They sought and found little mainstream success, but the group's piledriver drum machines and brutal, slashing electric guitars were widely influential, especially for industrial rock. Albini's snide, malevolent singing and provocative lyrics garnered much attention.
Albini made a name for himself for his controversial "Tired of Ugly Fat?" column in the Chicago zine Matter, as well as irregular contributions to Forced Exposure. At the time, the band consisted of Albini and his drum machine, a Roland TR-606. (All of Big Black's recordings credit "Roland" as if "he" were a member of the band.)
The Lungs EP, the first effort to appear under the Big Black name, was recorded by Albini in his dorm room at Northwestern University. Intended primarily to recruit members to fill out the band, Lungs was released by Ruthless Records. The record is infamous for the variety of inserts, which included a lyric sheet in most copies, plus extras like condoms, dollar bills, stickers, concert tickets, photographs, silverware, razor blades, bloody bandages, and squirt guns. Heavily influenced by Public Image Limited and Killing Joke, Albini describes the amateurish Lungs as one of his few artistic regrets.
In 1983 Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, both of Naked Raygun, joined the band on bass and guitar, respectively. They recorded two EPs together, switching to Homestead Records, and soon after Pezzati left the band. He was replaced by Dave Riley.
Riley was a longtime funk fan and had worked at a Detroit recording studio frequented by Sly Stone and George Clinton. His bass guitar work with Big Black was, to a degree, influenced by funk — not to suggest that he played like Bootsy Collins or Larry Graham, but he did bring a sinuous quality to the music. Even before Riley joined, there was evidence of an interest in funk: Big Black had already covered James Brown's The Payback.
The band made a name for itself nationally with its first album Atomizer, which featured more controversial lyrics by Albini, and strong contributions by Durango and Riley to the songs and arrangement — a working scheme the band had settled on because it took advantage of each member's strengths. Some listeners did not understand that their songs were either social commentary or sarcastic jokes (often both), and assumed that the band was sexist and racist. Albini responded to these accusations by making his lyrics even more offensive than before. Albini has stated that irritating "squares" was no challenge, but he took specific glee in offending "hipsters".
Albini drew much lyrical inspiration from misadventures and escapades he observed during his teen years in rural Missoula, Montana: for example, Cables was inspired by acquaintances who would visit a slaughterhouse to watch cattle get killed.
In 1987 the band switched labels again, this time to the cult Chicago-based indie label Touch and Go Records, when the band became disenchanted with Homestead Records after the label illegally released promotional-only copies of some limited-edition recordings. Big Black then released the Headache EP, which bore a sticker reading, "Not as good as Atomizer, so don't get your hopes up, cheese!" This was not a gimmick; the band truly thought Headache was inferior, and wanted to warn fans.
Shortly after, Durango announced that he was leaving the band to attend law school. Never expecting to make a career out of Big Black, the band realized this would be a good time to stop, not wanting to turn into the Rolling Stones. They broke up, and then released one final album, Songs About Fucking
Steve Albini went on to become a successful recording engineer (he dislikes the term "producer") for bands like Pixies, Nirvana, The Jesus Lizard, The Auteurs, Slint, Membranes, PJ Harvey, and many others, in addition to playing in Rapeman and Shellac.
The band are mentioned in the 1988 the Dead Milkmen song, Sri Lanka Sex Hotel, in the line: "Let's play Big Black at 3 a.m., And tell the neighbours they can all get fucked".
Dave Riley suffered a stroke in 1993 and was left paraplegic. He started a blog and wrote a book.
Santiago Durango released two EPs as Arsenal on Touch and Go, and is still a practicing lawyer. In his first case he helped recover Cynthia Plaster Caster's bronze casts of the genitalia of various rock and roll artists, including that of Jimi Hendrix. He handled some litigation for Touch and Go, and is currently an appellate defender.
Touch and Go acquired the rights to the Big Black back catalog, and reissued these (by this time) hard-to-acquire classics.
Big Black have been posthumously successful, with Q Magazine's August 2007 issue naming Songs About Fucking as the fifth loudest album of all time, just ahead of the Who's Live at Leeds and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.
Big Black briefly reunited to play a few songs at Touch and Go Records 25th anniversary celebration on 9 September 2006. The line up was Steve Albini, Santiago Durango and Jeff Pezzati. They played Cables, Dead Billy, Pigeon Kill and Racer X in that order.
"I know what you're all thinking... 'what was all the fuss about?'" Albini said onstage that night. He later said that the reunion would not have happened but for the Touch & Go anniversary, and said the record label is "the most important thing to happen in music in my lifetime." Pezzati and Durango nodded in assent.
Big Black's career is chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American underground rock groups.
In December 2019, longtime bassist Dave Riley passed away from throat and lung cancer. He was 59.
Live In A Hole
Big Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Huh!
Live in a room
An empty room
Four walls
White walls
I live in a hole
No!
I live in a hole
Not some trailer park
I won't die
In a chip-to-lie?? home
I live in a hole
Huh!
Live in a hole
Huh! Hoh! Huh! Hoh!
Every day
I get less civilized
It's a lot of work
To dig in that hole
Hunh!
No!
The lyrics to the song 'Live In A Hole' by Big Black speak of the singer's preference for living in a hole rather than in a house or apartment. The opening lines, 'No!/Huh!/Live in a room/An empty room,' suggest a sense of rejection or disapproval of traditional living spaces. The following lines, 'Four walls/White walls/I live in a hole/Huh!' reinforce this rejection, emphasizing the dullness and emptiness of typical white-walled rooms.
The repetition of the line 'I live in a hole' throughout the song creates a sense of determination and pride in the singer's unconventional living situation. The line 'Not some trailer park/I won't die/In a chip-to-lie?? home' suggests that the singer sees living in a hole as an act of resistance against societal expectations and norms.
The closing lines of the song, 'Every day/I get less civilized/It's a lot of work/To dig in that hole/Hunh!/No!' can be interpreted in a few ways. It could be seen as a commentary on the singer's chosen lifestyle forcing them to reject societal expectations and norms, leading them to become "less civilized." It could also represent the difficulty of living outside of societal norms, as the line 'It's a lot of work/To dig in that hole' suggests. Overall, the song offers a critique of conventional living spaces and the societal norms that push individuals towards them.
Line by Line Meaning
No!
The singer is dismissing something, possibly an idea or suggestion.
Huh!
An expression of confusion or disbelief.
Live in a room
The singer resides in an enclosed space.
An empty room
The space is devoid of furnishings or possessions.
Four walls
The room is enclosed on all sides.
White walls
The color of the walls is white, which may connote sterility or emptiness.
I live in a hole
The singer feels trapped or isolated within their living space.
No!
The singer again dismisses something.
I live in a hole
The emphasis on this line reinforces the singer's sense of confinement.
Not some trailer park
The singer distinguishes their living situation from that of a mobile home or trailer park.
I won't die
An assertion that the singer will persevere despite difficult circumstances.
In a chip-to-lie?? home
The lyrics are unclear, but this may be interpreted as a derogatory description of a lower-class living situation.
I live in a hole
A repetition of the earlier line to further emphasize the singer's isolation.
Huh!
A vocalization expressing disbelief or frustration.
Live in a hole
The singer emphasizes their living situation once again.
Huh! Hoh! Huh! Hoh!
An abrupt shift in vocalization that could indicate emotion, anger, or pain.
Every day
The singer's condition is unchanging and monotonous.
I get less civilized
The singer's emotional and mental state deteriorates over time in their confinement.
It's a lot of work
Maintaining a sense of order in a confined space is arduous.
To dig in that hole
The singer feels they are digging themselves deeper into isolation or despair.
Hunh!
A vocalization that could indicate skepticism or disbelief.
No!
The singer once again dismisses something.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind