1. |
Other Bands
03:54
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Why do you listen to other bands?
Why are they not discarded?
Might you be squarer
Than a bell-bottom wearer?
Might you be retarded?
While you were listening to other bands
We were kicking asses.
Your daydreams endow us
With all kinds of prowess
But you serve other masters
Other Bands
Other Bands
It’s not that we need you -we’re superstars-
But it’s sad you have no clue
Flitting around
Never settling down
With the one true band for you
So if we don’t see you when we’re back in town
We will understand
That you are a fool
And you’ll never be cool
Til you dump those other bands
Why do you listen to other bands?
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2. |
We Will Civilize You
04:19
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All your life,
You’ve been looking for some action
And you get what you want
But no satisfaction
Free your ass
And your mind will surely follow
Til your mind’s entirely swallowed
Up your ass
But we...we are here
And you...you are here
And we will civilize you
We’ll dress you up
We’ll give you a shower
Make of you a nation
We got the power!
How were you to glean
That your way of life was so unclean?
Your lame-o friends were never any use.
Sure, we sympathize
They never said, “be civilized”
But now that you have us there’s no excuse!
You may think
The beating of the drums
Is a summons from the jungle
But it’s not
We’re at your door
You’re late for an appointment
Knock knock, who’s there? We are
-to wake you!
We...we are here
And you...you are here
And we will civilize you
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3. |
Becky B. (It's Summer)
02:58
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It’s summer
And no one goes to school anymore
It’s summer
And no one knows the rules anymore
I’m running through the streets
No more shoes, I go in bare feet
It burns but I don’t care
Okay to get hurt if you’re going somewhere
And Becky B. said,
We’re gonna try something new.
It was against the law.
Now it’s...fine.
It’s summer
And nine-year olds are drinking champagne
It’s summer
So no one’s in the mood to complain
And I used to be small
But now it doesn’t matter at all.
Becky plays with me
And she will let me kiss her, maybe.
And Becky B. Said,
We’ve had to wait so long.
But now we do what we want
All the...time.
As I run, the grown-ups drive away
(On the wrong side of the street)
Making love as they go by
(Speeding down the road)
They’re not looking out
They don’t care if they crash
And I
Want to be them.
Here I am at last!
Teach me something, teach me real fast
Becky’s in the nude
And I know what makes you a girl or a dude.
And Becky B. says,
Sit on my butt, she says.
I’ll make you happy.
And she’s...right.
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4. |
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I possess certain feelings.
I can feel them grow and grow.
But I’m pretending to be a robot
So she’ll never know.
My circuits are firing
Look at that robot go!
Got a jam in the wiring
But it doesn’t show.
Oh.
Look at me on the dance floor:
Steady as a drum machine.
The lady’s in silver sequins:
My dancing queen.
Well, you know what happens later;
She’ll play with the machinery
And she’ll marvel at modern science.
Good for me.
Once she felt my beating heart.
I said, don’t you break that part.
Oh.
I possess certain feelings.
Show them and the girl will go.
But I’m pretending to be a robot
And she’ll never know.
Though we may be electrifying
She’ll never see what I’m denying.
She’ll never realize
I love her so.
Oh.
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5. |
I'm Your Boyfriend
02:58
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I don’t tip the waitresses
No more say please and thank you.
I’m your boyfriend.
Crank the speakers, run a red,
And spit on the policeman.
I’m your boyfriend.
I’m nuking every mountain,
Draining every see.
And woe be unto those
Who question me.
They’ll feel my love, they’ll worship me
And then I will destroy them.
I’m your boyfriend.
I might do it anyway,
But now I have a reason;
I’m your boyfriend.
I may be just a man,
But love is on my side.
The world falls to its knees
And opens wide!
I used to care what people thought
I played it nice and suffered for my trouble.
But now I’m strong
No one can do me wrong
So I blow through and others sweep the rubble.
A man needs to express himself,
Show his gratitude
That he’s your boyfriend.
Knowing you has set me free
To be the man - the MAN, I say -
Your boyfriend.
Just what is it about you
Made a man of me?
I guess I’ll leave that question
To history.
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6. |
Big Brains
04:16
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Girls in the coffee shop
Speaking in an ancient tongue
Making gestures with a cigarette
They’ll rule the world, but not just yet.
I’m the boy with the blue goatee
Thrift store corduroys for me
I’ve slicked my hair back
In case they stare back.
I like the big brains
I like em. Yes, yes, I like those…
Girls with advanced degrees:
MFAs and PHDs.
I’ve paid my smart-boy dues.
I’ve learned the words they use.
When I’m serious
Makes these girls delirious.
They like the big brains, too
They like the big brains
And they go…
We like the big brains.
They like me.
They seem to like my
What do they like?
They like big brains.
Come, Ladies, bid this Caribou goodbye
And strut beneath the vast, indiff’rent sky
Where brooding birds preach tragic points of view.
You’ll bring your Friedrich Nietzsche, Dear,
And you, Albert Camus.
We’ll sit together in the park and read
Until the sun succumbs to darker needs
And then, at night, while others dumbly sleep
We’ll sire a race of supermen
To rule these human sheep.
I like ‘em. Yes, yes, I like those…
What do we like?
We like big brains!
What do we like?
We like big brains!
Why?
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7. |
Porn Crush
03:23
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Ain’t never got some
I don’t expect none
But there’s a girl I want to talk to.
Ain’t even met yet
I’ve seen her naked
They took pictures while she did it with her friends
(And sometimes there were men)
She won’t be needing them.
Cuz I wanna hold her hand
I wanna save her from those big bad men
I wanna hold her hand her hand and tell her
It’s alright it’s alright it’s alright for now.
I wanna hold her hand
So I can take her back to my homeland.
I wanna hold her hand and tell her
It’s alright it’s alright it’s alright for now.
I’ve got a pron crush
I’ve got a porn crush
And what I’m gonna do
She lives in Porn World
I can’t get in there.
She was sent there cuz she’s pretty.
Her looks of pain say:
Nothing goes my way
But all I need is for a singer in a band
To come and take my hand.
Her wish is my command.
And I wanna hold her hand,
Hello, my name is Ben. I’m in a band.
I wanna hold her hand and tell her
It’s alright it’s alright it’s alright for now.
I wanna hold her hand
So she can leave her world and be my fan.
I wanna hold her hand and tell her
It’s alright it’s alright it’s alright for now.
I’ve got a pron crush
I’ve got a porn crush
And what I’m gonna do
I wanna hold her hand
I wanna hold her hand
I wanna save her from
Those big bad men.
I wanna hold her hand and tell her
It’s alright it’s alright it’s alright for now.
I’ve got a pron crush
I’ve got a porn crush
And what I’m gonna do
To let her know that
I am lonely too.
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8. |
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Innocent.
They call me Mr. Innocent.
The women travel far and wide
To kiss my baby face.
Guilty girls,
Attracted by my innocence
Endeavor to corrupt me,
To disrupt my state of grace.
But I’m a sexxor
And I’m gonna get my way now!
Cuz nothing wets her like naivete.
She smells her prey.
Do to me
What no one’s ever done to me!
Though I don’t know the names for all
your moves, I’d like to learn.
I’m a sexxor
And I’m gonna get my way now!
One who protects the female fantasy.
Regrets? Not me!
Innocent?
So what, I’m not so innocent.
The vilest sin will make the purest love
If one has style.
I’m a sexxor
And I’m gonna get my way now!
One who injects her with his virgin blood
Becomes her stud.
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9. |
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You ladies toy with me
You like to play the tease.
Why do y’all do that?
You know it’s impolite.
Deadbeat, Stoner, Gypsy.
I’ve been called all these.
Tease me all you want
Just let me stay the night.
You know me - I come as no surprise.
You grow me - my love is on the rise.
You’ve been hanging on me, so why not
Give it up?
Give it up for me.
I’m a simple man
My lust is all I bring.
I can’t behave myself;
Just let me tap that ass.
If purity of heart
Is just to want one thing.
I’m purest of them all.
Now lemme tap that ass.
Forget them - don’t worry ‘bout your plans.
Don’t sweat them - tonight you need a man.
You could use some lovin’, so why not
Give it up?
No plans beyond tonight.
Where was I yesterday?
I’m the kind of man
Who’s always on his way.
Take your eyes off me
And I might disappear.
Later you may think,
Was Darkis even here?
Tomorrow - who knows what it’ll be?
So far, though - tonight looks good to me.
I can take it baby, so why not
Give it up?
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10. |
The Contradiction
03:47
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Whatcha gonna do when the girls won’t let you in?
Do you boo-hoo? Do you mourn what might have been?
With such a simple heart, you’ll never win.
Yes! (No!)
When logic is a loser, there’s a mind that you can blow -
The Contradiction.
Twist your words around until a yes becomes a no -
The Contradiction.
No, no, no, no!
Say she’s really something but she just don’t get it yet.
She’ll think of only one thing: what does she not get?
She’ll toss and turn at night to figure it.
Yes, no, yes, no!
Keep her off her balance so she can’t explain your moves
The Contradiction.
Her heart will be ignited and she’ll blame it all on you
The Contradiction.
No, no, no, no!
Yes, yes, yes.
Jesus Christ
At the height of power
Gave his life just in spite!
So whatcha gonna do when the girls won’t let you in?
Turn their screws; they’re dizzy with your spin.
They may fall in love to their chagrin.
Yes, no, yes, no!
We live in desperation; we’re alive and nothing more.
The Contradiction.
If we can’t confuse each other, I don’t know what words are for.
The Contradiction.
Purposely distort whatever truth you still possess.
The Contradiction.
Never you regret what you are never to confess.
The Contradiction.
No, no, no, no!
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11. |
She's A Wall
03:48
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You can make the bad girls fall
And that’s enough for those without ambition.
But there’s a girl who’s standing tall.
She’s the one who never gives permission.
No one cares for love when it’s too easy
She’s a wall.
She may think she’s better than me.
She better be better if she won’t go the distance.
Resistance might just be a tease
But then again it might just be resistance.
No one understands why she won’t fall.
She’s a wall.
Think of how much more respect
You goons would get if you were more like she is.
A mystery below the neck.
How precious what we never get to see is.
She might wear me down,
But I’ll enjoy it.
She’s a wall.
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12. |
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Were you in a summer slump?
Had you gone off your meds?
Cuz when the lady asked your name,
I tell you, it really went to your head.
You met in a disco chatroom
And you thought you’d achieved nirvana
You should have known better but didn’t wanna.
Dude - sure she’s nice, but she’s not your girlfriend.
Dude - paradise, but not your girlfriend.
If you want my advice,
Make believers pay a pretty price.
You threw for her a birthday bash,
But then she failed to arrive.
And then there was your sadcore band, remember?
But that was totally jive.
A million deranged guitars
And no one there to sing the song.
I knew she’d flake on you all along.
Dude - call me nuts, but she’s not your girlfriend.
Dude - hate my guts, but she’s not your girlfriend.
Sure she says I love you, but
You always have to ask her to do it.
She’ll suffer the wisecracks
She’ll smile for the Kodak
And when there’s nothing else to do,
She might call you
Back!
Hallucinations may be fun
But do they bring home the bitches?
Are the delights of fantasy
As good as actual kisses?
Dude - she’s all right, but she’s not your girlfriend.
Dude - pure delight, but she’s not your girlfriend.
She’ll fake it for tonight,
But I just think she’s fatally polite.
Has she kissed you? She’s not your girlfriend.
Dude - use some tissue. She’s not your girlfriend.
I don’t mean to “diss” you,
But if you died, I don’t think she would miss you.
She’s not your girlfriend.
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13. |
Speak in Tongues
02:52
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There’s a girl - she hates me.
Every word deflates me.
And if she were ugly, forget it.
But she isn’t ugly.
She said, don’t talk, you will only bore me
But when I tried to say goodnight…
She found a way
When she began to speak in tongues.
I had a say
When we began to speak in tongues.
This technique becomes me:
Every girl who shuns me
(Even that deaf, dumb, and blind kid)
Comes to love me dearly.
G.I. Joes, fear not jihad. Don’t worry.
Do like me and we’ll be fine!
I found a way
When I began to speak in tongues.
That’s what I say,
So do like me and speak in tongues.
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14. |
One Flesh
03:53
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If I could make love all day long
Do you think I’d be here?
If you could make love all day long,
Do you think you’d be here?
It’s coming on, I feel it coming on,
I know it’s coming on..
Bye bye I gotta go home.
(He gotta go home)
Home, to Mrs. Condescending
She’ll know what I’m intending
And soon we will be one...
One flesh.
She knows me, you bet, in every way
And it keeps getting better every time we play.
I’d love to stay here and do the show,
Schmooze with all you losers in the front row…
It’s coming on, I feel it coming on,
I know it’s coming on
Bye-bye I gotta go home
(Let him go home)
Home, to Mrs. Condescending
-I’m Mr. Condescending-
And soon we will be one…
One flesh.
It’s been nice to see you all…
Now you know how to be a stud.
Congratulations!
Or maybe you think it’s just my luck
That I got a little lady and she likes to fuck.
She coming on, I feel her coming on,
I know she’s coming on.
I’ve tried to help you, but I gotta go home!
Lemme go home!
Enjoy the game.
That’s what it is.
It’s all you have, it’s all you’ll be
Until you find a mate of your own.
And then you’ll go home.
Home - you’ll miss the singles scene and
Never come again and
Do it all you can and
You’ll know what I mean and
Then you will be one
One flesh.
All you’ll want - One flesh!
All we want - One flesh!
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The Shut-Ups Atlanta, Georgia
We're a five-piece new-wave power-pop band from Atlanta and Athens, GA and practice daily at 6AM. We do more before 8AM than
most bands do all week.
We're not about Pleasure or Fun. You may enjoy listening to us. You may not. You may pretend to enjoy us because others you respect seem to. They may be pretending, too. In which case you may want to consider what else they're pretending about.
... more
The Shut-Ups recommends:
Dingbats
by Casper & the Cookies
Jason plays here
go to album
Ben plays here
go to album
Magnet Factory
by PYLON REENACTMENT SOCIETY
Jason also plays here
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15 years into their career, the Toronto indie rockers sound sharp and ebullient as ever.
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