Dirt Room
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"Dirt Room" was the first single from alternative rock band
Blue October Blue October is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Houston, Texas, formed in 1995. It currently consists of singer/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld, multi-instrumentalist #Personnel, Ryan Delahoussaye, b ...
's fifth studio album, ''
Approaching Normal ''Approaching Normal'' is the fifth studio album by alternative rock band Blue October. The album was released on March 24, 2009 and debuted at number thirteen on the Billboard charts. It was Blue October's first album to be released on vinyl. B ...
''. The song was released to digital outlet stores on December 23, 2008, and to radio on January 13, 2009. An acoustic version of the song was included on the band's album '' Ugly Side: An Acoustic Evening With Blue October'', and a live electric version appears on the live album/
concert film A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. Ea ...
'' Things We Do At Night - Live From Texas''.


Music video

The music video premiered on
Yahoo! Music Yahoo Music was a brand under which Yahoo provided music services including Internet radio, a digital music store, music streaming service, media player software, and original programming. Yahoo Music was sold to Rhapsody in early 2008. Pro ...
on January 27, 2009, and was directed by
Kevin Kerslake Kevin Kerslake is an American filmmaker, photographer, and music video director. He has directed documentaries on Joan Jett ('' Bad Reputation''), DJ AM (''As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM''), The Ramones ('' We're Outta Here!''), Nirvana ...
. It is centered around a robber (played by frontman
Justin Furstenfeld Justin Steward Furstenfeld (born December 14, 1975) is an American musician and actor. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band Blue October. He is also a member of the band Harvard of the South. Personal life When not ...
) who is captured by his attempted victim. He is tied up and the captor threatens him with
premature burial Premature burial, also known as live burial, burial alive, or vivisepulture, means to be buried while still alive. Animals or humans may be buried alive accidentally on the mistaken assumption that they are dead, or intentionally as a form of ...
. At the end of the video he is placed in an open grave and viewed by a great deal of people, including two police officers. These scenes are intercut with footage of the band playing the song in the living room of the captor's house. The music video shows Justin burning a hundred dollar bill with the initials "M.R." clearly displayed to the camera before the flames erupt. The band later revealed that the initials "M.R." refer to Michael Rand, their former manager who sued them for $1 million, claiming he was owed a cut from the sales of their multi-platinum album ''
Foiled ''Foiled'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Blue October, released on April 4, 2006, by Universal Records. The album debuted at number 29 on the US Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200, marking the band's first entry on the chart. Th ...
'', even though their business relationship ended several years prior.


Meaning discussed

During the hushed period, Furstenfeld told Music Interviews Now: "That song is about not being a passive idiot anymore and not letting people take advantage of you anymore just because of who you are. I wouldn't say that we're famous… we are just normal people that get put on TV and stuff. That is just who we are… so if that makes us famous like the E! Entertainment crap, that's not us. People want to see you in that part and think you are rich, and they start to come out of the wood work…and they start asking for things over and over again, and that song's about just taking it too far. There was an incident that happened, I can't even talk about it… but I took care of it, wrote the song, and that's my revenge. I use my words as weapons. No one will take advantage of my family again. I usually do all the writing and on this new album everyone did some writing and it was really special to me." In a later interview, Justin was able to be more candid about the song's true meaning. "But that song really brought out this more confidence side of me and not the, ‘Oh hate me because I am bad’ side – I don’t do drugs anymore and I don’t f*ck with that stuff, I have a daughter now so if anybody wants to take food off of her plate then they are going to have to come straight through me whether it be verbally, and I hope not physically because I try to teach self-expression instead of physical violence! You know?"


Chart positions


References

{{authority control 2009 singles Blue October songs 2008 songs Universal Records singles Songs written by Justin Furstenfeld Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite