"Bull In The Heather" is one of Sonic Youth's most recognizable songs because it managed to get quite a bit of airplay during the early/mid-90's. This song is one of the bands most accessible songs and it follows a semi traditional pop formula. As I have mentioned before, Sonic Youth has the ability to make radio friendly mainstream music, they only choose to let it out in small doses.
The first time I ever saw the band live was 8-15-2001. The band was opening for Pearl Jam and my br0ther and I were psyched that Sonic Youth was tapped to be the opening act. Before the show, we were going over what songs SY might play and were really hoping for Bull In The Heather. We got our wish, and it was the first song!! Kinda weird huh?
This song features some really awesome harmonics provided to Lee Renaldo. The harmonics act like the main riff that drives the song. Kinda strange that such a simple riff played with harmonics would become one of the most recognizable pieces in the Sonic Youth catalog. The ringing is very hard to miss and mistake for another song. When being played live, Thurston just taps on the strings on the tail piece to his jazzmaster.
This is another tune that features the soft spoken vocals of Kim. She manages to bring some sex appeal in her performance when she says "tell that you want to score me." Also, I have no idea what this is about.
The video for this song features Bikini Kill princess Kathleen Hanna.
Bull In The Heather is one of the lone survivors of this album. It was not played live from 1997 to 1999. The 2000 tour acted almost like a greatest hits tour and Bull In The Heather was prominently featured in the top of every set. It gets pulled out every now and then. This song was recently recorded live for a special live album that was given out to those who bought The Eternal early.
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