1. a rap… Read Full Bio ↴There are three artists with this name (not counting The Bangs)
1. a rap artist from Melbourne, Australia
2. a punk rock band from Olympia, Washington
3. an 80s garage rock band from LA, California
1) Bangs is a 19 year old rap artist born in North Khartoum, Sudan. At the age of 11, he moved to Egypt with his family after his Father married another wife. He spent two years there before coming to Australia in 2003. He has been writing rap, hip hop and pop since settling in Melbourne in 2004.
“Music is my wife”, Bangs sang in a live jam recently. He writes about life, love and hope and his music grows with him till the end of life. He recorded his first demo “Girlfriend” in 2005 with DJ Wasabi in Collingwood, then started to lay down tracks in his home studio.
In July 2008, he recorded his first professional album at Gateway Living Music Studios, titled “Hard to be Up”. Produced by John Favaro and Paul Last name, it features the new hit single “Take U to Da Movies”. The name “Hard To Be Up” means that he worked so hard to put the songs together to make the album.
He is constantly stretching his creative abilities, and is already working on his next album, with the working title “Am Still Moving On”.
2) Bangs was a punk rock band from Olympia, Washington, formed in 1997 by guitarist Sarah Utter after recruiting high school friend Jesse Fox on drums and Maggie Vail, who had to learn how to play bass guitar to be in the band, being that the only instruments she played before were drums, guitar, cello, and clarinet. Bangs toured with and/or played shows with Sleater-Kinney, the Gossip, Unwound, Blonde Redhead, The Makers, Witchypoo, the Donnas, Shannon Wright, Murder City Devils, and Karp, to name a few. Maggie also played bass in Frenchie and the German Girls, and sang backups in the famous party-band Gene Defcon. Sarah played in one of the last incarnations of Witchypoo, and has since devoted herself full-time to painting with the exception of a one-off show in Los Angeles with noisemaker David Scott Stone. Jesse quit the band after a long U.S. tour, and Bangs went through a succession of drummers (Heather Dunn, Kyle Ermatinger) before gelling with Olympia’s multi-instrumentalist wonderboy, Peter David Connelly. They recorded their last EP, Call and Response, in a frigidly cold farmhouse basement with engineer Justin Trosper of Unwound.
Although the band had plenty associations with the riot grrrl movement (Maggie Vail’s sister is Bikini Kill’s Tobi Vail), Bangs, like Bikini Kill, didn’t identify as a riot grrrl band. They preferred the term “rock band”, crediting The Go-Go’s, The Ramones, Gary Numan, Chryssie Hynde, Elvis Costello, and Cheap Trick with inspiration. The band put out all of their releases on Kill Rock Stars except for one 7”, which was released on the tiny Olympia label Ten-In-One Records. They toured the United States extensively, and also played shows in England, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand, where they were featured on the island country’s nightly national news. Bangs broke up in September of 2004 after Sarah moved to Los Angeles. Their last show, at Olympia’s Eagles Hall and part of Kill Rock Stars ‘Yeah! Fest!’ was festive and bittersweet. Maggie has since relocated to Portland, OR, where she plays in the bands Romancing and Leti Angel. Peter David continues to live in Olympia and play in his engaging pop band The Mona Reels. Sarah has since relocated back to the northwest and spends her time painting pictures of animals.
3) The Bangs was an early eighties garage band from LA formed by Susanna Hoffs and the Peterson sisters Vicki and Debbi. They released two singles called 'Bitchin Summer' and 'Getting out of hand/Call on me'. They then changed their name into The Bangles in 1982, gaining more popularity over the years.
S.O.S.
Bangs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is a little piece of me
Standing here half naked
I've stripped for you carefully
Part of my personality
And all of my free time
I want to buy for a dollar
What you stole from me for a dime
I don't want to be your petty heartbreaker
But I know that I'll never be
That girl on your turntable
That girl on your t.v.
There's nothing I can do
And nothing I can say
Cuz the right words come out wrong
But I can't go on living this way
It's the same old song
What I want to know
Is did you really steal the show?
Talking trash with the perfect pout
It's your new commercial I could do without
I don't want to be your precious pretender
But I know I'll never be
That girl in your fashion show
Taht girl on the movie screen
Like an octopus you bleed blue ink
And like a pair of jeans you're fit to shrink
How can you call this living?
It's the same old song
What I want to know
Is did you really steal the show?
What I want what I want when I want it
Is what I want what I want what I want
The lyrics of Bangs's song S.O.S. are about the feeling of being taken advantage of in a relationship, particularly in a romantic context. The singer in the song wants to buy back a little piece of themselves that they feel the other person has taken from them. The singer has stripped themselves bare, revealing parts of their personality and giving away their free time to the other person, but they still feel as though they are not enough for this person. They want to buy back what was taken from them, but at a higher price than what was paid for it. The singer wants to regain control of their own identity and not be reduced to a plaything or accessory for the other person's pleasure or success.
The second half of the song focuses on the impossibility of being what the other person wants. The singer wants to be seen as more than just a heartbreaker or a fashion model, but they know they cannot fulfill the other person's expectations. They see the other person as shallow and focused on material success and fame, while the singer values authenticity and true connection. The repeated line "It's the same old song" emphasizes the frustration and hopelessness of the situation. The singer cannot change who they are, and the other person cannot change their priorities, so there seems to be no way forward for the relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
What I want to buy from you
I am willing to pay for something meaningful from you
Is a little piece of me
I am looking to express my personality in a unique way
Standing here half naked
I am showing vulnerability and openness
I've stripped for you carefully
I have revealed my innermost feelings and desires deliberately
Part of my personality
I am sharing a part of myself with you
And all of my free time
I have dedicated a lot of myself to you
I want to buy for a dollar
I am willing to pay what it takes
What you stole from me for a dime
What you took from me is worth more than you gave me
I don't want to be your petty heartbreaker
I don't want to intentionally hurt you
But I know that I'll never be
But I realize that I am not what you want
That girl on your turntable
I am not the one you are playing on your record player
That girl on your t.v.
Or the one you are watching on television
There's nothing I can do
I feel powerless in this situation
And nothing I can say
I am struggling to express myself
Cuz the right words come out wrong
My words don't accurately represent how I feel
But I can't go on living this way
This situation is unsustainable for me
It's the same old song
This has happened before and it's happening again
What I want to know
I am seeking clarity and understanding
Is did you really steal the show?
Did you really take what I had to offer and make it your own?
Talking trash with the perfect pout
You are using your looks and words to deceive
It's your new commercial I could do without
I am not a fan of how you are presenting yourself
I don't want to be your precious pretender
I don't want to be something I'm not just to please you
But I know I'll never be
I realize that I am not what you are looking for
That girl in your fashion show
I am not the perfect model you want me to be
That girl on the movie screen
Or the ideal movie star you fantasize about
Like an octopus you bleed blue ink
You are one of many in a similar situation
And like a pair of jeans you're fit to shrink
You are not as big as you think you are
How can you call this living?
This way of being is not fulfilling or sustainable
What I want to know
I am seeking clarity and understanding once more
Is did you really steal the show?
Did you take my pieces and make them your own?
What I want what I want when I want it
I am determined to get what I want, when I want it
Is what I want what I want what I want
I am confident in my desires and needs
Contributed by Austin G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.