Song Name: Buttered Beauties
Artist: DEVO
Appears On: Hardcore Vol. 1 [ and album re-releases]
Run Time: 3:37
Writing Credits: Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald V. Casale
Sung By: Gerald V. Casale (lead), Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh (backing)[1]
Personnel:
- Jerry Casale - bass
- Mark Mothersbaugh - synths
- Bob Mothersbaugh - guitar
- Jim Mothersbaugh - drums[2]
Lyrics:
[Lyrics transcribed from song. Punctuation from My Struggle version.]
- The first time I saw you, I knew
- There would be no other..
- That tingle, told us
- We were meant for one another..
- I'm calling you..
- I'm calling you..
- I'm calling; one, two, three..
- Buttered Beauty of the Negroid North
- Come spread your Tallow on me..
- Oiled wonder of the Midnight Forest
- Toss down your Glossy Web..
- She's got me by the lever,
- Sticking it out, sticking it out..
- In simulated leather
- Sticking it out, sticking it out..
- I think she broke my tether
- Come on, Come on,
- Keep on comin' on now.
- The first time I saw you, I knew
- There would be no other..
- That tingle, told us
- We were meant for one another..
- I'm calling you..
- I'm calling you..
- I'm calling; one, two, three..
- Buttered Beauty of the Negroid North
- Come spread your Tallow on me..
- Oiled wonder of the Midnight Forest
- Toss down your Glossy Web..
- Me
- She's got me by the lever,
- Sticking it out, sticking it out..
- In simulated leather
- Sticking it out, sticking it out..
- I think she broke my tether
- Come on, Come on,
- Keep on comin' on now.
- Buttered Beauty of the Negroid North
- Come spread your Tallow on me..
- Oiled wonder of the Midnight Forest
- Toss down your Glossy Web..
- Me
Trivia / Info:
- This sex-positive song is the only credited collaboration between Mark and Jerry in Hardcore Vol. 1 and is featured as the first track of side B.
- The count “1-2-3” was previously included in instructions for reading the Devo poem “The Waltz”.
- The term "buttered beauties"/"buttered beauty" was used in 20th and 21st century publications describing either "buttery" epidermis or buttered food. The lyrics by DEVO highlight a sensory quality associated with both skin, organic secretion, and cuisine.[3]
- Artificial and organic lubrication was previously discussed in Jerry’s “Polymer Love” treatise.
Song Reviews:
- ◦ “...'Buttered Beauties' imagined the black belles of the title smearing their 'glossy tallow' over the singer.”
- Simon Reynolds (1995)[4]
- ◦ “...Satire exists to bring sickness to the surface, and songs like...” “'Buttered Beauties' act as conduits for the repressed urges of the American male.”
- Joseph Stannard (2007)[5]
- ◦ “ ‘Buttered Beauties’ is a superbly weird piece and also an impressively developed tune for a bunch of guys making music in a basement.” - Joseph Neff (2021)
Fan video – cover version:
- ◦ “DEVO Attack! Buttered Beauties, I'm a Potato, Secret Agent Man Mutations” uploaded to YouTube in 2010 by terminal pictures/Andre Perkowski
Cover versions by The Inhibitors and the Farmingdale Sound Machine, from the compilation DEVO ATTACK! - ◦ Cover version: “Buttered Beauties jam” by Spudboys, DEVOtional 2009 [available from Booji Boy’s Basement]
- ◦ “DEVO Attack! Buttered Beauties, I'm a Potato, Secret Agent Man Mutations” uploaded to YouTube in 2010 by terminal pictures/Andre Perkowski
Additional Info:
- Lyric analysis:
- This song navigates the tension between human limitations and the relentless energy of the narrator’s partner in a relationship which devolves from mutual satisfaction to loss of control.
- Her expectations that the narrator perform with no downtime, like a machine, and "keep on comin' on" reflect her desire for persistence and intensity in their relationship. Yet, he feels overwhelmed, likening himself to a machine under her command.
- The struggle between desire and fatigue in this physically intense and emotionally demanding relationship culminates when one partner—full of insatiable golden energy and desire—pushes the other beyond their human limits. Alas, he is not made of steel, and even after being held "by the lever" and diagnosing his "tether" breaking, he is still entreated—“c’mon, c’mon - keep on comin' on now.”
Spelling / Orthography:
- The lyrics printed in the Hardcore releases are not a transcription of the lyrics on the '74 recording, which has “that tingle told me” instead of “us” and “buttered beauty” instead of “buttered beauties”.
- The lyrics in Hardcore and My Struggle have no line spacing. Numbers are spelled out alphabetically in My Struggle[6] and numerically in Hardcore. My Struggle includes extra punctuation and capitalization. Hardcore lyrics are printed in all capitalized letters and “(sticking it out)” is in parentheses and “Come on” contracts into “C’mon”.
- In the released recording the lyrics “I’m calling [you]” and “C’mon” are each repeated three times.
Notes and References:
- ↑
- Buttered Beauties
- Written by Mark Mothersbaugh / Gerald V. Casale
- Recorded in 1974
- Vocals by Gerald V. Casale
- Backing vocals by Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh
- Discogs: Devo. Hardcore, Disc 1 credits, (2013), 2 x CD release.
- (https://archive.ph/um574/faf80b909db8998b384abc27d4e5f228d745abe8.jpg)
- ↑
- Gerald V. Casale – bass
- Mark Mothersbaugh – synths
- Bob Mothersbaugh – guitar
- Jim Mothersbaugh – drums
- Gerald V. Casale – bass
- ↑
- The term "buttered beauties"/"buttered beauty" was used to describe skin:
- The term "buttered beauties"/"buttered beauty" was used to describe skin:
- • Nathan O. Gumbs Jr. used the terms "buttered beauty" and "buttered beauties" to describe female skin in his newspaper column “Escapading in Monmouth” articles published 1941 and 1942:
- ◦ Nathan O. Gumbs Jr. “Escapading in Monmouth”. New Jersey Herald News, (1942, July 4) pg 9
- ◦ Nathan O. Gumbs Jr. “Escapading in Monmouth”. New Jersey Herald News, (1941, February 22) pg 9
- ◦ Nathan O. Gumbs Jr. “Escapading in Monmouth”. New Jersey Herald News, (1942, July 4) pg 9
- • Nathan O. Gumbs Jr. used the terms "buttered beauty" and "buttered beauties" to describe female skin in his newspaper column “Escapading in Monmouth” articles published 1941 and 1942:
- “Tall, tan tantalizing gals, brown buttered beauties, gleaming glamour girls, charming cream cheeked chicks, lovely little old ladies, merry maids, gentle gentlemen, THEY ALL CAME...”
- • A photographic portrait titled "Buttered Beauty Of The Negroid North" was initially published in 1920 and again in the second volume of another quasi-anthropological publication in 1935:
- ◦ The found caption "Buttered Beauty" was subsequently used in song lyrics by DEVO to describe “buttered” sexual lubrication in a relationship of mutual attraction with a “beauty of the Negroid north”. The described relationship was affected by a barrier to intimacy - the singer's "broken tether" - which meant he couldn't "keep on comin'".
- ◦ The lyrics were first published in a book by Booji Boy (Mark) in 1978.
- ◦ Mireille Miller-Young provides a comprehensive written examination of the photograph and the culture that gave rise to it, presented as the first chapter of a book published in 2020.
- • Buttery unguents are popular beauty products:
- ◦ Buttered Beauty Co. LLC of Oklahoma City sells a “Cozy Winter Bliss” Lotion Stick, Body Butter, and Body Oil
- ◦ Tallow can be put on your skin[1][2] and in your food[3][4] [5]
- • Buttery unguents are popular beauty products:
- • The slang term “buttered beauties” was also used to describe appealing food:
- ◦ “Watch your stock rise as the luscious buttery beauties disappear!” - AD for Birds Eye brand Lima Beans. Life Magazine, (1949, February 21)
- ◦ “Sundaes with towers of ice cream and nuts and sauces and fudge and maraschino cherries of a quality and buttery beauty such as the outside world has never dreamed of!” - Tom Wolfe. Mauve Gloves and Madmen, Clutter and Vine. [book] (1976)
- ◦ "...An extra-large supremely sticky extra-fruited buttered beauty, a bun of buns..." - Patricia Ferguson. The midwife's daughter. [book] (2012)
- ◦ “There they were, in their gloriously fried and buttered beauty.” - Four Tines And A Napkin [blog], (2013, May 25)
- ◦ "Slap those buttered beauties on the grill and watch the magic happen." - Whole And Heavenly Oven [blog], (2015, July 20: Updated 2021)
- ◦ “Watch your stock rise as the luscious buttery beauties disappear!” - AD for Birds Eye brand Lima Beans. Life Magazine, (1949, February 21)
- • The slang term “buttered beauties” was also used to describe appealing food:
- • The DEVO lyrics uniquely combine word meanings to allude to both an edible organic sexual lubricant and an edible buttery unguent that can be applied to skin.
- ↑
- Simon Reynolds. The sex revolts: gender, rebellion, and rock 'n' roll. (Harvard University Press - 1995) pg 99.
- ↑
- Joseph Stannard. “We’re All Devo”. Plan B, Issue 22, (2007, June) pg 51. Illustration: Ben Newman.
- ↑
- Lyrics to "Buttered Beauties" were first printed in My Struggle
pg 260 (278 of 299).
- Lyrics to "Buttered Beauties" were first printed in My Struggle