Writing comes in many forms, and I like to take inspiration from songwriting as an artform. It’s rarely as clear and straightforward as the kind of writing I do, but the symbolism and wordplay is often off the charts.
When I see a pattern, I feel compelled to compare… like a writing version of “Who Wore it Best?” We can think of it as “Who Told it Best?”
So today, we’ve got a Saturday Showdown between two songs from the mid ‘90s. Both alternative rock. Both apparently misspellings, and they rhyme.
Glycerine by Bush
Vs
Vasoline by Stone Temple Pilots
Round 1: The Titles
OK. So first of all, Vasoline is a misspelling of Vaseline. But there’s two reasons for it. Number one, it avoids legal issues with the petroleum jelly brand. And number two, fans think it’s a mashup of Vaseline and gasoline, honoring the fact that Stone Temple Pilots is often shortened to STP, which is an oil brand.
Glycerine seems at first like a misspelling of glycerin. It’s not. That’s how the Brits spell and pronounce it. As a Canadian I should have known that, but I didn’t. Anyhooo…
Vasoline is also a misunderstanding. When singer and songwriter Scott Weiland was a kid, his parents played The Eagles song “Life in the Fast Lane.” Young Scott heard it as “Flies in the Vaseline.” Life in the Fast Lane… Flies in the Vaseline. OK, sure. Not the craziest misunderstood lyrics, but it’s up there.
The Vasoline imagery represents being stuck in the same situation over and over again.
Glycerine symbolizes a volatile relationship. Singer and songwriter Gavin Rossdale chose glycerine because it’s the base for nitroglycerine, and the romance he’s singing about felt like a bomb ready to explode.
So being stuck vs being destroyed. It’s close, but Vasoline is an abstract thinker and Glycerine is a clearer metaphor. For the power of a title (or headline), Glycerine wins this round.
Glycerine 1, Vasoline 0
Round 2: The Lyrics
Alright, let’s go beyond the first word. One chunk of consecutive lyrics from each song.
Here’s Bush:
I’m never alone, I’m alone all the time.
Are you at one?
Do you lie?
We live in a wheel, where everyone steals.
But when we rise,
It’s like strawberry fields.
Here’s STP:
Flies in the vasoline we are,
Sometimes it blows my mind.
Keep gettin’ stuck here all the time.
Isn’t you, isn’t me,
Search for things that you can’t see.
Going blind, out of reach,
Somewhere in the vasoline
So again, we’ve got two sets of symbolic imagery. Most people would say that overall, Glycerine is the more straightforward song. It’s raw emotion.
And Vasoline is an enigma wrapped in a riddle. It’s a wild trip.
But in these two excerpts, I’d almost say STP is the clearer metaphor. “Flies in the vasoline… keep getting’ stuck here all the time.” That’s incredibly visual, and you can’t help seeing those flies stuck in sticky jelly. They’re trying to get away, but they can’t free themselves from the goo.
The song is about struggling and being stuck in the same situation over and over again, a stark metaphor for Weiland’s drug addiction and the lies he told to cover it up.
Bush is getting more abstract in this part, but also uses a “stuck” metaphor… “We live in a wheel” is describing a toxic relationship going in circles, with patterns you can’t break. (I get this one… been there, done that.)
And “where everybody steals” is about stealing peace, trust, hope… from the relationship and the other person. The “strawberry fields” is that Beatle-inspired surreal euphoria that comes when the roller coaster goes up — before plummeting down again.
Both songs feature great metaphors full of vivid imagery.
But turning a funny mistake into a unique analogy for an extremely serious situation — and making it something we can immediately feel — gives Vasoline the slight edge on this round.
Glycerine 1, Vasoline 1
Round 3: The Story
Glycerine is a story we can all relate to. It’s dripping in the raw emotion that comes with a breakup.
If you’ve been in a toxic relationship, it cuts even deeper. We’re hearing about the volatile, explosive nature of love and the fear of everything falling apart.
But because of its familiarity, it’s also a simpler story. Love lost.
Vasoline is a surreal journey that stems from a bizarre mondegreens (the misheard “Flies in the Vaseline” lyric). And it relays how you can end up coated in mess and stuck in a trap created by your own habit — a haunting commentary on the human condition. That’s pretty powerful.
Glycerine has the emotional edge but Vasoline has the intellectual edge. Heart vs head.
I’m not saying the head should win, but Vasoline presents more layers in the Hero’s Journey. And it’s not just a head trip — you can actually feel the stress of being trapped.
Vasoline wins this round too.
Glycerine 1, Vasoline 2
The Verdict: Vasoline over Glycerine
This is tough. I love both songs. Both have great metaphors. Both tell powerfully gripping stories.
But from a writing and lyrical storytelling perspective, I think Stone Temple Pilots win by a smidgen of petroleum jelly.
Write on,
Heather Vale
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