Feel Good Hit of the Summer

Infobox Single
Name = Feel Good Hit of the Summer


Caption =
Artist = Queens of the Stone Age
from Album = Rated R
A-side =
B-side = "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret", "Never Say Never", "You're so Vague", "Who'll Be The Next In Line"
Released = 2000/2001
Format = CD / Cassette / Vinyl
Recorded =
Genre = Hard rock
Length = 2:43
Label = Interscope Records
Writer =
Producers = Queens of the Stone Age Chris Goss
Certification =
Chart position =
Last single = "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" (2000)
This single = 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' (2000)
Next single = "No One Knows" (2002)
Misc =

"Feel Good Hit of the Summer" is the second single from Queens of the Stone Age's second album, "Rated R", 2000. It was released in Europe in late 2000 and in Australia in 2001.

The cover art for the single features the title spelled out with various drugs, many of which are mentioned within the song. On some releases, it also bears the "Rated U" caption.

Its powerful, instantly recognizable bass guitar intro also serves as an apt introduction to the album.

The song's deliberately blatant drug references were initially rejected by the record company, but the band was reportedly able to persuade their record label to include the song, which includes no specific reference to drug abuse. The drug references are likely the reason the song was not released as a single in the U.S.: the verses comprised entirely of a repeated list of drugs, with a stuttering reference to cocaine serving as a sort of chorus.

Later in the song, a harmonica can be heard, citing the harmonica tune in Black Sabbath's song "The Wizard".

The song has earned a degree of cult status amongst the band and their fans and is often the opener in their live shows. It appears twice on "Rated R", fading in as track nine, a characteristically disorienting, "stoner" technique. It also makes a live-in-the-studio, unorthodox appearance after "Song for the Deaf" on 2002's "Songs for the Deaf", with all vocals replaced by laughter.

Rob Halford was recording in a neighboring studio when this song was first recorded, and ended up singing backing vocals, calling the lyrics a "rock and roll cocktail".

Homme later claimed the song was conceived after his three-day Millennium party. Queens/Kyuss producer Chris Goss, in an interview for Modern Guitars magazine, suggested it was due to his input the chant became a full length song. In his own words: "‘Feel Good’ was a number one single in Europe. They took it exactly as it was; it was a joke. It’s a really funny song. When we recorded that album, that song was kind of like an afterthought. Josh was just going to throw a few seconds of that chant in at the end of the record. I said, "No, man. That rocks!" And it ended up opening the record."

The song was featured in ; technical difficulties resulted in the slower, creepier cover by Placebo between songs at one of their concerts (singer/guitarist Brian Molko's instrument was being repaired or replaced).

Queens Of The Stone Age were reportedly thrown out of an unnamed Los Angeles rehabilitation centre in November 2007 when they started off a six-song set with the song.

The rehab show was intended as a light-hearted, intimate performance in their home city of Los Angeles. But a spokesman for the band said that when the band opened the show with classic 'Feel Good Hit Of The Summer', staff at the clinic were so unimpressed that they pulled the plugs and had security remove them straight away without negotiation. The song's lyrics famously run: "Nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol... c-c-c-c-c-cocaine".

Ironically, the song is used by the Colorado Police Department as the soundtrack to their instructional videos demonstrating the consequences of drunk drivingFact|date=December 2007.

The members of Velvet Revolver claim it to be one of their favorite songs, saying on K-Rock they would listen to it every day over and over again during the days before the band formed.

Track listing

#"Feel Good Hit Of The Summer" (Homme, Oliveri)
#"Never Say Never" (Romeo Void)
#"You're So Vague" (Homme, Oliveri)
#"Who'll Be The Next In Line" (The Kinks)

Drugs Mentioned

* Nicotine
* Valium
* Vicodin
* Marijuana
* Ecstasy
* Alcohol
* Cocaine