Today we celebrate the 18th ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐บ of “๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐”. It was released as the third single from the album “Sleeping with ghosts” on September 15th 2003 and reached no. 27 in the UK Singles Chart.
“Special needs“ is a story about a celebrity told from the view of someone who's sitting in a wheelchair. They reminisces about the times spent with this celebrity but they are also afraid to be written out of their ex's biography and being forgotten.
“Special needs“ is a story about a celebrity told from the view of someone who's sitting in a wheelchair. They reminisces about the times spent with this celebrity but they are also afraid to be written out of their ex's biography and being forgotten.
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Photo credit: Screenshots from the video, edit by Silke |
๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฆ – ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ข
http://bit.ly/2pCxKGP
The music video was directed by Paul Gore and filmed in a waterless swimming pool in Hackney. It switches between the three band members playing the song there and a couple, apparently separated, who reminisce their relationship and make out. Brian: “The idea behind it is kind of the idea of people making love to a memory. Two people making love whilst not being in the same room. Making love to a memory is something you do quite a bit by yourself after you break up with someone. So we wanted to illustrate that. It involved getting people in there dressed completely in blue and taking them out afterwards at the editing suite. We actually used compressed air on the skin to give the impression of finger marks“ (Once more with feeling DVD, 2004).
Brian started to write “Special needs“ around 1998 when Placebo was working on their second album “Without you I'm nothing“. But it seemed as if the song wasn't ready to come into existence and refused to get in proper shape back then. So it got stuck somewhere in the back of Brian's mind for years before he was able to finish it. (see quote below). The song finally made it on the band's fourth album “Sleeping with ghosts“ in 2003.
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| Photo credit: Helena Berg |
๐ต https://bit.ly/3BLBgTm ๐ต
"Special needs" is in the top 10 of Placebo's most often played songs at their shows. Currently it's no. 6 with 519 confirmed performances. Since its live debut on March 10th 2003 the song was part of every tour. Last time it was brought on stage was on July 13th 2018 at Sions sous les รจtoiles festival in Switzerland. This was the last Placebo concert down to the present day.
The single was available in two different versions. The CD includes an extended version of the song, a remix of “English summer rain” and “Plasticine (Lounge version)”. The DVD consists of the video clip and the making of it, a remix of “The bitter end” and the album version of "Special needs".
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| Photo credit: Jรฉrรดme Brรฉzillon |
๐ข ”The tale of a celebrity has-been told from a wheelchair. Someone reminiscing how the shoe is on the other foot and worrying that they’ll be written out of their ex’s biography.”
(Rock Sound, April 2003)
๐ข "I have worked on this song at the time of “Without you I'm nothing”. It was hanging somewhere in the air but it came out only last year. It was not ready, that's all … I find it very interesting to be able to do a song in a few minutes and having to wait six years to write another. "
(Les Inrockuptibles N°382, March-April 2003)
๐ข “When you’re releasing your first couple of records you do think that you’re invincible. As a young artist there’s always this voice in the back of your head telling you you’re shit, that you’re not as good as the next guy. By the time you get to your fourth album that voice has changed. You know you can’t be shit because you’ve just sold X amount of records, but now it’s telling you you’re a has-been. As an artist that’s been on my mind and that’s why it’s crept into songs like ‘Centrefolds’ and ‘Special Needs’, this idea of washed-up celebrity.”
(Rock Sound, April 2003)
Post by Silke
