Possum Kingdom (song)
{{more citations needed|date=January 2010}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Possum Kingdom
| cover = Possum Kingdom.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Toadies
| album = Rubberneck
| released = 1994
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Grunge{{cite web |last1=Eldred |first1=James |title=Scrunged: Toadies’ Possum Kingdom |url=https://mostly-retro.com/2015/01/20/scrunged-toadies-possum-kingdom/ |website=Mostly Retro |access-date=December 3, 2022}}{{cite web|last=Leahey|first=Andrew|title=Toadies Biography, Songs, & Albums|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/toadies-mn0000607094/biography|access-date=December 11, 2021|publisher=AllMusic}}|alternative rock{{cite web|last=Childers|first=Chad|date=October 26, 2021|title=Toadies Announce 25th Anniversary (and Then Some) 'Rubberneck' Tour Dates|url=https://loudwire.com/toadies-25th-anniversary-rubberneck-tour-dates/|access-date=December 4, 2021|website=Loudwire}}|hard rock{{cite web|url=https://thetoadies.com/category/band-news/page/36/|access-date=March 29, 2025|title=Band News : Toadies|website=thetoadies.com}}|pop-punk{{cite web |title="Possum Kingdom" |url=https://ew.com/article/1995/12/08/possum-kingdom/ |website=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=December 3, 2022 |date=December 8, 1995}}}}
| length = 5:08
| label = Interscope
| writer = Todd Lewis
| producer = Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf
| prev_title = Mister Love
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title = Away
| next_year = 1995
| misc =
{{External music video
| type = single
| header = Music video
| 1 = {{YouTube|EkwD5rQ-_d4|"Possum Kingdom"}}
}}
}}
"Possum Kingdom" is a song by American rock band Toadies, released in 1994 as the second single from their debut album Rubberneck.
The song's origins lie in folklore from the band's native state of Texas. Possum Kingdom Lake is a lake in North Texas near Fort Worth. In the documentary "Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck", vocalist Vaden Todd Lewis further elaborates that he intended "Possum Kingdom" to be a continuation of the story told in the song "I Burn". While he envisioned "I Burn" to be a story about cult members immolating themselves in order to ascend to a higher plane, "Possum Kingdom" was about one of the immolated people becoming "just smoke, and ...he goes to Possum Kingdom [Lake] and tries to find somebody to join him."{{cite web|url=https://thetoadies.com/dark-secrets-the-stories-of-rubberneck/|title=Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck|date=March 24, 2014|publisher=The Toadies}}
Most of the song alternates between a {{music|time|7|4}} and an {{music|time|8|4}} time signature.
Music video
The music video for "Possum Kingdom" was directed by Thomas Mignone and begins with a body bag being dragged from a lake, then pans to the lead singer, Vaden Todd Lewis, singing in a dark room. It then pans to a shot of the band performing in a small venue with several dozen dancing fans. The individual who dragged the body bag from the river then opens it and begins violently hacking away at it. The video ends by revealing the individual is actually an ice sculptor that is creating the image of a beautiful woman. A drop of water is seen streaming down her face. Filming was done for the stage scene at a small venue, run by Brannon Richards and Kevin Hurnden, called The Crossing.
Track listing
{{track listing
| headline = Promo single
| title1 = Possum Kingdom
| note1 = Edit Version
| length1 = 4:11
| title2 = Possum Kingdom
| note2 = LP Version
| length2 = 5:08
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Live single
| title1 = Possum Kingdom
| note1 = live; with intro
| length1 = 5:36
| title2 = Possum Kingdom
| note2 = live; without intro
| length2 = 5:23
| title3 = Santacide
| length3 = 4:43
}}
Tracks 1 and 2 recorded live September 22, 1995 at the Complex in Dallas, Texas.
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1995) !Peak |
| {{single chart|Canadarock|3|chartid=2774|rowheader=true|access-date=May 21, 2021}} |
| scope="row"|US Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/radio-songs/1995-11-18/|title=Radio Songs|magazine=Billboard|date=November 18, 1995|access-date=April 2, 2025}}
|40 |
|---|
| scope="row"|US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-mainstream-rock-tracks/1995-09-02/|title=Mainstream Rock Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=September 2, 1995|url-access=subscription|access-date=April 2, 2025}}
|9 |
| scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/alternative-airplay/1995-11-25/|title=Alternative Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=November 25, 1995|url-access=subscription|access-date=April 2, 2025}}
|4 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1995) !Position |
| scope="row"|Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM){{cite magazine|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9212&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.9212.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.9212|title=RPM Top 50 Alternative Tracks of 1995|magazine=RPM|via=Library and Archives Canada|access-date=April 2, 2025}}
|12 |
|---|
| scope="row"|US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|title=The Year in Music: Hot Album Rock Tracks|magazine=Billboard|volume=107|issue=51|page=YE-76|date=December 23, 1995}}
|18 |
| scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|title=The Year in Music: Hot Modern Rock Tracks|magazine=Billboard|volume=107|issue=51|page=YE-77|date=December 23, 1995}}
|25 |
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1996) !Position |
| scope="row"|US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|title=Airplay Monitor Best of '96: Mainstream Rock Tracks|magazine=Airplay Monitor|volume=4|issue=53|page=23|date=December 27, 1996}}
|74 |
|---|
| scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|title=Airplay Monitor Best of '96: Modern Rock Tracks|magazine=Airplay Monitor|volume=4|issue=53|page=24|date=December 27, 1996}}
|61 |
{{col-end}}
In other media
Possum Kingdom was included in the setlist for the Xbox 360 edition of Guitar Hero II.{{Cite web |date=2010-01-05 |title=Guitar Hero 2 360's New Tracks Revealed: News from 1UP.com |url=http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156249 |access-date=2022-05-31 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105235324/http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156249 |archive-date=5 January 2010 |url-status=dead}}
In season 2, episode 2 of Reacher, the song is played while Reacher and his crew are driving.
Possum Kingdom was played in season 3, episode 4 of the Apple TV series For All Mankind.
Possum Kingdom was used in the D23 Brazil trailer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thunderbolts* (2025).
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.musicfanclubs.org/toadies/toadies/ripart.txt An article and interview with the Toadies]
{{Toadies}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Tom Rothrock
Category:Interscope Records singles