"Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots, commonly abbreviated as STP, is an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1989. Originally consisting of lead vocalist Scott Weiland, guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer :Songs ...

, featured on their third album, '' Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop''. An

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

tune, it was recorded in 1995 and released as the album's second single the following year. The track is also on the greatest hits album, ''

Thank You "Thank you" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of gr ...

''. It was the most played song on

Active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

radio stations in the United States in 1996.

Track listing

#"Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" #"Pop's Love Suicide" #"Ride the Cliché"

Composition and meaning

The core music was written by drummer Eric Kretz, while the lyrics were written by

Scott Weiland Scott Richard Weiland (, ; né Kline; October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. He was best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from 1989 to 2003 and again from 2008 to 2013, r ...

. Weiland stated in a radio interview that the very ambiguous and mysterious lyrics to the song alluded to a "very bad experience dropping

acid An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...

." In his autobiography ''Not Dead and Not For Sale'' (its title a reference to the lyrics of ''Trippin), he adds that it "reflects my hunger for redemption". The song's chorus riff references Led Zeppelin's "

Dancing Days "Dancing Days" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It appears on their 1973 album, '' Houses of the Holy'', and was released as a single in the US. It was recorded at Stargroves, England in 1972. It was inspired by an Indian tune tha ...

", which the band performed on '' Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin''.

Critical reception

Sadie Sartini Garner of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' praised "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" as a representation of alternative rock "whose burning chorus would've fit on

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

' ''

Dirt Dirt is any matter considered unclean, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Du ...

'', and whose choppy, pepped-up verses cleared a happier path out of

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

that bands like

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

would gladly follow." In 2015, ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' and ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' ranked the song number six and number one, respectively, on their lists of the ten greatest Stone Temple Pilots songs.

Charts

Awards and accolades

The band has had seven songs reach the number one position on the ''Billboard''

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart, with "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" being their fifth single to reach the top. In 1997, the song received a nomination for

Best Hard Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 2011. The academy recognized hard rock music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989. The category ...

at the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Appearances of the song

*Cover version is featured in ''

Guitar Hero II ''Guitar Hero II'' is a 2006 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 and Activision for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to ''Guitar Hero (video game), Guitar Hero'' (2005) and the second installment in t ...

'' and '' Guitar Hero Mobile''. *Master track is featured in '' Guitar Hero: Smash Hits'' and

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

for ''

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

'' series. *Since their 2008 reunion it has frequently been the band's closing song in concerts.

References

1996 singles Songs about drugs Songs based on actual events Stone Temple Pilots songs Songs written by Eric Kretz Songs written by Scott Weiland Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer) 1996 songs {{1990s-US-single-stub