While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets (2006–2007)
Cobra Starship was formed in 2005 after Midtown bassist Gabe Saporta took a trip to the deserts of Arizona. During this time, Saporta went on a "vision quest", spending time with Native American tribes and smoking peyote. He began to create his vision for a new band, a melodic style of music heavily influenced by synthpop and hip-hop. Upon returning home, Saporta rented a house in the Catskill Mountains and began writing what would become the band's debut album, While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets. He posted a parody response to Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" titled "Hollaback Boy" on Myspace. The song gained Saporta notoriety on the internet and he eventually signed to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's label, Decaydance Records.
Midtown's management company soon set Saporta up with an opportunity to record a song for the soundtrack to the 2006 Snakes on a Plane. Along with members of The Academy Is..., Gym Class Heroes, and The Sounds, Saporta recorded "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)", which became a minor hit. During the recording of While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets, Saporta began recruiting new members to complete the group's lineup. He first enlisted drummer Nate Navarro, whom he met on tour while Navarro sold merchandise for fellow touring act Hidden In Plain View. After seeing Saporta in Entertainment Weekly, guitarist Ryland Blackinton and bassist Alex Suarez, who lived in the same apartment building as Midtown drummer Rob Hitt, emailed Saporta asking to join the group. The lineup was completed by keytarist Elisa Schwartz, who was later replaced by Victoria Asher.
While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets, was released October 10, 2006. It featured the single "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)", of which a video had been featured during the closing credits of the film Snakes on a Plane earlier that summer.
¡Viva La Cobra! (2007–2008)
Cobra Starship released their second album, ¡Viva La Cobra!, on October 23, 2007. It was produced by Patrick Stump, who was also credited as singing some backup vocals.
The album has been toured heavily worldwide. Cobra headlined the Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour with guests Metro Station, The Cab, and We The Kings from January to March, 2008. They also played on Warped Tour 2008 and headlined the SassyBack tour, which toured from October 7 through November 30, 2008, with guests Forever the Sickest Kids, Hit the Lights, and Sing It Loud.
The album art for the ¡Viva La Cobra! album was used to promote the fourth generation Apple iPod nano in purple.
Hot Mess (2009–2010)
Following the success of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl", Cobra Starship recorded their own cover version, "I Kissed a Boy", in summer 2008. The song was released on August 25, 2008, on Fall Out Boy's Citizens For Our Betterment mixtape Welcome To The New Administration. Cobra Starship is one of 9 artists who participated in thetruth.com’s Remix Project, where they remixed the Sunny Side song "Magical Amount".
Cobra Starship also began the Believers Never Die Tour Part Deux tour in the beginning of April, opening for Fall Out Boy, with other bands All Time Low, Metro Station, and Hey Monday. They spent time performing many shows in the US mostly all in April and the beginning of May, however they also played a few shows in the UK at the end of May 2009, supported by Sing It Loud, Cash Cash, and UK band Mimi Soya.
In 2009, the band went to a cabin in Pennsylvania, in an attempt to produce new material. They broadcasted live throughout their stay on the live camera feed site Stickam, thus creating the Shelf Kids. After their stay, a new album was announced with a tentative release in the summer. The band worked with Kara DioGuardi, Kevin Rudolf, KarateE! Mouse, S*A*M, Sluggo, and song-writers Benny Blanco and Patrick Stump on Hot Mess. Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester is featured on the song "Good Girls Go Bad (feat. Leighton Meester)", which is produced by Kevin Rudolf and co-written by Rudolf and Kara DioGuardi.The song is the album's first single, and was added on iTunes on May 11 and available to listen to on the band's official MySpace page. Other songs include "Pete Wentz Is the Only Reason We're Famous", which has been released on their YouTube channel and Vevo page. On May 8, the album title was confirmed as Hot Mess, with a release date of August 11. It debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number four, becoming the band's highest charting album. Guitarist Ryland Blackinton said of Hot Mess, "We just wanted to make music that was fun and kinda make people just forget about whatever shitty problem they might be having during the week."
The band began its tour to promote the new album on August 3. The tour, called Hot Mess Across The US Tour, has 21 stops and features guests such as Friday Night Boys and DJ Skeet Skeet. After The Plasticines dropped off the tour, Cobra Starship listed a number of candidate bands for the fans to vote for online in a blog; The Audition won. On their official video podcast (CobraCam.tv), the band released humorous tentative titles for the album (which parodies several other notable albums) "Griller", "Tha Ryland III", and variations of their ¡Viva La Cobra! album.
They made a stop on the Warped Tour in 2009, playing in Salt Lake City, on August 8, 2009. In Fall 2009, they were signed on to Boys Like Girls' "Love Drunk Tour" along with The Maine and A Rocket to the Moon.
Cobra Starship played at a September 11, 2009 MTV Video Music Awards weekend competition and pre-party at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza. The competition was for The MTV "VMA Best Breakout New York City Artist Award", and took place before MTV Video Music Awards performers and in between performances from MTV Video Music Awards artists.
On October 13, 2009, the band performed on Jimmy Kimmel's outdoor stage.
Cobra Starship appeared at "Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2009" along with Mexican star Paulina Rubio performing "Good Girls Go Bad (feat. Leighton Meester)" and "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes". Cobra Starship and Paulina won an MTV Award for "Best Performance", for "Good Girls Go Bad (feat. Leighton Meester)" and "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" at the Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2009, voted by the public, beating other artist such as Shakira, Nelly Furtado, and Wisin y Yandel.
On February 4, 2010, Cobra Starship embarked on their first ever European tour named 'Hot Mess Across The EU-Niverse', which included the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and the Netherlands. When the tour ended on February 21, the band then travelled to Japan for a few shows, then onto Australia and New Zealand for the 'Wet Hot Australian Summer' Tour. The group also toured in Germany with I Heart Sharks and One Night Stand!.
On February 5, 2010 it was announced that Cobra Starship and 3OH!3 would be embarking on a co-headlining tour called The Too Fast For Love Tour with opening acts Travis McCoy, The Lazarus Project and I Fight Dragons. The tour ran from April 28 in Milwaukee, WI, until June 13 in Asbury Park, NJ.
In November 2010, Cobra Starship played in Argentina (November 20) and São Paulo, Brazil (November 21). The latter as a part of the Yes! Rock Fest, which also promotes a variety Brazilian bands.
Along 2010 the band collaborated with the UK singer Alexandra Burke in one of the songs of her debut album's Deluxe Edition, "Overcome". The song is called "What Happens On The Dancefloor", and keeps the vibe of their previous single "Good Girls Go Bad (feat. Leighton Meester)".
Night Shades (2010–2015)
Cobra Starship cancelled their 2011 Australian tour to finish up their fourth album, which they have been working on with Ryan Tedder and Kara DioGuardi. Gabe Saporta released a song off of the album, "Don't Blame the World, It's the DJ's Fault", on his Tumblr. A video was released of an eggplant with sunglasses and headphones getting made into eggplant Parmesan. The video is supposed to represent the album title. Gabe later announced via Twitter that the new album will be called Night Shades. The first single, " You Make Me Feel...", was released on May 10, 2011. The song features American singer/songwriter and rapper Sabi. The music video premiered on Tuesday, June 28 on MTV. The band's official Twitter and Tumblr announced that the album will be out on August 30, 2011.
Cobra Starship has recently contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" for the Buddy Holly tribute album, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly (2011).
On September 9th 2011, Cobra Starship headlined the Fueled by Ramen 15th Anniversary show in New York's Terminal 5, with VersaEmerge, The Academy Is... and A Rocket to the Moon in support.
Night Shades was released on August 29, 2011 with the lead single "You Make Me Feel..." and also the three promotional singles. The first promotional single "#1Nite (One Night)" was released on July 26 2011, The second promotional single "Fool Like Me (Feat. Plastiscines)" was released on August 09 2011 and the third and final promotional single "Middle Finger (feat. Mac Miller)" was released on August 23, 2011.
The group released Itunes Session - EP on August 23, containing 4 acoustic songs and an alternative version of "Fold Your Hands Child".
In promotion of the album, the band performed "You Make Me Feel... (feat. Sabi)" on the MTV Video Music Awards pre-show with Sabi on August 28th 2011.
Cobra Starship officially announced its dissolution on November 10, 2015.
Guilty Pleasure
Cobra Starship Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
And I don't even know
What kinda fool you're taking me for
So you've got some brand new clothes
You never could afford before
We don't care anymore
We just wanna get down on the floor
You sell yourself to make it
You can dish it, but can you really take it?
You're never gonna get it with nothing
'Cause nothing's what you got in your head
So stop pretending
I came here to make you dance tonight
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
Shut up 'cause we won't stop
And we're gettin' down 'til the sun's coming up
I came here to make you dance tonight
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
Shut up 'cause we won't stop
And we're gettin' down 'til the sun's coming up
And I don't even read
What the papers gotta say about me
Oh, no, I can't believe
They take it so serious, seriously
I'm so bored, oh, please don't talk anymore
Shut your mouth and get down on the floor
So cynical
Poor baby, I can dish it 'cause I know how to take it
You're never gonna win 'em all
So fuck 'em if they can't take a joke
I'm just playing
I came here to make you dance tonight
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
Shut up 'cause we won't stop
And we're gettin' down 'til the sun's coming up
I came here to make you dance tonight
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
Shut up 'cause we won't stop
We're gettin' down 'til the sun's coming up
And maybe someday I'll believe
(Maybe someday I'll believe)
That we are all apart of some bigger plan
Tonight I just don't give a damn
(So shut your mouth it's time to dance)
If the world is ending, I'm throwing the party
I came here to make you dance tonight
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
Shut up 'cause we won't stop
And we're gettin' down 'til the sun's coming up
I came here to make you dance tonight
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
Shut up 'cause we won't stop
And we're gettin' down 'til the sun's coming up
I came here to make you dance tonight
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
Shut up 'cause we won't stop
And we're gettin' down 'til the sun's coming up
The song "Guilty Pleasure" by Cobra Starship is about a person who is determined to make others dance and enjoy themselves, even if they are considered a guilty pleasure. The lyrics suggest that the singer is not concerned about being judged and is determined to continue making people dance. The song also alludes to the idea that the people who judge are typically boring and unhappy.
The lyrics of the song make a clear reference toward someone who is deemed a guilty pleasure because they are not typically popular or well-liked in society. The singer of the song is determined to make people dance and enjoy themselves regardless of what anyone else thinks about them. The lyrics celebrate people for who they are and their unique traits, as the singer encourages the listener to embrace who they are and not worry about what anyone else thinks.
Furthermore, the song also includes a subtle message about societal norms and expectations. The singer urges people to stop pretending and trying to fit in with societal norms, to instead embrace their true selves and let loose. “Guilty Pleasure” is an upbeat song that encourages the listener to let loose and embrace all of the aspects of themselves and their life.
Line by Line Meaning
And I came here to make you dance tonight
I'm here to bring joy and make you move your body
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
I'm aware that some people may secretly enjoy my music and I'm fine with that
And I don't even know
What kinda fool you're taking me for
I'm not sure why people like my music, but I'm happy to keep making it
So you've got some brand new clothes
You never could afford before
People are using my music to feel good about themselves, even if it's just for something as small as buying new clothes
Oh brother spare us all
We don't care anymore
We just wanna get down on the floor
You sell yourself to make it
You can dish it, but can you really take it?
People are tired of hearing artists being cynical and negative, they just want to dance and have fun. And while some artists may act like they don't care about the criticism they get, it can still hurt them
You're never gonna get it with nothing
'Cause nothing's what you got in your head
So stop pretending
You won't accomplish anything if you don't have a goal or any kind of idea to work towards, so stop acting like you're something you're not
And I don't even read
What the papers gotta say about me
Oh, no I can't believe
They take it so serious, seriously
I don't pay attention to what the media says about me because it's usually blown out of proportion
I'm so bored, oh, please don't talk anymore
Shut your mouth and get down on the floor
I'm tired of people talking about things that don't matter, let's just dance and have a good time
So cynical
Poor baby I can dish it 'cause I know how to take it
I'm not affected by people's negativity towards me because I've learned to deal with it and not take it personally
You're never gonna win em all
So fuck 'em if they can't take a joke
I'm just playing
You're not always going to succeed, so it's important to have a good sense of humor and not take yourself too seriously
And maybe someday I'll believe
(Maybe someday I'll believe)
That we are all apart of some bigger plan
Tonight I just don't give a damn
(So shut your mouth it's time to dance)
If the world is ending, I'm throwing the party
Maybe someday I'll believe that there's more to life than just dancing and having fun, but for now, that's all that matters. And if the world is going to end, I'm going to go out dancing and enjoying myself
I came here to make you dance tonight
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you
Shut up 'cause we won't stop
And we're gettin' down 'til the sun's coming up
Once again, I'm here to make you dance and have a good time, regardless of what people may think of my music
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gabe Saporta, Patrick Stump, Patrick Martin Stump
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@xstarsystemsx
It's 2020 and I'm currently on some kind of a weird Cobra kick and all their songs still sound great. They were such a fun band.
@billierichardson6844
Love this song! Honestly wasn't a fan of their other songs, just this one 🤔
@plusk91
If the world is ending...
@olivia_martin
Honestly something about singing this to my cat in lockdown made me feel just a little better 😂
@dylangrayson9190
This literally happens to me annually.
@luisrened1308
2021
@luvsyafob
I love how Patrick really brings out the managerly-ness in his voice. It's really funny. YAY COBRA STARSHIP!
@arabelllaxo
woah this comment is 15 years old. older than some people watching this
@maddiek181
Patrick Stump produced Viva La Cobra, which explains why his backing vocals are on so many tracks
@kendallmcbrayer5172
dude I was wondering with I kept hearing him