Korn's Jonathan Davis Never Wants to Play "Daddy" Again: "It's Some Depressing Shit" | Revolver

Korn's Jonathan Davis Never Wants to Play "Daddy" Again: "It's Some Depressing Shit"

"I think I was proving to myself that I could do it"
jonathan davis 2018 GETTY, Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
photograph by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images

"Daddy" is quite possibly the darkest song in Korn's discography. The closing track on their 1994 debut is a 17-minute journey through the tortured psyche of frontman Jonathan Davis, who sung about his own experience with child abuse and ended up breaking down into tears during the recording session. For nearly 20 years, Korn never played the song live because it was just too much for Davis to handle, but in the mid-2010s, they brought it back into the setlist to honor the 20th anniversary of their self-titled. 

However, fans who were able to witness the band perform the harrowing song then should consider themselves lucky; Davis never wants to play "Daddy" live ever again. In a new interview with Metal Hammer, the frontman opened up about how difficult it was to revisit that haunting track during their 2015 tour — and why he's ready to retire it for good. 

"I felt like I robbed the world of doing that live for so long," Davis said. "I felt like I owed it to our fans that were hardcore enough to come and see us on the 20th anniversary of that album, but I don't wanna do it again.

"Going out and touring that record, I realized how dark it is — it's some depressing shit. As we got into [1998's] Follow The Leader, it became more about groove. The emotion was there, but it wasn't that particular darkness we captured on that first record."

"I don't think I wanna go through that again," he added. "It was difficult, and I think I was proving to myself that I could do it, too."