Dead & Bloated - 2017 Remaster

The first track on the debut Stone Temple Pilots album Core, "Dead & Bloated" seems to be about feeling betrayed in a relationship. "I am trampled under soles of another man's shoes because I walked to softly" could mean how he never stuck up for himself in arguments. "And she says it's natural," means how she feels about the whole thing. These interpretations are not what Scott Weiland had in mind when he wrote the lyric though. "It's not really about anything," he said in his Songfacts interview. "It's just stream-of-consciousness words. I mean, at the age of 21, 22, I didn't have a whole lot of life experiences. So it's more about the vibe, the angst and that kind of a thing."

When Stone Temple Pilots toured with Linkin Park on the 2001 Family Values tour, Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington would often join them to perform this song. Bennington and the band became good friends, and he took over as Stone Temple Pilots lead singer in 2013. "When it came time to pick a new frontman, a new singer for the band, once the name Chester popped in, there was no one else we were thinking about," STP drummer Eric Kretz said in his Songfacts interview.