Bat Country

"Bat Country" is a song by Avenged Sevenfold, released in August 2005 as the second single from their third album, City of Evil. Avenged Sevenfold won 'Best New Artist Video' at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards for "Bat Country" and on October 1, 2009, the single was certified gold by the RIAA. For these reasons, "Bat Country" is often believed to be the band's most commercially successful song. The song was ranked at number 20 on Loudwire's Top 21st Century Hard Rock Songs.[1] It also was rated as number 9 on Ultimate Guitar's list of Top 25 Best Songs With Guitar Duels.[2]

"Bat Country"
Single by Avenged Sevenfold
from the album City of Evil
ReleasedAugust 9, 2005
Genre
Length
  • 5:13 (album version)
  • 4:11 (radio edit)
LabelWarner
Songwriter(s)Avenged Sevenfold
Producer(s)
Avenged Sevenfold singles chronology
"Burn It Down"
(2005)		 "Bat Country"
(2005)		 "Beast and the Harlot"
(2006)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

Background and content

The song's main influence comes from Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the title itself also comes from a line from the book in which Raoul Duke, the alter-ego pseudonym of Thompson himself, is on his way to Las Vegas while being affected by various drugs, and thus hallucinates, seeing huge bats and manta rays in the sky. With this, he gasps to his companion and attorney, Dr. Gonzo, "We can't stop here. This is bat country."

The following quote, also included at the beginning of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, is referred to twice throughout the song (at the beginning and the bridge before the last chorus) and is shown at the beginning of the music video.

"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." – Samuel Johnson

Also referenced in the song is a lyric derived from the final words spoken about Dr. Gonzo at the end of the film adaptation. The lyric is used at the end of the second breakdown of the song, as the final lyric of the song.

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die." – Raoul Duke

The song has been used in several video games including EA Sports' NHL 06, Madden NFL 06,[3] SSX on Tour, Saints Row 2, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, as downloadable content for Rock Band and Rock Band 2, the iPhone application Tap Tap Revenge 3 and on the newer version Tap Tap Revenge 4. The song is featured on the soundtrack to the extreme mountain bike film New World Disorder 7: Flying High Again. The song is featured in the rhythm game Rocksmith 2014. The song appeared on an episode of the FOX TV series Bones entitled "The Superhero in the Alley". It is also appeared briefly in the comedy film Big Momma's House 2.

Track listings
CD
  1. "Bat Country" – 5:13
  2. "Beast and the Harlot" (Live from the Warped Tour) – 6:08
  3. "Bat Country" (Music video)

Charts and sales

Personnel
Avenged Sevenfold
Production
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gollark: Yes, since if you try and talk about nuance or tradeoffs that's interpreted as "you do not agree and therefore must be part of the outgroup". Sometimes.
gollark: There are arguments both ways. On the one hand you're trying to make sure that the people you have match the population, but on the other you're going about hiring people based on factors other than how well they can do the job (though that was... probably going to happen anyway, considering), and people may worry that they got in only because of being some race/gender.
gollark: Also, more than that, political polarization generally.
gollark: Sadly, yes, first-past-the-post is awful that way.

References
  1. "No. 20: Avenged Sevenfold, 'Bat Country' – Top 21st Century Hard Rock Songs". Loudwire.
  2. "Friday Top: 25 Best Songs With Guitar Duels - Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com". Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  3. "Madden NFL 06 Soundtrack – Music News at IGN". Music.ign.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  4. U.S. certifications, database riaa.com Archived June 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved August 31, 2008)
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