Blue Oyster Cult: Mistress of the Salmon Salt

[gretzinabluehat]

Timeless masterpiece.

[aineiss]

Classic BOC! Dark lyrical humor, rolling rhythm section, plus guitar tone to die for.

[psych380]

This song make me hungry. *Lawyer leans in and whispers story behind song*. I withdraw that last statement.

[redhotdice1]

Yes, I still have my vinyl record of this great work by BOC!

[redhotdice1]

It is greatly nice to be able to pull up this vintage BOC material but it would be nice, for continuity purposes that BOC incorporated into its early works, to be able to pull down the entire album, especially this one!

[bocno1fan]

what is the story behind the quick lime girl ? tell me true..........

[mgwilliams1000]

Only know my mom thought I was seriously on drugs listening to this. That was 35 years ago. Still have the vinyl from a record store long gone now...sigh.

[BobCubTAC]

One of the greatest songs ever, from one of the greatest albums ever.

[gchadder3]

I haven't read the official explanation, but I think this song refers to the primitive practice of human sacrifice to make the earth fertile. See Joseph Campbell's "Primitive Mythology" or Sir George Frazier's "The Golden Bough" for much more on this. Sounds like in the song, the native islanders prey on modern naval colonists from the Old World. Maybe this sort of thing actually happened to the British from time to time.

[kosh1968]

@gchadder3 close, but i think it fits the story of typhoid Mary a lot closer. there are way to many clues and references to locations in new york and the symptoms of the virus.

[karlmoles65]

@gchadder3 Sounds just like the kind of obscure evil BOC loves to write about.

[jeffreygaudreault]

 I love this song!! Its so fuckin' cool!!

[pduvall100]

Pure Genius fits..Bloom is a sinister saint.

[JonasPlanck]

The song is about a lovely young woman who murders her suitors and buries them in her orchard (quicklime speeds the decomposition of corpses and fertilizes the ground they lay in), selling the harvest that ripens upon their graves. Think about that next time you bite into an apple...

[grouchypus]

@JonasPlanck 0_o lol

[fillivalli]

hmmm i seem to not have heard this album before can anyone tell me the name of this masterpiece

[incubiculo]

@fillivalli tyranny and mutation

[beefoneeto]

Awesome lyrics-the final verse is really scary-one of Eric's best and coolest vocals.I appreciate E.B.'s vocals more and more as I get older.OTOH Robert Plants squeal gets more and more annoying as time goes on.LOL

[eurorocker79]

I can't figure out what the hell is going on in this song haha... nevertheless, it has been one of my favorite tunes for 10 years or so!

Thanks for posting, dude!

[elbertsnext]

I think Pearlman and Metzger were writing alot of the lyrics at that time

[Kirke182]

I thought Al Bouchard did his best drumming on this album.

[Deloris968]

I own real fetish better than this Goto See more details on my youtube profile. . .

[pduvall100]

There are at least 5 songs that are my favorite on this album-this one being one of them.. wait how many songs are on this album?- quick lime girl. o.k so they buried some girl? and used quicklime ? wait I'ved used qicklime before .. uh oh..

[Johnhoulgate]

In the world of Imaginos, the Quicklime girl is one of many characters, helping the seven Gods of Voodoo posing the problem of evil to humanity.

[BATTLEDROID678]

@Johnhoulgate; would those 7 gods of voodoo happen to be "Screaming Diz-Busters" by chance?

[Johnhoulgate]

@BATTLEDROID678 maybe or a representation of them.

[BATTLEDROID678]

this is why i love the cult: heavy guitar riffs, Eric blooms singing and the cryptic lyrics, bravo oyster boys bravo!

[TheAgProv]

On the playout there's a passage that sounds as if it's in Morse code. Anyone fluent in Morse?

[Drizzlerman]

The Quicklime girl represents the femme fatale amazingly; 'Ripe and ready to the eye yet rotten somehow to the core.

[mlkuhnpdx]

Wizard, great of you to post this album. It's my favorite BOC album by far, but mine wore out many years ago and I haven't replaced it. All the songs are pure genius - but this one stands out. The lyrics are deathly, Bloom's voice is at its sinister best and Buck's guitar soars masterfully. "A ripe and ready grave..." How did they think this stuff up?

[castingtherunes]

@mlkuhnpdx Wasn't Patti Smith writing their lyrics at that time?

[Kalkas53]

@mlkuhnpdx with pot

[mlkuhnpdx]

@Kalkas53 - Among other things...

[Kalkas53]

@mlkuhnpdx lots and lots of various forms of illegal substances but who cares it work of art not a statement on the drug issue

[mlkuhnpdx]

@Kalkas53 - Yes, but where did the idea come from?  Sandy, if you're reading this, please answer...

[Johnhoulgate]

@mlkuhnpdx I'm not Sandy Pearlman, but here's my best guess. I believe Albert Bouchard wrote about the Imaginos project, saying there were dozens of songs that did not make it to the final album. My guess is that Imaginos shows to humanity a whole world of dark and evil characters, who go about carrying out their own diabolical missions. Imaginos role is to further the play of the gods, who present to humanity the problem of evil. Quicklime Girl and the Harvester of Eyes are such characters.

[longfootbuddy]

@mlkuhnpdx pact with the devil ;)

[atltom58]

@mlkuhnpdx i still remember when i finally got the money to go and buy this album........it was one of those strange life changing events that you always remember . ive seen these guys about 12 times most of it back in the early to mid 70s..........they have a pretty cool website called hot rails to hell you might want to check it out has a lot of good storys on in in the history part of the site people talking about different concerts they saw over the years ive posted a few.

[VChuck1]

Quicklime also accelerates decomposition of bodies according to an old KKK dude I used to know.He used to tell me stories how they disposed of bodies of victims.He's dead now.

This song brings back "70's "m memories! Thanks

[5Arion]

Fun song - surprisingly gentle.

[getula64]

i can hear Dave Mustaine singing this, maybe more sinisterly. ;)

[dansgod]

BlueOysterWizard kudos for putting "Tyranny" on youtube.This brings back bands like NY dolls,Alice and of course IGGY that in 1972 brought music an edge.Thank God!!!!!!!!

[ellinlvx]

Here is another example of the scheduled back and forth motion of the Eternal Tides of what we call life and death. Are we all just fields of grain awaiting the scythe of the great reaper in the sky?

[Drizzlerman]

i believe this song has to do with the Vietnam war, prostitution and of course dead soldiers. Basically this mistress of the salmon salt is an assassin/prostitute who lures soldiers to her garden with the guise she is going to make love with them, then she strangles them and buries their corpses as fertilizer for her ever blooming garden.

[tittyscott]

WTF,the bitch grew weed,Quiklime is a fetilizer.Or am I wrong,,,,,,Ok maybe clueless

[tittyscott]

Probably in Or,Wa,orBC

[Drizzlerman]

I don't know. 'Once you've gone and choked to death, with laughter and a little skill I've prepared the quicklime friend for your ripe and ready grave, for your ripe and ready grave.' 'A harvest of life, a harvest of death resumes it's course each day it comes as if by schedule...the toes have curled, the leaves have turned, with necks like saws that need to turn as if inclined to gasp or pray.' Something about those lines seems to imply using body parts as fertilizer and possibly strangulation.

[Johnhoulgate]

@Drizzlerman I think he's talking about the shape of the plants resembling the contorted, horrified shapes of Quicklime Girl's victims.

[Drizzlerman]

@Johnhoulgate probably

[Drizzlerman]

btw quicklime is Calcium Oxide and it has multiple uses but it has traditionally been used in burials in open graves to mask the smell of decomposition.

[anthroscott]

and can be smoked generously

[cuttlefisch]

Sounds like a naughty girl....

[Drizzlerman]

Definitely, very naughty.

[cuttlefisch]

Why is that? Don't they like BOC??

[JeanChristopheMr]

Thx cuttlefisch!

She ain't no metaphor... It sounds like "This ain't the summer of love"... When I was a student, how many points could I have lost in my exams because I used "she ain't" or "she don't, or "'cause", or "U" (heard in songs, of course) instead of the grammar according to the book !

But many thanks for your answer ;-)

[cuttlefisch]

When I listen to this song I see a connection between the Quicklime Girl and the flourishing greenery that is mentioned often. Maybe she kills in order to keep the plants fertile (the harvest of life) and then covers the bodies with quicklime or salmon salt (the harvest of death), either way she sounds like a naughty girl...

[ellynlvx]

I don't think she kills, she just doesn't believe in waste.

[JeanChristopheMr]

Hi! Sorry but I'm french... Some of the lyrics of this song are pretty tricky to understand for me. But I love it since I'me 20 years old... And I'm 43 currently.... In France, quilime was used to cover the bodies, during funerals... Does it mean that this girl should be a methapore of death, just like the reaper in the epnym song ?

Thanks for your answer (and sorry for my english)!

[cuttlefisch]

She ain't no metaphor, she's a killer...

[jdupnrth]

BEST!

[EmpressOfWyoming58]

God this brings back great teenaged memories of "listening to records" with my boyfriend and friends in 1974.

[wildlandconstructors]

I visited my grandparents in vernal, UT in 1973. Saw this album and brought it back to Texas, Kickin out the jam music that my Texas friends wondered why I always brought the best music back from vacations. I was 16 years old. Still rockin

[BATTLEDROID678]

@wildlandconstructors: reminds me when i brought back agents of fortune from seatle though i would easily take tyranny anyday!

[ashleesimpsonstar]

You're lucky that your computer stands in the way of my foot and your ass.

[ashleesimpsonstar]

the song is called quicklime girl

[missgaga17]

Quicklime Girl is the subtitle of the song.

[vitin666]

great song!

[cuttlefisch]

A great version of this song on "A hard day's night".

[foppa123]

long day's night

[carrienurse]

"...A Harvester lifts his arms to the rain. And toes that crawl. And knees that jerk. With necks like swans that seem to turn. As if inclined, to gasp or pray..." Eric..... Fuckin'-a!

[mikebott]

a lot of other rock bands would make the femme fatale a villian... but BOC seem to love her/be hot for her.

evil appreciating evil i geuss.

[ellynlvx]

quicklime is created by heating up oyster shells

[desdanova3]

very revealing, and interesting data indeed!. there are connections everywhere !!!

[GreatestPotential]

Quicklime Girl. Just dripping wet with connotations isn't it? Thanks for posting these tracks BlueOysterWizard =)

[Jorsalfar]

Also known as Quicklime Girl(?). What the hell is Quicklime??!

[GuitarJoe07]

Quicklime is Calcium Oxide (CaO). Its also known as burnt limestone. I have no clue what this song is realy about. I know it kicks ass though. Amazing group of musicians.

[tranq45]

Quicklime is used in a number a processes, including in the making or mortar. But, knowing BOC, it's probably a reference of some sort to the practice of covering bodies in open graves with quicklime - The powder helps absorb and conceal the stench of decomposition.

[1973teledeluxe]

One of their best songs - exceptional guitarwork, drumming, keyboards and bass. A real group effort - thanks for posting.

[groovyastrodude]

This whole album is awesome. I think that this and Cultosaurus Erectus are my favorite albums by the BOC.

[AlbertMondback]

&fmt=18 For stereo.

[AlbertMondback]

Awesome.

[bocfanforever]

thanks posting this song always one my favorites

[ellenlvx]

Mine too. What drumming. Is it about Patti Smith? Was Vera Gemini, too?

[WhatFuckingUsernameI]

@ellenlvx: I don't know, but check out the Eric Anderson Song, "Wild Crow Blues." That is. Unfortunately I can't find it on youtube.