“Skinned” by Blind Melon

In 1995, Blind Melon released the song “Skinned”. The song’s lyrics focus on a real life murderer from the United States called Ed Gein. Ed was a super weird character. Unlike the average serial killer who is just satisfied with murdering people, Ed wasn’t. He took things a step further.

For example, in addition to his fascination with killing, he was also in the business of digging up dead bodies from graves. He also often skinned dead bodies and harvested their organs.

According to reports, having removed the skins of corpses, he would proceed to wear them or use them to make a number of items for his personal use.

Ed Gein in “Skinned”

Despite, Ed Gein’s activities being a very serious thing, the late Shannon Hoon portrays him on “Skinned” with a certain degree of humor. And as can be expected, not too many people were cool with that. Critics felt that that it was wrong to try to associate humor with the deranged and evil atrocities of a serial killer.

That being said, it should be noted that throughout his life, Shannon was very much fascinated by murderers and their activities. He researched extensively on them and was particularly interested in what made them do the things that they do.

NOTE: Shannon himself eventually died young. He was only 28 years old when he died of a drug overdose.

“Skinned” Facts

Primary Artist(s): Blind Melon
Album/EP: “Soup”

Credits

“Skinned” was written by Brad Smith with assistance from Shannon Hoon. Andy Wallace produced the song.

When was “Skinned” released?

Blind Melon released “Skinned” on the 15th of August, 1995. It appears as the fourth track on the playlist of the band’s “Soup” album.

Ed Gein and his Weird Atrocities Crimes

Edward Theodore Gein, dubbed the Butcher of Plainfield or The Mad Butcher, was an American convicted of murder and body snatching. His crimes gained a lot of attention in his native, Plainfield, Wisconsin, in 1957 after investigators discovered human corpses and many body parts at his house.

On November 16, 1957, a local shop owner named Bernice Worden was reported missing. Her son, Frank Worden, went to her store around 5 pm, where he then found the store’s cash book open and traces of blood on the floor. He remembered seeing Gein at his mother’s shop that day. Actually, Gein was the last customer to visit the store the night before. Owing to this, he swiftly reported the case to the authorities.

Gein was then arrested by law enforcement without any incident. Shortly after his arrest, a thorough search was conducted at his farm. They found the corpse of Bernice there. She was found hung upside down with several mutilations on her body.

The authorities continued searching Gein’s house, where they found many human bones, fragments, and other parts.

However, although Gein confessed to the murder of two women, Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan, he was not an actual serial killer. Instead, he revealed that he stole female corpses from Plainfield’s cemeteries to satisfy his obsession with making a bodysuit of human flesh for his dead mother.

He died of respiratory failure at age 77 in a mental health center.