Big Empty

Infobox Single
Background = lightsteelblue
Name = Big Empty


Artist = Stone Temple Pilots
from Album = Purple
B-side = "Lounge Fly"
Released = 1994
Format = CD single
Recorded = May 25, 1993 at The Record Plant
Genre = Hard rock
Length = 4:55
Label = Atlantic
Producer = Brendan O'Brien
Writer = Music: Dean DeLeo
Lyrics: Scott Weiland
Last single = "Creep"
(1993)
This single = "Big Empty"
(1994)| Next single = "Vasoline"
(1994)Extra tracklisting
Album = Purple
Type = Studio
prev_track = "Silvergun Superman"
prev_no = Track 7
this_track = "Big Empty"
track_no = Track 8
next_track = "Unglued"
next_no = Track 9|"Big Empty" is a song by Stone Temple Pilots that first appeared in 1994 on the soundtrack to the Brandon Lee movie "The Crow". The song later appeared on the band's second album, "Purple", and was released as a single. The official music video of the song was released in 1993. It features various shots of "The Crow", such as Eric Draven's gravestone. In between those segments, the band's performance on "MTV Unplugged" is shown, where the song was debuted.

Composition

The song cleverly plays on all the hackneyed conventions of rock music, with references to a woman, cigarettes, and fast-driving. "Big Empty"'s verses have somewhat of a blues sound, mainly through guitarist Dean DeLeo's style of slide guitar playing and Scott Weiland's softer vocals. The thunderous chorus features a dissonant, suspended A7 chord.

Live performances

The song was performed live for the first time during STP's "MTV Unplugged" on November 17, 1993, seven months before the "Purple" was released. On STP's 2008 reunion tour, "Big Empty" has been the opening song for every show except for the band's performance at the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore on August 10.