Custer

George Armstrong Custer was a Civil War hero and subsequently a ruthless Indian fighter. He is famous for the Battle of the Little Bighorn, commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, in which a force of 650 men led by Custer, suffered a severe defeat to around 2,500 Indian warriors. The death of Slipknot bassist Paul Gray and the controversial departure of drummer Joey Jordison meant many doubed whether the band could reach the same heights. This song finds Corey Taylor digging in his heels against all the scoffers. He told Kerrang!: "This is focusing that anger towards the outside world – the people who on one hand want to make us martyrs, but at the same time want to make us bastards." "And metaphorically," he added, "it's about charging into our last stand, and it's basically saying, 'You know what? Just when you think you've written our history, we're going to rewrite it again, and basically show you that we can take all the abuse that you put out there, and we're not going to lose a step, we're not going to lose an inch, we're not going to lose any ground – we're going to keep coming.'"

Here are some more fun facts about George Armstrong Custer from The Encyclopedia of Trivia: Custer was ranked 34th out of 34 in his West Point United States military Academy graduating class. In 1864 he was given command of General Phillip Sheridan's Third Cavalry Division as a Major General. The 23-year-old George Custer was the youngest US army officer ever to become a general. When the American Civil War ended he returned to his regular rank of captain. A redhead with a big moustache. Custer was nicknamed by the Sioux "Yellow Hair the Woman Killer" and "Long Hair." Custer's numerous beagles, wolfhounds and foxhounds shared his food tent and bed to the annoyance of his wife. His two favorite pets were Turk, a white bulldog and Byron, a greyhound. As George Custer and his 7th Cavalry left Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory for the Little Big Horn, the band played "The Girl I Left Behind Me." Custer's last stand was immortalized in Larry Verne's whimsical 1960 #1 hit "Mr. Custer."

The song's live music video was filmed during Slipknot's appearance in the 2014 fall at their Knotfest concert in San Bernardino, California.