Corey Taylor’s track by track guide to CMFT: “I’m making fun of people who think they know who the f**k I am”

Corey Taylor knew that calling his debut solo album Corey Mother Fucking Taylor – CFMT for short – would cause a reaction. “It’s basically me taking the piss out of my public persona and making fun of people who think they know exactly who the fuck I am,” says the man who appears on the cover of this month’s Metal Hammer. But just who the fuck is he? If CMFT is anything to go by, he’s about 13 different people – its songs range from the outlaw country-metal of HWY 666 and Home’s love-letter to his wife Alicia Dove to the rap-metal throwdown of CMFT Must Be Stopped. Here, Corey talks us through the album track by track…

HWY 666

“This started as two verses written in a notebook when I was about 16 years old. There’s a little bit of Thin Lizzy, The Charlie Daniels Band and Pantera in there.”

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Black Eyes Blue

“For the longest time, this song was called ‘Clash rip-off’. I just wanted to write something that cool, you know? I failed miserably but it’s a great fucking song.”

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Samantha’s Gone

“Samantha’s Gone is probably one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written. It’s what I call a ‘junk food chorus’, because there’s no way that thing is not fattening.”

Meine Lux

“I dreamt this song before I wrote it. True story. I woke up, grabbed a guitar, filmed myself playing the song and sent it to the guys.”

Halfway Down 

“I’ve had this song for about 15 years. It’s my homage to Bon Scott-era AC/DC, just that awesome, cool rock’n’roll in your face. 

Silverfish 

“This song is about those quiet moments fighting off those needles of addiction and depression when there’s nothing else but your thoughts.”

Kansas

“It’s about trying to get home to that person you love. I know if I can just get to Kansas, I’m one step away from being home.”

Culture Head 

“I was driving in my car and heard this machine doing the rhythm we mimicked with the drums. It’s about being in the middle of the far right and extreme left, going, ‘You’re all full of shit.’” 

Everybody Dies On My Birthday 

“We’re all born and we all die. It’s those two things we all have in common; it’s everything in between that can be changed.”

The Maria Fire 

“It’s a personal song about my previous relationship, really digging in and giving a very heartfelt vaya con dios [a Spanish farewell that translates as ‘Go with God’].”

Home 

“This the first song I wrote about Alicia. I wrote it on the guitar but it lacked that intimacy and personal feel. So I spent two and half years teaching myself how to play piano.”

CMFT Must Be Stopped (feat. Tech N9ne and Kid Bookie)

“It’s a middle finger to everyone who thinks they know me, my homage to early 80s Run-DMC, and Bring The Noise with Anthrax and Public Enemy. 

European Tour Bus Bathroom Song

“There’s the same sign in every bathroom on every European tour bus: please do not put paper in toilet, please use the bin provided. When you’re trying not to get piss all over yourself, you tend to stare at this sign. If you do that long enough, you end up writing hardcore punk music to it.”