"Nimble Bastard" is a single by American rock band

Incubus An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in t ...

, off of their eighth studio album '' 8''. It peaked at number 4 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart in April 2017.

Background

Guitarist

Mike Einziger Michael Aaron Einziger (born June 21, 1976) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is best known for being co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Incubus, and has also co-written, produced and collaborated with a wide array of a ...

mentioned that the song was conceived very late in the album creation process, being written spontaneously while already working on recording sessions in the studio. He reflected that: "we were messing around with this musical idea and the next thing we know we had a song." Lyrics were written by lead vocalist

Brandon Boyd Brandon Charles Boyd (born February 15, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, author and visual artist. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the American rock band Incubus, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. In a ...

. The track was not one of the tracks from the album to be produced by

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead sing ...

, though he did provide the song final mix. The song was debuted on

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

on February 16, 2017. The band premiered a

lyric video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the track the following day, featuring a

film reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the end ...

that presented the song's lyrics across a number of various backdrops and landscapes, until the reel burns, revealing nothing but a brick wall. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was released on April 7, 2017, and featured the band being attacked by dogs with

jet pack A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...

s and, in retaliation, band members transform into super hero cats to fight back.

Composition and themes

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

described the song as "Incubus in a heavier mood", stating the song features "an immediate energy with the full band coming in together right at the start, including the vocals. The slightly subdued introduction gives way to a bobbing energy that crashes into the positively sublime chorus" and concluding that "Soaring hooks dominate 'Nimble Bastard', making it one of the catchiest songs in the band’s discography. Lyrically, Boyd states he wrote the song about people he was inspired by people's adaptability, and ability to recover from negative life situations against difficult odds. However, the lyrics lead many to misinterpret them to be an

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

for the

political climate The political climate is the aggregate mood and opinions of a political society at a particular time. It is generally used to describe when the state of mood and opinion is changing or unstable. The phrase has origins from both ancient Greece and ...

in the United States after the United States Presidential Election of 2016, in which

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

was elected over

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. He clarified the situation, explaining:

Radio.com Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio platform owned by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a music recommender system and is the national umbr ...

pointed out that similar misconceptions had arisen from the band's 2004 single "

Megalomaniac Megalomania is an obsession with power and wealth, and a passion for grand schemes. Megalomania or megalomaniac may also refer to: Psychology * Narcissistic personality disorder * Grandiose delusions * Omnipotence (psychoanalysis), a stage of ...

", of which many listeners misinterpreted its lyrics to be about then-president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Reception

named the song the 25th-best

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

song of 2017.

Personnel

– lead vocals *

Michael Einziger Michael Aaron Einziger (born June 21, 1976) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is best known for being co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Incubus, and has also co-written, produced and collaborated with a wide array of a ...

– guitar *

Ben Kenney Benjamin Lee Kenney Sr. (born March 12, 1977) is an American musician from Brielle, New Jersey. He is the current bass guitarist for the band Incubus (since 2003) and had previously played in the Roots as a guitarist. He also records as a sol ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Chris Kilmore Chris Kilmore (born January 21, 1973) is an American musician and DJ. He is the turntablist and keyboardist of the rock band Incubus An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; t ...

– synthesizers * Jose Pasillas II – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2017 singles Incubus (band) songs 2017 songs Island Records singles Songs written by Ben Kenney Songs written by Brandon Boyd Songs written by Mike Einziger Songs written by Chris Kilmore Songs written by José Pasillas