Bat Country
Encyclopedia
"Bat Country" is a song by American metal
band Avenged Sevenfold
. The song was released as the second single from their third album, City of Evil
. Avenged Sevenfold won 'Best New Artist' at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
for "Bat Country" and on October 1, 2009, the single was certified gold by the RIAA.
's 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the title itself also comes from a line from the book in which Raoul Duke, the alter-ego pseudonym of Thompson himself, is on his way to Las Vegas
while being affected by various drugs, and thus hallucinates, seeing huge bats and manta rays in the sky. With this, he gasps to his companion and attorney, Dr. Gonzo, "We can't stop here. This is bat country."
The following quote, also included at the beginning of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, is referred twice throughout the song (at the beginning and the bridge before the last chorus) and is shown at the beginning of the music video.
Also referenced in the song, is a lyric derived from the final words spoken about Dr. Gonzo at the end of the film adaptation. The lyric is used at the end of the second breakdown of the song, as the final lyric of the song.
' NHL 06
, Madden NFL 06
, SSX on Tour
, Saints Row 2
, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
, as downloadable content for Rock Band and Rock Band 2
, the iPhone application Tap Tap Revenge 3
and on the newer version Tap Tap Revenge 4
. The song is featured on the soundtrack to the extreme mountain bike film New World Disorder 7: Flying High Again.
The song appeared on an episode of the FOX
TV series
Bones
entitled "The Superhero in the Alley". It is also appeared briefly in the film comedy Big Momma's House 2
.
. The video for this song shows various symbolic images and references to the above-mentioned Thompson book. The song centers around the band performing in a hotel room. There are also cuts to a scene in which the band is driving down a barren highway in a bat-winged Cadillac convertible, surrounded by a cloud of bats (who are being swatted by Zacky and The Rev). While in the car they see Johnny Christ on the side of the road trying to get a ride, and they pick him up. During the "soft" section, the band appears at a strip club, surrounded by snake-tongued strippers. Also, it's implied that the video is partially a hallucination.
If one were to examine closely, the words on M. Shadows' shirt appear to change between "Why Disneyland" and "If you have Amsterdam". The shirt actually says "Why Disneyland if you have Amsterdam?" at one point in the song. It changes back afterward. During Synyster Gates' and Zacky Vengeance's guitar solo/duo, the bats that fly into the sky are sometimes not there. The regular people sometimes appear to have a disfigured face. During the video's commentary by Avenged Sevenfold on their All Excess
DVD, the band says that the bats hallucination was actually due to a lack of funds. However, whether or not they were being serious or joking is not clarified.
The music video, which was filmed around Las Vegas, still receives considerable airplay on many channels. As Shadows says, the band members live close to Las Vegas. Synyster Gates commented at 2:47, 'You put all of us in the car, and that's basically what you have.'
Also, the line "My hand is on the trigger, I'm ready to ignite" is partially censored; the word "trigger" is replaced with a tire screech.
Production
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1999, the group consists of vocalist M. Shadows, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ....
. The song was released as the second single from their third album, City of Evil
City of Evil
City of Evil is the third studio album and first major label release by American metal band Avenged Sevenfold. The album was released on June 7, 2005 under the Warner Bros. Records label. Co-produced by Andrew Murdock, City of Evil contains a more hard rock and classic heavy metal sound than...
. Avenged Sevenfold won 'Best New Artist' at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
2006 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 31, 2006, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. The show was hosted by Jack Black at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
for "Bat Country" and on October 1, 2009, the single was certified gold by the RIAA.
Background and content
The song's main influence comes from Hunter S. ThompsonHunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
's 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the title itself also comes from a line from the book in which Raoul Duke, the alter-ego pseudonym of Thompson himself, is on his way to Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
while being affected by various drugs, and thus hallucinates, seeing huge bats and manta rays in the sky. With this, he gasps to his companion and attorney, Dr. Gonzo, "We can't stop here. This is bat country."
The following quote, also included at the beginning of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, is referred twice throughout the song (at the beginning and the bridge before the last chorus) and is shown at the beginning of the music video.
"He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man." - Dr. JohnsonSamuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
Also referenced in the song, is a lyric derived from the final words spoken about Dr. Gonzo at the end of the film adaptation. The lyric is used at the end of the second breakdown of the song, as the final lyric of the song.
"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die." - Raoul DukeRaoul DukeRaoul Duke is the fictional character and antihero based on Hunter S. Thompson in his autobiographical novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The book was originally written under the name Raoul Duke....
In popular culture
The song has been used in several video games including EA SportsEA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
' NHL 06
NHL 06
-External links:**...
, Madden NFL 06
Madden NFL 06
Madden NFL 06 is an American football video game which was released on August 8, 2005. It is also a launch game for the Xbox 360. It is the 16th installment of the Madden NFL series by EA Sports, named for noted color commentator John Madden. The product features former Philadelphia Eagles...
, SSX on Tour
SSX on Tour
SSX on Tour is a skiing and snowboarding game, the fourth title in the SSX series of video games for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, PSP and Xbox. The game was developed under the working title SSX 4. It was released in North America on October 11, 2005, In the PAL region on October 21, 2005 and in...
, Saints Row 2
Saints Row 2
Saints Row 2 is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 systems. It is the second title in the Saints Row series, after the release of Saints Row in 2006. It is succeeded by Saints Row: The...
, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a music video game and the sixth main entry in the Guitar Hero series for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game was released September 24, 2010 in Europe, September 28, 2010 in North America and September 29, 2010 in Australia...
, as downloadable content for Rock Band and Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...
, the iPhone application Tap Tap Revenge 3
Tap Tap Revenge 3
Tap Tap Revenge 3 was the number 1 application in the App Store within the first 24 hours of its release and stayed there for over 2 weeks.Once released as a free application in the App Store, it rose to the 2nd most downloaded application in the App Store within 24 hours with 300,000 new members...
and on the newer version Tap Tap Revenge 4
Tap Tap Revenge 4
Tap Tap Revenge 4 is the fourth installment in the Tap Tap series. It is a game developed by Tapulous and published by Tapulous for iOS and Android OS.-Gameplay:...
. The song is featured on the soundtrack to the extreme mountain bike film New World Disorder 7: Flying High Again.
The song appeared on an episode of the FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
TV series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
entitled "The Superhero in the Alley". It is also appeared briefly in the film comedy Big Momma's House 2
Big Momma's House 2
Big Momma's House 2 is a 2006 American crime comedy film directed by John Whitesell and written by Don Rhymer. The film is a sequel to Big Momma's House and stars Martin Lawrence reprising his role as FBI agent Malcolm Turner. The film was released theatrically on 27 January 2006, and was...
.
Track listings
CD- "Bat Country" - 5:13
- "Beast and the HarlotBeast and the Harlot"Beast and the Harlot" is a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, the song was released as a single taken from their third album City of Evil. The song peaked at #19 on the U.S...
" (Live from the Warped TourWarped TourThe Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
) - 6:08 - "Bat Country" (Music video)
Music video
The music video resembles parts of the movie Fear And Loathing In Las VegasFear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1998 American drama film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as Dr. Gonzo. It was adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel of the same name....
. The video for this song shows various symbolic images and references to the above-mentioned Thompson book. The song centers around the band performing in a hotel room. There are also cuts to a scene in which the band is driving down a barren highway in a bat-winged Cadillac convertible, surrounded by a cloud of bats (who are being swatted by Zacky and The Rev). While in the car they see Johnny Christ on the side of the road trying to get a ride, and they pick him up. During the "soft" section, the band appears at a strip club, surrounded by snake-tongued strippers. Also, it's implied that the video is partially a hallucination.
If one were to examine closely, the words on M. Shadows' shirt appear to change between "Why Disneyland" and "If you have Amsterdam". The shirt actually says "Why Disneyland if you have Amsterdam?" at one point in the song. It changes back afterward. During Synyster Gates' and Zacky Vengeance's guitar solo/duo, the bats that fly into the sky are sometimes not there. The regular people sometimes appear to have a disfigured face. During the video's commentary by Avenged Sevenfold on their All Excess
All Excess
All Excess is Avenged Sevenfold's first DVD which was released on July 17, 2007. The DVD includes a documentary with footage dating back to 1999, four live performances, along with four music videos, and several outtakes....
DVD, the band says that the bats hallucination was actually due to a lack of funds. However, whether or not they were being serious or joking is not clarified.
The music video, which was filmed around Las Vegas, still receives considerable airplay on many channels. As Shadows says, the band members live close to Las Vegas. Synyster Gates commented at 2:47, 'You put all of us in the car, and that's basically what you have.'
Also, the line "My hand is on the trigger, I'm ready to ignite" is partially censored; the word "trigger" is replaced with a tire screech.
Chart positions
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
60 |
| U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 6 |
Personnel
Avenged Sevenfold- M. ShadowsM. ShadowsMatthew Charles Sanders , better known by his stage name M. Shadows, is the lead vocalist, songwriter, and founding member for the American metal band Avenged Sevenfold.-Early life and musical beginnings:...
- lead vocals - Synyster GatesSynyster GatesBrian Elwin Haner, Jr. , better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American musician, best known for being the lead guitarist of the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold.-Early life:...
- lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocals - Zacky VengeanceZacky VengeanceZachary James Baker, better known by his stage name Zacky Vengeance, is the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American metal/rock band Avenged Sevenfold.-Biography:...
- rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, backing vocals - Johnny ChristJohnny ChristJonathan Lewis Seward, , better known by his stage name Johnny Christ, is the bassist of the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. Johnny was the fourth bassist to join Avenged Sevenfold in 2002, replacing former members Matt Wendt, Justin Sane, and Dameon Ash...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - The RevThe RevJames Owen Sullivan , more commonly known by his stage name The Reverend Tholomew Plague, often shortened to The Rev, was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold...
- drums, backing vocals
Production
- Produced by Andrew MurdockAndrew MurdockAndrew Murdock, also known as Mudrock, is an American record producer specializing in the rock and metal genres.He is best known for producing Godsmack's Godsmack and Awake albums...
- Music video directed by Marc KlasfeldMarc KlasfeldMarc Klasfeld is an American music video director. He has directed over two hundred music videos for artists such as Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Kid Rock, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nelly, Foo Fighters, Jewel, Sum 41, Avril Lavigne and many others with multiple MTV award wins and nominations...
- Artwork by Cam Rackam