This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Basehead: Yeah, uh, listen um, I-I'm not a crackhead. Man, it's just my-my family's out of gas and around the corner. You know I just got off work and man if you could just give me like, a couple of bucks, man I can mail it right back to you, soon as I get paid.
So there I was, watching Sanford and Son, workin' the Graveyard Shift,
At a party store rollin' a splif.
I'm behind the glass, I see crackheads all night,
But tonight the moon is red and shit ain't feelin' so right.
My first sight was a basehead tryna break into my car,
In plain view too, I ran out with the crowbar.
Hammered it across his cranium, he fell over dead,
But no blood only dust, he's a fuckin' basehead.(Basehead)
Here come another one, he jumpin' out of a tree,
But I ain't even have to move, he missed by like twenty feet.(Yaaaahh)
He slammed down on the pavement, I quickly started kickin',
Beat him with the crowbar until he finally stop twitchin'.(Chop, chop, chop)
Looked behind me, seen another zombie in the register,
I'm used to shooin'em off (Get the fuck outta here) from beggin' from the customers.
But now I gotta reach up under the seat and grab the hand axe,
Whipped it from there and stuck it into his back.
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found. (Hey, yo, WHAT THE FUCK)
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
Goddamnit! It's two more in the cooler once I'm back in the store,
Pull my hand axe out that back and then attack'em some more.
I charge, (I charge) but he bumps me in the head with a Pepsi,
No affect, I left him shakin' on the floor like epilepsy.
With they necks severed, fuckin' zombies for rocks,
Another jumped on my back and we went through the glass into the parking lot.
He tried to kill me, he told me "Gimme some change!",
All diggin' in my ear for it and shit, DERANGED!
I grabbed him by his head and tried to yank it to the left to break his neck,
But his head spun all the way around and that was fuckin' it.
I was outta there, I seen another zombie comin' out of the grave,
Zombies BEGGIN' FOR CHANGE! (Change)
I'm fuckin' swingin' at 'em, knock they chin off they face,
But they still comin' at me, hands out they wanna base.
They must think my white eyeballs are giant crack rocks,
I gotta slap'em out they funky ass socks, HELP ME!
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
They don't have a brain left behind they empty eyes,
They want crack rocka coke-a and they buzzin' like flys.
You might pull they arm off, you try to shake their hand,
Because their soul's been gone, it's just a shell of a man.
Walkin' around lookin' for rock anyway they can get it,
Even if you got AIDS, them dirty bitches let you hit it.
And you still gettin' somethin' worse than you already got,
Seen one catch one in the head, not even know he got shot.
It was crack smoke blowin' out the side of his head,
He put a champagne cork in the hole and that was it.
Basehead zombies, millions of'em and more,
With the steam roller, roll'em over flat on the floor.
Their like, dead ass bodies, walkin' around with out the ghost,
With no clue where they fuckin' headed but the rock roast.
Opportunities were given, they let'em all pass,
Now they themselves ain't worth the shit out they ass.
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They comin' for your goods,
simultaneously in 50,000 neighborhoods.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They comin' out the dark,
And they comin' for you, they wanna pull out your heart and smoke it.
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town, (They won't stop, they need change)
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
(AAAHHHH)
Always a tragedy, a beautiful human being...
So there I was, watching Sanford and Son, workin' the Graveyard Shift,
At a party store rollin' a splif.
I'm behind the glass, I see crackheads all night,
But tonight the moon is red and shit ain't feelin' so right.
My first sight was a basehead tryna break into my car,
In plain view too, I ran out with the crowbar.
Hammered it across his cranium, he fell over dead,
But no blood only dust, he's a fuckin' basehead.(Basehead)
Here come another one, he jumpin' out of a tree,
But I ain't even have to move, he missed by like twenty feet.(Yaaaahh)
He slammed down on the pavement, I quickly started kickin',
Beat him with the crowbar until he finally stop twitchin'.(Chop, chop, chop)
Looked behind me, seen another zombie in the register,
I'm used to shooin'em off (Get the fuck outta here) from beggin' from the customers.
But now I gotta reach up under the seat and grab the hand axe,
Whipped it from there and stuck it into his back.
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found. (Hey, yo, WHAT THE FUCK)
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
Goddamnit! It's two more in the cooler once I'm back in the store,
Pull my hand axe out that back and then attack'em some more.
I charge, (I charge) but he bumps me in the head with a Pepsi,
No affect, I left him shakin' on the floor like epilepsy.
With they necks severed, fuckin' zombies for rocks,
Another jumped on my back and we went through the glass into the parking lot.
He tried to kill me, he told me "Gimme some change!",
All diggin' in my ear for it and shit, DERANGED!
I grabbed him by his head and tried to yank it to the left to break his neck,
But his head spun all the way around and that was fuckin' it.
I was outta there, I seen another zombie comin' out of the grave,
Zombies BEGGIN' FOR CHANGE! (Change)
I'm fuckin' swingin' at 'em, knock they chin off they face,
But they still comin' at me, hands out they wanna base.
They must think my white eyeballs are giant crack rocks,
I gotta slap'em out they funky ass socks, HELP ME!
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
They don't have a brain left behind they empty eyes,
They want crack rocka coke-a and they buzzin' like flys.
You might pull they arm off, you try to shake their hand,
Because their soul's been gone, it's just a shell of a man.
Walkin' around lookin' for rock anyway they can get it,
Even if you got AIDS, them dirty bitches let you hit it.
And you still gettin' somethin' worse than you already got,
Seen one catch one in the head, not even know he got shot.
It was crack smoke blowin' out the side of his head,
He put a champagne cork in the hole and that was it.
Basehead zombies, millions of'em and more,
With the steam roller, roll'em over flat on the floor.
Their like, dead ass bodies, walkin' around with out the ghost,
With no clue where they fuckin' headed but the rock roast.
Opportunities were given, they let'em all pass,
Now they themselves ain't worth the shit out they ass.
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They comin' for your goods,
simultaneously in 50,000 neighborhoods.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They comin' out the dark,
And they comin' for you, they wanna pull out your heart and smoke it.
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town,
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
Chorus
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
They on a mission,
They always on the hunt for somethin' they always missin'.
THE ATTACK OF THE BASEHEADS!
Every city, every town, (They won't stop, they need change)
They always on the hunt for somethin' never to be found.
(AAAHHHH)
Always a tragedy, a beautiful human being...
Lyrics submitted by Muddy McAbre
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This song is just straight up funny, basically it's about....Crackheads! Seriously I know somebody has been hassled by a crackhead/basehead wanting change or money so they can get a rock just hoping to have that Mega-Blast once again.
I love this song because it drops the Hellish theme of the CD and I just love it when Shaggy raps because I get a whole vision in my head of him kickin ass. lol but yeah Shaggy is awesome and Hell´s Pit is underappreciated.