Why is “Slow Motion” an instrumental song?
Although Third Eye Blind had signed to Elektra in 1996 with the interest of artistic freedom in mind, their creative wishes began to eventually collide with the wishes of the label as Blue neared release three years later. Executives feared that the graphic, topical lyrics of “Slow Motion”—which dealt with the desensitizing implications of domestic violence, drug abuse, and ghetto crime—would spark too much controversy in the wake of the Columbine school shooting and present the band as a scapegoat among social conservatives for the supposed ills of society.6 After initially pressuring the band to omit the anti-violence song from the album’s track listing entirely, a “compromise” was reached whereby the band received a cash advance, EP deal, and a prospect of a vanity imprint; and “Slow Motion” was presented in a tamer, instrumental version.
