They were frequently classified as industrial rock, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed. Tod A.'s lyrics were clever, snide and evocative (Art Black and David Sprague suggest that "Black humor beats black metal any day") and their "weirdly catchy" music which drew "on hot jazz and swing as much as clanging rock, emphasizing the group's stand-apart attitude."
The group had little mainstream success (scoring a few hits on college radio), despite tours with Iggy Pop and music videos on MTV's Headbanger's Ball and 120 Minutes (notably $10 Bill, featuring a number of little people). They retain a cult following, however, and their out-of-print releases sometimes sell for large amounts among fans.
Smash Retro
Cop Shoot Cop Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Feed me the past and expect me to eat it
Well I hate the sixties and I'm sick of all you hippies
smothering all stations with your regurgitation
Smash retro!
Smash retro!
This song by Cop Shoot Cop titled "Smash Retro" seems to be a musical criticism of the obsession with nostalgia and the romanticization of the past. The opening lines, "Sick of nostalgia for what I can't remember, feed me the past and expect me to eat it" are a direct indictment of the way that the culture industry relies heavily on the past to sell new products. The singer is fed up with being expected to relate to something he never knew firsthand, and is tired of being asked to fetishize the past.
The rest of the lyrics continue this sentiment, with the singer expressing his disdain for the sixties, and accusing the hippies of saturating the airwaves with their "regurgitation." All of these sentiments are summed up in the repeated line "smash retro," which serves as an imperative for listeners to reject the idea that the past is always better or more worthy of attention than the present. Ultimately, the song's message is a call to reject nostalgia and insist that new art and culture be judged on its own merits, rather than being judged solely on its connection to the past.
Line by Line Meaning
Sick of nostalgia for what I can't remember
Tired of reminiscing about things I don't recall
Feed me the past and expect me to eat it
Don't force me to digest outdated memories that don't resonate with me
Well I hate the sixties and I'm sick of all you hippies
I despise the decade of the 60s and I am exhausted of the hippie culture surrounding it
smothering all stations with your regurgitation
Flooding all channels with recycled and unoriginal material
Smash retro!
Destroy the obsession with outdated cultural artifacts and move forward
Smash retro!
Eliminate the fixation on the past and embrace the present
Contributed by Sydney C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.