Shock Collar

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Shock Collar
Song	Shock Collar
By	Humanist (feat. Dave Gahan)
Songwriter	Mark Lanegan
Produced by	Rob Marshall
Length (mm:ss)	4:00
Time signature	4 4
Originally released	13 January 2020
Live performances as Humanist (feat. Dave Gahan)	0 times *
Total live performances	0 times *

"Shock Collar" is a song from the 2020 self-titled album HUMANIST by Humanist featuring the vocals of Dave Gahan. It was released as a single on 13 January 2020. Dave collaborated with Humanist again in 2024 for a song titled "Brother".

Lyrics

Shock Collar

Thank you love

For all you've done

Now I'll go my way

Take this salt from off my tongue

And try to believe the blood

The silent sea will mirror me

And begin again

Walk beside this crooked line

And begin again

I never lied

Never never lied

I never lied

Never never lied

The liar the liar the liar the liar

I never lied

Never never lied

It's only a halo

It's only a halo

These fallow fields

Grew sunflowers dear

But they have died

The willow tree is skeletal

The sky swept clean

The drag of time

The pantomime

Begin again

The soldiers wave

Parade of flags

Begin again

I never lied

Never never lied

I never lied

Never never lied

The liar the liar the liar the liar

I never lied

Never never lied

It's only a halo

It's only a halo

Songwriter: Mark Lanegan
Publishing Information: © 2020 Ignition Records Ltd., ℗ 2019 Ignition Records Ltd.

Quotes

I can sing a little, and I do sing on some of the tracks, and I’ve written some of the singing parts, too, but I’ve always preferred the art of collaboration. I guess that’s [from] being in bands your whole life. So I had this daft ‘wish list’ of vocalists I’d always loved, which I passed to my manager, along with some early demos. To my surprise, nearly all of them said yes, and it was an enthusiastic yes too. I was blown away — I still am — to be working with some of my musical heroes.

— Rob Marshall - Rolling Stone - 13 January 2020

I’d been writing a lot of music at the time for the record, and I was really getting back into big guitar tracks again, and I had a song (which would eventually become ‘Shock Collar') that I felt could be a great single. It was something special when Dave said he would sing this. He’s achieved so much over the years, an incredible front man, with such a soaring voice and presence, but with no trademark tone of celebrity or ego whatsoever. Very humble, gentle and giving. When we shot the video, he worked extremely hard on [that] day, performing each take with total gusto and energy, which didn’t let up throughout his performances.

— Rob Marshall - Clash Music - 13 January 2020

This all came as a surprise because I’m lying dormant at the moment, trying to get my juices flowing with writing and recording. I didn’t feel like I wanted to do anything, but this came along and got me to hear a lot of stuff that I probably wouldn’t have. When these things come along, it’s always a bit of a nudge into something that I wanted to do anyway.

— Dave Gahan - NME - 13 January 2020

I got involved through Mark Lanegan who had worked with Rob on his last couple of records. The music was already all together and Mark had already written the words, so really it was just me singing the melody. It was a weird collaboration. Mark would have normally been singing this, so I had it in my mind to be true to what they were doing... Rob’s stuff is pretty dark. The record is pretty unusual and way more instant. There’s a lot of depth added by Mark as a guitarist too.

— Dave Gahan - NME - 13 January 2020

It was a pleasure to be asked to be a part of Rob’s 'Humanist' project. Mark Lanegan asked me, and I liked the idea immediately… It’s a beast! I went for the vocal, with the visual of driving fast on an empty highway… We shot the video over a couple of days in New York, and it all came together.

— Dave Gahan - Clash Music - 13 January 2020

Dave Gahan and Rob Marshall.
Photo by Derrick Belcham.

It’s great to work with people like this because they stretch you. Having been lucky enough to make music with other people for the last 40 years, I’m always looking for someone to take me out of my comfort zone. It makes me better at what I do in the long run. I learn so much from people with fresh ideas. Well, I nick so much – to be honest.

— Dave Gahan - NME - 13 January 2020

It’s funny you say [that 'Shock Collar' has a retro-futuristic post-punk sound], because when I initially heard the backing track of what Rob had done first, my initial thought was that it felt like Echo & The Bunnymen. I liked a lot of that stuff in the ‘80s, and I think Rob is influenced by a lot of that full-on, wall-of-sound stuff. I think it’s pretty fresh because it came together pretty quickly. It wasn’t messed around with too much and we just got on with it. It just is what it is, and is certainly a good way to start the new year.

— Dave Gahan - NME - 13 January 2020

Since [the end of the last tour], I’ve been working again with Rich Machin on [a side-project with] Soulsavers again. It looks like we’ll be doing another thing there which will probably surface towards the end of the year. Before that, I’d just come off the road. For the first six months after you’ve been out there for over a year, it’s always a weird transition. This time more than ever, I just thought ‘I don’t know if I want to make music any more’. Not because I don’t like music, but because I was so drained. Still, music is one of the only things that makes any sense to me in life.

— Dave Gahan - NME - 13 January 2020

Dates where Shock Collar was played

Shock Collar has never been played live.