From the Atomizer LP
Jordan Minnesota
----------------
Look it up, numbskull. None of the parents got locked up, only the guy who
finked on them.
This is Jordan, we do what we like
This is Jordan, we do what we like
Stay with me, my five year old
Stay with me, play hide and seek
Stay with me, my five year old
This is Jordan, we do what we like
And this will stay with you until you die
And this will stay with you until you die
And I will stay with you until you die
And this is Jordan, we do what we like
And this will stay with you until you die
And this will stay with you until you die
This will stay with you until you die
And I will stay with you until you die
Suck daddy, suck daddy, suck daddy, etc.
cDc #84: I want to get into this child abuse thing -- because in the
song "Jordan, Minnesota," you take a strong stance on it.
Steve Albini: It's not like we're trying to make any great statement or
anything. I think it's just pretty obvious -- people shouldn't
be fucking their kids. I mean that's a pretty manifestive
world. That's just a subject for a song like any other. We're
all pretty interested in ridiculous extremes that people go to
for no real reason, just because they have nothing better to
do. That's a pretty extreme situation, where you have a whole
town of people who are actively involved in kid fucking.
cDc #84: Is that fictitious, or is it...?
Steve Albini: Oh no. You ought to look it up. Jordan, Minnesota [1985]
there were 26 indictments handed down by a district attorney
for this group of people, which is literally about a third of
the adult population of this town, Jordan, Minnesota, who were
involved in this elaborate kid fucking ring. They would play
these weird games, they'd play spin the bottle, they'd get to
fuck each other's kids, and they'd take each other's kids home
and things like that. It was really absolutely staggering,
right?
All these parents got big-ass lawyers, and the district
attorney was afraid that these kids would collapse under cross
examination, like have nervous breakdowns. With domineering
adults screaming at them that they're lying, of course these
kids are going to flip out. So, they dropped all the charges.
Which means all these kids are going back to their houses, and
the exact same shit has got to be going on. Nothing has
changed, basically. I mean, you guys hadn't even known it had
happened -- that shows you how much publicity there is about
stuff like this. And now all these kids are back in their
houses.
cDc #84: And it's all the kids now, because the parents are the people
they're supposed to respect.
Steve Albini: A four year old kid, he has no cognizance of his own
personality yet. He doesn't even know he's a distinct person
from everybody else in the world, and here he is being taught,
basically, that the way people interact is by fucking each
other's kids.
Passing Complexion
------------------
Nowadays we can see talk show panels composed of people who have to tell
people they're black because they're pale, don't look like the "black"
archetype, and therefore miss out on all the racism they're entitled to. If
someone can be "black" by proclamation, then the term is as meaningless now as
it was in the 1920s.
She was his
She would take his children
Black and white
Right to her own breast
There were times
When he could mix
With ordinary white company
Though?? the subject never came up
No one would notice
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He'd been white, he'd been black
They asked him, black like that?
Yeah!
cDc #84: We are wondering exactly what the song "Passing Complexion" is
about.
Steve Albini: I couldn't tell you exactly... I could tell you what specific
things in it are. There's the line, "She would take his
children, black and white, to her own breasts" -- there was an
Amelia Jackson interview on the radio that I listened to once,
and she was talking about how her mother would nurse these
white parents' children, literally wet nurse them.
So here's this woman who is good enough to take their
babies and raise them and feed them off her breast, but she
wasn't good enough to sit in their living room.
There was basically a whole third class of citizens who
were black people who were pale enough to be accepted into
gentile company if they were entertainers, if they were
businessmen in town or something like that. They had passing
complexion -- they weren't so dark that people had to think of
them as black people, they could sort of construe in their mind
that they were white people if it were convenient. If there was
some reason to, they could think of them as white people.
There were only two divisions in society -- the rich,
upper-crust white class or just another darkie, and the
divisions were so obvious, so they all tried to fit into white,
gentile society. That's where the whole industry developed for
hair straightening and skin lightening. Like Porcelana Fading
Cream was originally developed to lighten negro skin.
Big Money
---------
He got dowager's hump, he got a gimp
He been walking this beat, you little punk
While you were still swimming in your daddy's balls
Got a nightstick, got a gun, got time and a half
Got hazard pay, just the fuck what you would do
We just want, we just need
We just want, we just need big money
Kerosene
--------
While the band was active, much ado was made about the "pork roast" nature of
the subject of this song. The lyrics were an afterthought, actually, and were
originally about either race car driving or frog gigging, I forget which.
I was born in this town, live here my whole life
Probably come to die in this town, live here my whole life
Never anything to do in this town, live here my whole life
Never anything to do in this town, live here my whole life
Probably learn to die in this town, live here my whole life
Nothing to do, sit around at home
Sit around at home, stare at the walls
Stare at each other and wait till we die
Stare at each other and wait till we die
Probably come to die in this town, live here my whole life
There's Kerosene around, something to do
There's Kerosene around, she's something to do
There's Kerosene around, she's something to do
There's Kerosene around, we'll find something to do
Kerosene around, she's something to do
Kerosene around, set me on fire
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire
Kerosene around, something to do
There's Kerosene around, find something to do
There's Kerosene around, find something to do
Kerosene around, find something to do
Kerosene around, she's something to do
Kerosene around, set me on fire
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire
Kerosene around, she's something to do
Kerosene around, now what do we do?
Jumped Kerosene, now what do we do?
Jumped Kerosene, now what do we do?
Kerosene around, nothing to do
Jumped Kerosene, now what do we do?
Never anything to do in this town
Never anything but jump Kerosene
Never anything to do in this town
Never anything
Jump Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire, Kerosene
Set me on fire
Bad Houses
----------
One, two, three, four
Lately I have been frequenting bad houses
Places no respectable man would be seen
I hate myself for my weakness
My past sickens me
I tell myself I will not go
Even as I drive there
I hate myself for my weakness
My past sickens me
Fists of Love
Feel my hand, feel my hand, feel my hand
Feel it, feel it
Feel my hand, feel my hand, feel my hand
Feel my arm, feel my arm
Feel my fist, feel my fist
Fists of love, fists of love, fists of love
Fists of love, fists of love, fists of love
Fists of love
No fuck mm
Stinking Drunk
--------------
Go!
Been so long
Forgot what it's like
Like swimming, like sex, like taking a bang ??
Like fistfight
Think it's time got stinking drunk
Think it's time
Been so long
Who brought me to this?
Been so long
Forgot what it's like
Like fighting, like sex, like taking a bang ??
Think it's time got stinking drunk
Think it's time
You shut up!
Go!
Get drunk, get drunk, get drunk
Get drunk, get drunk, get drunk
Get drunk, get drunk, get drunk
Get drunk, get drunk, get drunk
Get drunk, get drunk, stinking drunk
Bazooka Joe
-----------
The Joe man is back
When Joe comes back Joe's head will crack
When Joe's head cracks, when that big head cracks
It's "Welcome back, Joe. Welcome back, Joe."
You don't have to be alone Joe, you don't have to be alone Joe
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
You don't have to be alone Joe, you don't have to be alone Joe
The Joe man is back
When Joe man comes back Joe's head will crack
When that big head cracks
It's "Welcome back, Joe. Welcome back, Joe."
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
Oh, you don't have to be alone Joe, you don't have to be alone Joe
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
Bazooka Joe, Bazooka Joe
It's been a long time Joe, been a long Joe, been a long time I know
You don't have to be alone Joe, you don't have to be alone
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
Say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so Joe
You don't have to be alone Joe, you don't have to be alone Joe
Place for us Joe, there's a place for us Joe
We'll do all the things that you used to do, we'll do all the things that you
Just the way it was Joe, just the way it was Joe, just the way it was Joe
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
Show you the ropes Joe, I'll show you the ropes Joe, show you the ropes Joe
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
Bazooka Joe, Bazooka Joe
It's been a long time I know, been a long I know, been a long time I know
You don't have to be alone Joe, you don't have to be alone Joe
Place for us Joe, there's a place for us Joe
We'll do all the things that you used to do, we'll do all the things that you
There are people that need us, people that need things that we know how to do
Joe
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
Place for us Joe, there's a place for us Joe
You don't have to be alone Joe, you don't have to be alone
Hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe, hang with me Joe
Bazooka Joe, Bazooka Joe
Bazooka Joe, Bazooka Joe
Bazooka Joe, Bazooka Joe
Bazooka Joe, Bazooka Joe
Bazooka Joe, Bazooka Joe
Welcome back, Joe
Cables (Live)
-------------
(see Hammer Party LP)