"Vegemite" is a single by the Australian

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (KGLW) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The band's current lineup consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Coo ...

released as a CD promotion for their album '' Oddments'' on January 17, 2014.

Composition

The song is an

ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

Vegemite Vegemite ( ) is a thick, dark brown Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice Food additive, additives. It was developed by Cyril Callister in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, for ...

, an Australian food spread known for its

umami Umami ( from ), or savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes. It is characteristic of broths and cooked meats. People taste umami through taste receptors that typically respond to glutamates and nucleotides, which are widely present in me ...

favor. Stu Mackenzie stated that "I recorded Vegemite at my parents house in Anglesea on their out-of-tune-but-exactly-a-half-step-down piano. It's probably the most literal song I've ever written. I love Vegemite." He also stated that it was one of the easiest songs he ever wrote.

Joey Walker Joseph William Quinn Walker (born 11 October 1988) is an Australian musician, singer, and producer who is best known as one of the three guitarists for the band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Walker was previously part of the electronic duo ...

, however, has gone on record stating Vegemite "tastes like human shit" and that the song was a "weak attempt at trying to get a sync on an ad" hinting that in their early years, King Gizzard was looking into making

commercial jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

Release

On January 13, 2014, a Vegemite music video by Jason Galea, alongside a CD single, was released. The music video is Stu's face overlaid on vegemite on toast, akin to ''

The Annoying Orange ''Annoying Orange'' is an American comedy web series created by Dane Boedigheimer (known online as DaneBoe). Set in a world of anthropomorphic food, the series follows its titular protagonist, Orange, who always annoys others by telling cr ...

''. Vegemite was the only single from ''Oddments''.

Reception

''Vegemite'' has been described as the "closest thing to a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

within the King Gizzard canon" and as a

meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...

among King Gizzard fans. The song was played a handful of times on tour in 2014 before being largely retired from the band's repertoire. In a 2020

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

AMA, Michael Cavanagh stated that "Vegemite" was his least favorite song in the band's discography (the track includes no drums, and Cavanagh is the band's drummer). During a show on May 22, 2022, Stu joked about playing the song, which prompted the crowd to chant "Vegemite" with Joey responding "no one wants to hear that fuckin' song." However, by 2023 the band began teasing that they would play the song live, and during ''

Live at The Gorge '24 Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

'', when the band was forced to stop their show due to the stage's barricade breaking, Stu sang an

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

version of ''Vegemite'' which ended up being included in the official track list for the show.

References

{{King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard 2014 singles 2014 songs King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard songs