When the first Europeans landed in South America they brought with them disease, rape, murder, slavery and new religion. To the indigenous peoples the anaconda was the guardian of the forest that cradled them. – Jake
The shortest song on the album but one of the trickiest. The barrage of riff changes in this song and its sheer speed needed to be tamed early on in the recording session. The whoop of joy at the end of the track is Andy celebrating the successful take.
Vocals for this song became interesting when Jake requested being gagged. His belt kept slipping from his mouth and there was an imminent danger of his trousers falling down, so Andy hurriedly constructed a gag from gaffer tape. This explains the ripping sound for the track intro. This is Andy yanking a strip of gaffer from a roll, right next to a mic.
The manic bass solo was aptly named “a whale shagging a camel” by Slab’s drummer.
Forewarn the elders the empire tramples near
Pigs of white skin spreading disease and fear
Anaconda guardian of the forest
Constrict the conquistador
BANISH HIM.
Trample the forest with rubber and dreams of gold
Neglect the outcome with feverish sense of greed
Treating people as a fucking crop
Succumb to the waterbourne
Now you’ll fucking rot.
PIGSHIFTER.
