Paleontologists struck the jackpot this month when they descended into Natural Trap Cave, a geological feature near the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. The chasm houses the fossilized remains of literally thousands of prehistoric mammals. Included among the find are ancient camels, bears and yes, mammoths.
Join Music Times on a countdown of songs written about mammoths and their ancestors, the mastodons.
07) "Mammoth" by The Devil Wears Prada (2011)
The Devil Wears Prada starts out at a disadvantage largely because it isn't a very good band, especially compared to other members of the unusually large Christian metalcore scene. Growling vocalist Mike Hranica just isn't that strong and these lyrics don't especially make their elephantine relevance evident. However, the album art for the album that hosts this song, Dead Throne, makes more sense: A skull lays upside down, seemingly in a cave, wearing a skeletal crown. "Mammoth" as symbol for dead giants?
06) "Wooly Mammoth" by Local Natives (2013)
"Wooly Mammoth" wasn't one of the best tracks on Local Natives' otherwise stellar 2013 release Hummingbird. Lyricist Taylor Rice draws comparisons between himself and the titular mammal, singing "Big Sur swallowed, swallowed me alive." It seems in context that Rice is referring to a relationship with someone in the area, while the pachyderm was probably consumed by one of California's famous tar pits.
05) "Call of The Mastodon" by Mastodon (2006)
Mastodon should probably get extra credit for having named themselves after the prehistoric beasts in question, but this track is technically about the band members themselves, not the animal. The lyrics, if you can understand them, relate to "unleash(ing) the beast" inside. This track was later released on a compilation of the same name that features the band's earliest work, sludge metal even more heavy than its work on Remission.
04) "Mammoth" by Interpol (2007)
Interpol gets an unfair boost here because the lyrics are the farthest from the subject matter alluded to in this list. There's a reference to "ancient pawn shops " but no ancient animals. This is just another good rock 'n' roll track from the New York band.
03) "Mr. Mastodon Farm" by Cake (1994)
This track is the highlight of Cake's first album that, admittedly, isn't one of the most acclaimed records in the band's collection. The title is actually a blind to distract listeners from the fact that the song is actually about birds and vocalist John McCrea watching them dive-bomb and take flight acrobatically. Then, out of nowhere, the somewhat psychedelic-style title of "Mr. Mastodon Farm" is repeated as a chorus.
02) "Mammoth" by Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike
This EDM track from Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike might not sound familiar, but it's actually one of the most sampled beats in recent years. The hook isn't overly emphatic, but the simple synth chords during the hook stand out dramatically in the scene. The actual lyrics call for fans to "feed the mammoth," a metaphor for stomping. Kudos for playing into the pachyderm theme and get popular in the meantime.
01) "Big Wooly Mammoth" by Widespread Panic (2001)
"Big Wooly Mammoth" provides the first half of a split-track from Georgian jammers Widespread Panic, and also the considerably more upbeat half as well. The track is a jaunty, tongue-in-cheek diatribe from a paranoid protagonist, who uses the mammoth reference to describe wearing big jackets in an attempt to avoid begin recognized. The band references another ice age coming soon, but then again radiation or biowarfare could do you in as well, if you take Widespread Panic's widespread panic at face value.
