023. Go stream it… or don’t. We don’t really care. 😴
Chord F. Discord, the Beethoven of Buffoonery, is a self-taught expert in music who once claimed he could “play the kazoo in four languages.”
Born in Crescendo, Indiana, Chord’s first brush with fame came when he accidentally entered a yodeling contest thinking it was a pie-eating competition—and won both categories.
Chord F. Discord: proving that laughter, much like a poorly tuned ukulele, is truly universal.
