submissions
| The Cure – Where the Birds Always Sing Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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I think he was getting pretty interested in it at the time, the next session's Truth Goodness & Beauty uses a few verses from the daodejing pretty much verbatim; and it could well stand to be the sublimest sentiment ever expressed by the band. |
submissions
| Alice in Chains – Check My Brain Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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It does sound like the double entendres with california and medical marijuana fit good enough for them not to have gone unnoticed, even if Jerry claims it's about NOT getting high anymore. The chorus sounds more like an ironic excuse to go down to cali to get his brain checked out at a thc clinic, by now a popular trick of the trade. It seems slightly disparaging, but it's only because they can't openly love drugs with a casualty on their hands now. You just know they'd be getting back to their Sabbathian stoner roots given the huge opportunity present. |
submissions
| Black Sabbath – Hole In The Sky Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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Uh sorry sith man, people have been using drugs since before written history, and a 'Bible' compiled hundreds of years after its alleged events from sources of varying dubiety telling them otherwise doesn't chance that.
Ever notice how the same bible's description of manna matches that of psilocybin mushrooms almost exactly? And the fact that they included some in the ark must imply some measure of tremendous importance, and I don't think it's because they appeared overnight. No, it's because they WERE the essence of the divine. You don't really think they could've conceived of some all-benevolent god in that, well, godforsaken place without some sort of catalyst do you? It's called an entheogen for a reason, only in stone cold ignorant times, there needed to be a framework and guide to make sense of the experience. Hey, Horus is already a pretty familiar deity; let's rename and adopt him so we have an easy explanation for the shit we just saw - and god moved from within you to within the clouds.
That's all Sabbath was doing too. Transcribing their experience with weed, acid, and all other kinds of gods into their own lexicon, only instead of arbitrary menstruation laws, they gave us this.
Not to mention cannabis being a prime component in the anointing oil. Now what does Christ mean again? I wonder if he did wake & anoints often. |
submissions
| The Cure – Truth, Goodness and Beauty Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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Am I the only one who recalls to mind Laozi with the stark contrasting language? I'm pretty sure the third verse is copied straight from the Daodejing. |
submissions
| Crass – The Sound Of One Hand Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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Zhuangzi, the Taoist sage actually wrote this - the classic Taoist texts always really resonated with me, as they seemed to espouse the same relativistic, individualist ideals I already grew up on with Crass. Turns out it was the other way around; Zhuangzi was in fact the world's first anarchist. I always thought it was too bad there was nobody to carry on or expound on Crass's message to the extent they did, but turns out all you need to do is go back to the source - Ouroboros completes itself. They could've alluded to their inspirations a bit better than just putting a chinese character on Christ The Bootleg though... |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Record Contract Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I guess an epilogue to Mary Jane. Another thing you can buy at the Tesco Disco by the way, are cases of Zyklon-B Zombie, which as Gen describes is a bit like Coca-Cola, but worse for the teeth. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Still Walking (Heathen Earth Version) Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Not much is the same between the two versions of Still Walking, aside from I guess the "he said. she said." thing, with Chris and Cosey trading vocal duties. Only instead of arcane poetry and a driving beat it's inane phrases and a Cage-ish use of silence. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – No Two Ways Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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No Two Ways was only recorded twice - once as an instrumental on IRC3 (and in a much better version I think), and the more bass-heavy version here, as indicated by Gen's comment.
As for the report on Gary Gilmore, as Gen said in COUM, there actually was no dummy bullet - the sandbags behind Gary's body were found with 5 bullet holes, as to not take any risk with executing him. Part of the reason why he posed with Monte and Cosey tied up and blindfolded with actual loaded guns pointed at them for a COUM mail art piece called the Gary Gilmore Remembrance Society. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Music From The Death Factory Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This is the introduction to Very Friendly from their ICA gig, and pretty much describes the visual aspect to TG's music - a society swallowed by its slavery to its own mindless pursuit of progress and vice. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – See You Are Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This song uses one of the best, menacing pulsing backing tapes Chris Carter's ever done, which is played quite often, yet it was only ever once called See You Are, the only difference being here there's some slightly melodic synth and actual singing. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Wall Of Sound Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Wall Of Sound was the usual TG set closer, where they quite literally made a wall of sound. Just total, pure, mind blasting noise. This is the only version with vocals, which are simply a usual exchange between Gen and the audience. My personal favourite is the version from the second gig at the Rat Club. Sine wave devastation. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Want You To Kill Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This is found only on the 23 Drifts To Guestling retrospective archive, one of two original TG songs. Pretty good early TG, heavy on the distorted bass as always. Reminds me a bit of Assume Power Focus. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Weapon Training Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This was the standard intro used for a few gigs around the time they started focusing on complete compositions rather than improvised noise. I can't say I like their "rock band" incarnation better than pure industrial terror, but they got some of their best live versions from this period. This is an especially effective introduction and one of their best found sounds, especially with the irony in preserving the sounds of instruments of death on vinyl. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Very Friendly Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Perhaps the best, most disturbing song ever written about a serial killer. The factory intro and distorted 2-note bassline are just classic. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Whistling Song Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Gen for some reason thought this was going to be the last TG gig ever, so he took a bunch of valium (I think it was valium) and almost died during the gig. Of course this was nothing unusual, but when he collapsed at the end he came closer to death than usual, which turned out to be the influence for his solo track Weeping. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Slug Bait (Live At Brighton) Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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The first conversation is between an interrogator and a Canadian teenager doing life for murdering a child, while the second is from a nuclear scare record from the 60's called The Complacent Americans. They used a different part of the same record for a later gig, the part where they detail if you hide behind a desk during an atomic strike, YOU WILL SURVIVE.
And though this is from their first Brighton gig, I can't find this song anywhere from the full gig on TG24. Same with Maggot Death at the Rat Club. Maybe it's a composite edit like Walls Of Sound from D.O.A.... |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Mary Whitehouse Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Another hilarious pisstake of punk's supposed noisy sound and shock values, this is played entirely on bass distorted to pure noise. Surprisingly it's got a pretty fucking cool riff, if you can actually make it out. Mary Whitehouse was Britain's biggest crusader for "christian morals", so it's good to see her honourable vision realized in this song. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Mary Jane Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Another scathing critique of how easily "counter culture" figureheads in punk were absorbed into the torrent of fame and wealth of the mainstream. But Gen's singing it, so better add some sodomy bits just in case! That's a great statement though; "The first girl who asked for my autograph - I gave her three different names" |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Distant Dreams (Part Two) Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Probably the moment where TG went from industrial music to psychick music. I guess they needed to show that under all the death, decay and destruction of contemporary society that they reflected back, love remained the sole reason for delving for and exposing life's atrocities. Absolutely beautiful, though I still don't know why it's part two. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Dead Ed Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Another early TG live staple, the second to last line brings it from random screaming to another strange social commentary bit. Probably an "In all your decadence people die" thing, for another crass Crass comparison. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – After Cease To Exist Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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A manifesto of sorts for TG's militaristic approach in the industrial movement to provoke and inspire individual thought. Crass took the same approach as well, and that certainly worked, though everybody seems preoccupied with art more than campaigning for anarchy. Not that there's anything wrong with that of course, but the new artistic, magickal incarnation of TG probably can't come up with a counterpart for Discipline. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – 10p For A Pack Of Cigarettes Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Originally released in a shortened version on Best Of.... Volume II, I guess someone found the masters and released the full version on The First Annual Report as 10 Pence. There's also a rehearsal on Nothing Short Of A Total War, but aside from that it's another of the many improvised early TG songs, which is evident from the rambling lyrics. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – Maggot Death (Live At Brighton) Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This is the last song from Second Annual Report, also occasionally known as A Load Of Fucking Wankers. This is the full version instead of the original 50 seconds, where the DJ yells at the audience for treating TG's strange music with such abhorrence, almost starting a riot before Gen tries to explain himself, which he does quite adequately in classic Gen style. |
submissions
| Crass – Mother Earth Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Not as good as Very Friendly, Throbbing Gristle's 18 minute industrial drone trundle about the Moors murders, but still a great song. |
submissions
| Crass – Crutch Of Society Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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The reason it's so puzzling is because he says "Bury my HAND in the crutch of society". Same with the end, it's "Run BOY", not "bore". I know he has a thick accent, but guesses could at least make sense. Good song anyway, weird how they manage to make a slow shambler sound as good as all the other speedy numbers. |
submissions
| Crass – Merry Crassmas Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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After the first line comes 18 instrumental versions of Crass songs done in cheery christmas versions on cheap keyboards, which makes it one of the more brilliant Crass releases in its own way. I actually really like to listen to them even after the initial novelty value; some like Contaminational Power or Securicor actually sound really cool. Of course, it helps if you're really high, but still. If anyone's still interested in winning those bathsalts, here are the songs played.
Jingle Bells - Big A, Little A - Punk Is Dead - You've Got Big Hands - Contaminational Power - I Ain't Thick, It's Just A Trick - Shaved Women - Big Man, Big M.A.N. - While Shepherds Watched - Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Securicor - Darling - G's Song - Banned From The Roxy - Tired - So What - Do They Owe Us A Living? - Silent Night |
submissions
| Crass – Who Dunnit? Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Whoever said Crass never had a sense of humour? My favourite satirical piece they've done, it's a blast to sing along to when wasted. Funny as hell too, and more political than their incredibly thick accents initially let on. This includes both sides of the 7", which don't officially have any titles, but I just name them after the two most frequently repeated phrases. Interestingly enough (to me at least), this wasn't released as a C.R.&S.S. record like the other two joke releases were, but a fully numbered Crass Records release. I guess they were serious this time; it was recorded "in desperation" on election night after all. |
submissions
| Throbbing Gristle – As It Is... Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Surprisingly good song from the normally abysmal Dossier releases. Giftgas in general was pretty good actually; Satan is absolutely amazing, maybe even the archetypal TG song, and it's a home demo on an unauthorized cash-in release. But that's TG.
Gen related this story again at their gig at The Factory in Manchester, supposedly the inspiration for the one-time only song His Arm Was Her Leg. How is beyond me. |
submissions
| Crass – The Smelliest Arse Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This is the hidden track at the end of Stations before the live set. Apparently a drunken pisstake (the sloppy piano is a good indication), which may or may not be about everyone's favourite prime sinister, sort of like a precursor to the hilarious Whodunnit single. I've also heard it could be about anyone in particular, since Mags doesn't have fat lips, but it's a good piece of Crass humour anyway. |
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