Daiana Feuer on August 15th, 2017

1

“Sloppy Seconds” is a diss track. Butch Bastard’s Ian Murray describes it as his version of Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep” or Tupac’s “Hit Em Up.” He explains: “As a child who grew up in the ’90s listening to a lot of rap music, the ‘diss’ song is a cornerstone of many great albums.”

Rather than being directed at a particular rival, the song takes shots at the music industry in general. The most pointed lyric carries the wallop of a boxer’s right hook: “When I’m dead, I may have got burnt but I never gave head to the same motherf*ckers that I despise.” He says, “‘Sloppy Seconds’ in this context refers to artistic or intellectual plagiarism.” The rest we will leave open to interpretation.

“Was I bitter when I wrote it? A little bit, unfortunately,” Murray says. “But the music business is and always has been a dirty game. It’s a wonder we have so many love songs.” Funny he should mention love songs, because this tune’s smooth and dreamy atmosphere borders on romantic.

Much like everything we’ve heard from Butch Bastard so far, Murray handles all the instruments except the drums, which in this case were played by Josh Tillman / Father John Misty. (Remember, Tillman played drums in Fleet Foxes from 2008-12). Murray says, “I absolutely love what he did. His drum writing and arranging is so tasteful. Other than myself he is the only other person who has touched the song, and he really transformed it.”

||| Stream: “Sloppy Seconds”

||| Previously: “Butchie Baby,” “Magnolia”