"Hey Man Nice Shot" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Filter Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component tha ...

, released on April 25, 1995, as the lead single from their debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' Short Bus''. Some radio stations were playing it as early as March. The guitar line in the chorus was previously used in the

Stabbing Westward Stabbing Westward is an American industrial rock band. Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus formed the band in 1985 in Macomb, Illinois. The band released an extended play in 1992, followed by four studio albums: ''Ungod'' (1994), ''Wither Bli ...

song "Ungod" in 1994. Stuart Zechman, who was also playing guitar for Stabbing Westward at the time, took the riff and showed it to Stabbing Westward who ended up using it as well.

Lyrics and music

The song was written about the public suicide of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

state treasurer In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...

R. Budd Dwyer on January 22, 1987, in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

. Dwyer had been convicted of bribery charges in December 1986, and was expected to receive a long sentence from

U.S. District Court Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

Malcolm Muir Malcolm Muir (1885 – January 30, 1979) was a U.S. magazine industrialist. Biography Muir was born in New York City. He served as president of McGraw-Hill Publishing from 1928 to 1937. During his tenure as president, he helped create ''Business ...

. Professing his innocence and decrying the legal system, Dwyer shot and killed himself with a

.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...

revolver during a

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

"Richard Patrick of Filter Talks About 'Hey Man Nice Shot' and Kurt Cobain"

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, June 29, 2012. without injuring anyone else. Although singer and songwriter

Richard Patrick Richard Michael Patrick (born May 10, 1968) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is the frontman for the rock band Filter and a founding member of the supergroups Army of Anyone and The Damning Well, and has served as a touring ...

frequently clarified this in interviews, as well as the fact that he had first written the song in 1991 before the band even had a record deal, the song's popularity was augmented by a widespread perception that it was about the 1994

suicide of Kurt Cobain On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain, the lead singer and guitarist of the American rock band Nirvana, was found dead at his home in Seattle, Washington. Forensics investigators later determined he had died three days earlier, on April 5. The Seattle ...

. Musically, the verses of the song feature a "bed of ambient guitar" made with looped

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...

as well as a distinctive palm-muted

bass line Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played (in jazz and some f ...

, contrasting with the louder, guitar-heavy choruses and ending.

Music video

There are at least three versions of the music video for "Hey Man Nice Shot". The first version uses the album mix of the song; a second uses the promo-only remix later heard in ''

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''; and a third version uses the "Sober Mix". All three of these versions feature footage with color effects being added in during the

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

of the video.

Track listing

''Hey Man Nice Shot (U.S. promotional 12-inch vinyl)'' # Hey Man Nice Shot (1/4 Pound) (5:00) # Hey Man Nice Shot (1/4 Pound Instrumental) (4:59) # Hey Man Nice Shot (Nickel Bag) (3:42) # Hey Man Nice Shot (Big Mac) (8:41) # Hey Man Nice Shot (Big Mac Instrumental) (8:43) ''Hey Man Nice Shot (German Maxi-Single)'' # Hey Man Nice Shot (Bud Gets The Lead Out) (5:14) # Hey Man Nice Shot (Sawed Off Edit) (5:20) # Hey Man Nice Shot (Nickel Bag) (3:43) # White Like That (Dictaphone Version) (2:12) ''Hey Man Nice Shot (US Maxi-Single)'' # Sober mix (5:14) # Nickel Bag mix (3:43) # 1/4 Pound mix (5:00) # Big Mac mix (8:41) # White Like That (Dictaphone Version) (2:12)

Chart positions

References

{{authority control 1995 debut singles 1995 songs R. Budd Dwyer Filter (band) songs Reprise Records singles Songs about death Songs about suicide Songs based on American history Songs written by Richard Patrick Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake Post-grunge songs