Third Eye Blind Merely Alters, Not Drops Song from Upcoming Record

Despite several reports to the contrary, Elektra Records has not forced Third Eye Blind to remove a song from their forthcoming sophomore effort, Blue, due Nov. 23. The song in question, "Slow Motion," was merely altered to eliminate the possibility of the song's message being taken out of context, according to a spokesperson for the band at the label.

"Slow Motion," a song singer Stephan Jenkins has claimed he written several years ago, originally included the lyrics, "Miss Jones taught me English, but I think I just shot her son/'Cause he owed me money, with a bullet in the chest/ With a bullet in the chest he cannot run/ Now he's bleeding in a vacant lot."

Those lyrics have been removed and the album version, a haunting, guitar and piano driven ballad, now eerily repeats the song's chorus, "Slow motion see me let go/We tend to die young/Slow motion see me let go/What a brother knows" against a melancholy soundscape. Later in the tune, Jenkins continues, "Slow motion see me let go/We'll remember these days/ Slow motion see me let go/Urban life decay."

According to the band's spokesperson, the members of Third Eye Blind were in full agreement with the removal of the lyric in question, and the band plans on releasing the song in its original format in a forthcoming E.P. on their own label.

The only other change to the album will be the moving of "Slow Motion" from track 11 (where it sits on advance copies of the album) to track 13, the last song on the record save a hidden track some 18 minutes later.

Meanwhile, Blue is anything from a sophomore flop for the band, as first single "Anything," a raucous, punk-inspired rocker which clocks in at just under two minutes, is already making waves at radio. Elsewhere, "Wounded," "Never Let You Go," "10 Days Late," "1000 Julys," and "An Ode To Maybe" are all potential radio smashes. Jenkins also gives props to original AC/DC vocalist Bon Scott with his high-pitched shrill in "The Red Summer Sun."

Here is the track listing to Blue: 

1.      "Anything"
2.      "Wounded" 
3.      "10 Days Late" 
4.      "Never Let You Go" 
5.      "Deep Inside of You" 
6.      "1000 Julys" 
7.      "An Ode To Maybe" 
8.      "The Red Summer Sun" 
9.      "Camouflage" 
10.     "Farther" 
11.     "Darkness" 
12.     "Darwin" 
13.     "Slow Motion"