Closing out the year with a gift from Timmy Ty Childers.
Earlier this year, Tyler Childers released his latest LP, Snipe Hunter, produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, who has worked with countless heavy hitters from the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica. Rubin is known for pushing artists outside their comfort zone, creating a project that still encompasses aspects of the sound their fans love, while also pushing the boundaries to make a record unlike anything else in their catalog.
While I thought this project was stellar, some fans who expected more of a Purgatory sound from Childers gave the album mixed reviews. Despite those who commented online that it’s not their favorite project by Childers, the album debuted at #7 on the Billboard All-Genre Chart, marking the highest-charting debut of his career.
Tyler himself, as well as Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn, also has producing credits on Snipe Hunter. Easily the runaway hit is the hate-fueled track “Bitin’ List,” which had a viral moment on TikTok, prompting over 120k videos using a snippet of the song. It has over 19 million streams on Spotify alone.
Since the record’s release, it has remained a fan favorite not only because it’s a heater of a tune but also because Tyler Childers has made the commentary he shares with fans a focal point of the song’s performance during his live shows. Before diving into the lyrics, Childers goes on a hilarious rant, highlighting why you need to let the hate in your heart for certain people go. And while the message is very accurate, the way Childers delivers it can’t help but make you laugh.
And today he’s gifted us with one of those epic monologues on a live recording of “Bitin’ List.”
After the release of Snipe Hunter, Childers did a series of pop-up shows to showcase the new tunes and connect with fans. For one of the pop-up shows, Tyler and the Food Stamps stopped into Dinosaur World in Cave City, Kentucky, and this time, he really got into character.
Tyler showed up dressed as Dr. Alan Grant, the paleontologist character played by Sam Neill in the Jurassic Park series. And he even had the band dressed for the occasion, too. The backdrop for this live recording makes this version of “Bitin’ List” so much better, knowing that he was dressed up as Dr. Alan Grant.
During the show, Tyler even had the crowd show off their favorite dinosaur sounds, asking fans to harness those roars to go “absolutely rabid” during “Bitin’ List.” So naturally, Tyler Childers made sure to include this portion of the song in the live recording… I mean, would it really be live if that portion was clipped?
The first two minutes and some change of the song highlight Childers’ monologue to the crowd, and it’s a good one:
“This song right here is for those people you absolutely cannot f***ig stand. I’m sure when I said that there’s at least one person in your mind, you’re like, ‘Yep, that motherf***er! That’s the one I’m talking about.’ And you know what I got to say to you? Stop. Just quit it. Just throw them absolutely out of your mind.
Because one important thing is, hate is a thing that can poison your veins, get in your eyes as you sweat on stage, shifting around like a clock on the wall to tell you that it is almost over. And really, all that poison ain’t doing a g*ddamn thing for anybody but you. It is poisoning the inside system, killing you slowly. That’s f***ed up. But it’s still there, right now you can feel it. I’m looking at you, and I can see it right there.
So there’s going to come a moment, if you need to do it from this point until the end of the moment, go ahead. But everyone’s going to be looking at you like, ‘What’s wrong with that crazy?’ So maybe hold it in for just a little while longer. When the time comes, and trust me, you’ll know, we’re going to take all of that anger, all that aggression, and all just that f***ing fury, and we’re going to direct it, not at that person, because you already forgot about that person. F*** that person. We’re going to aim it all at that dinosaur right there.
That is what I do not like! That’s a lie, I’ve looked at that dinosaur my whole entire life, and I’m like, ‘Mom, can we stop there?’ And she’s like ‘No.’ And then when I was 30, I went there! ‘Cause Dinosaur’s the place for two people, the youngins whose parents never say no, and for adults whose parents sometimes said no.
Anyways, this one is about having rabies.”
Childers and the Food Stamps sound as good as ever once they dive into the body of the tune, laying down a stellar live performance. But the true pièce de résistance of this live recording comes at roughly the 4:30 minute marker, when you can hear the fan participation of them barking and various other dinosaur-related sounds.
Since Childers is gifting fans this live version of the tune, I can’t help but wonder if other tunes were recorded from this pop-up event… Could a Snipe Hunter live album be in the works? One can only hope.
“Bitin’ List” Live From Dinosaur World is just what the doctor ordered as a mid-week pick-me-up.
Turn it up:
