"Mogwai Fear Satan" is an instrumental by Scottish post-rock group Mogwai. It appears as the closing track for their 1997 debut studio album, Mogwai Young Team.
Overview
"Mogwai Fear Satan" is a 16-minute instrumental, using basic rock instrumentation: guitars, bass, and drums, along with flute. The origin of the song title stems from bassist Dominic Aitchison’s, the only religious member of Mogwai, fear of the Devil, due to his Catholic upbringing.
Musical composition
"Mogwai Fear Satan" begins with a guitar melodyriffconsisting of three chords by Stuart Braithwaite and John Cummings, which is soon joined by bass played by Dominic Aitchison and a frantic drumbeat played by Martin Bulloch, which gradually fades in. The same guitar riff is repeated throughout the song, at times heavily distorted. During the quiet parts of the song, in the buildup to the explosion of sound and feedback which Mogwai are known for, there is a quiet flute melody played by Shona Brown over tribal-sounding drums. The song slowly fades out into feedback and noise.
Media usage
In 2002, a short excerpt of "Mogwai Fear Satan" was featured in "", an episode of the documentary television program, , hosted by English comedian and actor, Russell Brand.
Repeatedly referred to in Christopher Brookmyre's book Pandaemonium where a 28-minute remix has been created by some of the schoolchildren and played at a school dance.
A remix version of the song is used in the 2003 filmAll the Real Girls.
Remixes
There are five official remixes of "Mogwai Fear Satan". The EP Mogwai Fear Satan Remixes includes the Mogwai Remix, the μ-Ziq Remix, the Surgeon Remix, and the My Bloody Valentine Remix. The remix albumKicking a Dead Pig features the Mogwai Remix, LP Version. A later re-issue of Kicking a Dead Pig included Mogwai Fear Satan Remixes on a separate CD. Both versions of the Mogwai Remix are remixed by "Cpt. Meat and pLasmatroN".
