Dave Matthews Shares the Stories Behind "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King"

"Why I Am"
"Why I Am" fell out of this session where we were really groping. It was just thrashing, and we weren't finding anything, so all of us were frustrated, and then everybody at once just fell on this [plays "Why I Am" riff], and it was crazy. Then Roi came up with that sax line that comes in on the second verse [sings line], it's a monster. The lyric "Why I am" came out of the first jam, too. I think we were just all getting along, "That's why I am." We went into the studio after Roi died and Stefan [Lessard] said, "We have to do that." The problem was, it's just this [plays riff], and no matter how many parts you put on that, for me, it just didn't do it, it didn't go anywhere, blues rock, that whole thing. Then I got the idea of going, [sings half-time bridge, "That's why I am"]. Then it was just an hour. We gave it a chorus, gave it a reason to go to the "Why I am," A musical reason — otherwise, there were lots of reasons. It was a thrill, I was so happy. Roi would have really liked it.

"Spaceman"
"Spaceman" is really peculiar. I think that would challenge a lot of bands, to be able to play that song, but it's kind of the weird mix of our extremes, the oddest side of my guitar playing mixed with the oddest side of Carter's drumming mixed with the oddest way that Stefan plays the bass, especially those three. Fans is staying away from the one, playing this hopping bass that he does sometimes, and Carter playing the really trebly drum groove, and it all fits together really nicely. I was worried about playing that one live, but it just fell out, too.

"Squirm"
"Squirm" was just one guitar and a drum groove that Carter had actually played for the song "You and Me," the last song on the record. Carter played this groove, and it didn't fit with "You and Me" so much, but I loved the way he hit the groove, so I wrote "Squirm" over the top of it, and then we replayed it, and it's changed entirely. It's such a wall on the record, at points. That's what's intimidating about playing it live — it's not the most difficult, it's just the one that's intimidating me the most.