Plush (song)

"Plush"
Song
B-side	"Sin"

"Plush" is a song by the American rock band Stone Temple Pilots. It is one of the band's biggest hits, and was composed and written by singer Scott Weiland, drummer Eric Kretz and bassist Robert DeLeo for STP's debut album, Core (see 1992 in music).

Composition and inspiration

The song's chord structure was inspired by DeLeo's love of ragtime music, and its lyrics were loosely based on a newspaper article Weiland had read about a girl who had been found dead in an area outside of San Diego. Weiland has also said that the song's lyrics are a metaphor for a failed relationship.

Reception

The song was released in 1993 as Core's second single and became a major rock radio hit in the U.S., peaking at #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and #9 on the Modern Rock Tracks. "Plush" won in the category of "Best Hard Rock Performance" at the 1994 Grammy Awards. The music video also earned the band an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1994.

Music video

The award-winning music video, directed by Josh Taft, was released in 1993 and had heavy rotation on MTV. It combines a visual interpretation of the song's lyrics with footage of a red-haired Weiland singing with the band as a lounge act in an empty bar. There are two different versions of this video, with minor but very noticeable differences. For example, in the version that appears on the Thank You Bonus DVD, the last shot of the video is a woman looking at a mirror image of herself and viewing her whole body while the mirror image drifts away. In another version, she's looking at a mirror image of her face, with water (possibly rain) dripping down the reflection.

Acoustic version

Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean DeLeo performed an acoustic version of "Plush" on the MTV show Headbanger's Ball that was also very popular. It was originally only available on a CD single from England for their single, "Creep", but is now featured on the band's "greatest hits" compilation, Thank You, along with the original electric version.

Charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	9
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	18
UK Singles Chart	23

Notable appearances of the song

• It also has been featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on Radio X.
• The song was on The Bigs video game soundtrack.
• "Plush" is featured on the American version of SingStar 90s.
• Keller Williams has covered the song during live performances.
• The song was featured on Buzz Ballads Volume 2.
• It has been featured in the show Cold Case.
• For a period of time it was part of the St. Louis rock station KSHE 95 intro

Covers

• Scott Weiland's former band Velvet Revolver has occasionally covered "Plush".
• MLB pitcher Bronson Arroyo covered the song on his debut album Covering the Bases.
• Retired MLB player Jeff Conine also covered the song in 2005 on the album Oh Say Can You Sing?.
• Aaron Lewis of Staind has covered an acoustic version of the song.
• Toby Rand and Magni both sang this song on Rock Star: Supernova.

External links

• "Plush" music video on YouTube
• "Plush" ("VH1 Storytellers" performance) on YouTube