‘Just One Fix’: The classic Ministry track featuring William S. Burroughs
Controversial he might have been, but the effect that William S. Burroughs has had on popular culture is nothing short of immense. He is best known as an author, a master of the surreal and often thought-provoking prose, which alongside friends Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, positioned him as one of the leading lights of the 1950s Beat Generation.
This set of writers would go on to have a defining impact on the formation of the counterculture in the following decade, laying down many of the movement’s critical facets. These included sexual liberation, the rejection of economic materialism and an overall penchant for experimentation with drugs.
Also hailed as one of the finest postmodern thinkers of all time, it is no coincidence that two of Burroughs’ most eminent contemporaries, J.G. Ballard and Norman Mailer, were effusive about his work. The former considered the Naked Lunch author to be “the most important writer to emerge since the Second World War”, whilst the latter described him as “the only American writer who may be conceivably possessed by genius”.
From Naked Lunch to Junkie, William S. Burroughs’ career brought a litany of culturally vital works that continue to inspire to this day. Despite his evident personal flaws, the potency of his creative thought cannot be understated, with his philosophy witnessed across art’s many different forms.
When it comes to musicians, those he has influenced rank among some of the most famous of all time, including Kurt Cobain, David Bowie and Steely Dan. In fact, Burroughs and the Beat Generation had such an impact on the non-conformism of Steely Dan that they took their name from a steam-powered dildo in Naked Lunch.
One outfit that Burroughs greatly influenced is American industrial pioneers Ministry, and in particular, their frontman and creative mastermind, Al Jourgensen, one of rock’s more famous cynics.
Burroughs had such an impact on the group that he would go on to feature on their fan favourite ‘Just One Fix’ from 1992’s Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs. He also starred in the somewhat challenging Peter Christopherson-directed video that became notorious for its graphic depiction of hematemesis.
Notably, the track pulls from across the spectrum of popular culture. It samples a segment of dialogue between Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern about Thorazine from 1967’s The Trip. Elsewhere, there’s a sample of Chloe Webb as Nancy Spungen in Sid and Nancy, where she says, “Never trust a junkie”. There are also snippets of Frank Sinatra in The Man with the Golden Arm and Hellbound: Hellraiser II.
Undoubtedly though, the song’s most exciting highlight is the audio of Burroughs declaring, “bring it all down”, which he recorded in the studio with Ministry. It’s strange to see the elderly author in the music video for such a punishing piece, but this was William S. Burroughs; he rejected almost every established norm.
Looking back on Burroughs’ personality and way of life, Al Jourgensen told Metal Hammer in 2017: “That guy didn’t live like a human living. He had no idea about who was President or who was in Congress or what was going on in the news or sports – he just lived as Bill Burroughs. He had no relationship with society as we know it because he wasn’t interested. That made a big impact on me.”
