In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Sgt. Baker is my name
I'm gonna teach you how to play the game
Of warfare
Suddenly it appears to me
You got a bit much dignity
For your own good, boy
Yes sir, yes sir.
I will rape your personality
Pummel you with my own philosophy
Strip you of your self-integrity
To make you all a bit like me
I said right, left, right, left
Sgt. Baker here again
And if you calls me Puddin' Tame
I'll stomp you down, boy
Steers and Queers
Steers and Queers where you come
From there's just steers and queers
And you ain't got no horns, boy
Yes sir, yes sir
I will rape your personality
Pummel you with my own philosophy
Strip you of your self-integrity
To make you all a bit like me
I said right, left, right, left, right, left
I'm gonna teach you how to play the game
Of warfare
Suddenly it appears to me
You got a bit much dignity
For your own good, boy
Yes sir, yes sir.
I will rape your personality
Pummel you with my own philosophy
Strip you of your self-integrity
To make you all a bit like me
I said right, left, right, left
Sgt. Baker here again
And if you calls me Puddin' Tame
I'll stomp you down, boy
Steers and Queers
Steers and Queers where you come
From there's just steers and queers
And you ain't got no horns, boy
Yes sir, yes sir
I will rape your personality
Pummel you with my own philosophy
Strip you of your self-integrity
To make you all a bit like me
I said right, left, right, left, right, left
Lyrics submitted by knate15, edited by Lye22, CrimsonDecay
Sgt. Baker Lyrics as written by Reid L. Iii Lalonde Les Claypool
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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'And if you calls me "puddin Tame" I'll stomp you down, boy' ... I'd guess its pudding 'taine, from that string of words.. and which is allso a title of another of their magnificent songs
It's prety much about the Army, boot camp, or drill sargents in general. Satiring the way they will tear you apart verbally and rebuild you in their own image.
"I will rape your personality, pummel you with my own philosophy, strip you of your self integrity to make you all just a bit like me"
Basically just destroying an individual and building a clone of every other army recruit. Making them all into mindless machines to the purpose of killing. Les is very political man, and his politics are quite obvious with Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains.
It's about Full Metal Jacket - Sgt Baker (played by R. Lee Ermey) was a dick of a drill instructor, this song is just sort of about the things he said and his goals.
To correct aspacemonkey, the character played by R. Lee Ermey in Stanley Kubrik's Full Metal Jacket would be Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. Sergeant Baker is not exactly the same man. He does use the "steers and queers" bit used on Tex, but this is just supposed to be a generic drill sergeant or maybe even someone Les Claypool or someone from Primus might have known.
Sounds a lot like Full Metal Jacket and the Marine Corps. Just like Slightly Shinobi mentioned, they tear you down and then bring you back up again in an image of a soldier.
haha i like the lyrics dont know what theyre about but somethin about them makes me like em
This song is almost impossibly hard to play and sing at the same time, considering Les sings offbeat.
It was funny, my cousine who is in the millitary and currently in Iraq said in his training cam the drill sgt. seamed to quote both the movie (F.M.J.) and the excelent song based off of it.
The Full Metal Jacket references are clearly there, but I think this may be in reference to Sgt. Baker of WWII, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for being a flat out bad as*. This guy definitely knows how to 'play the game of warfare.' distantcousin.com/military/medalofhonor/wwii/1/010.html
'And if you calls me "puddin Tame" I'll stomp you down, boy'
I think it's less about war, which Too Many Puppies addresses, and more about how capitalist society changes us, and how we're forced to be capitalist ourselves.
Or maybe it's another one about conformity (what with Seas of Cheese and Eleven etc. maybe it's a theme for this album) and how we're forced to conform by society ('To make you all a bit like me', 'rape your personality').