Originally signed to Chris Parry's Fiction Records, the band released Disco Rigido in the late 1980s (distributed in the United States by Atlantic Records), which featured "Welcome To America", "Land of the Free" and "I've Got To Make Sense". Though the album falls solidly into the EBM genre, it contains hints of the experimentation and genre-bending that later recordings would feature (e.g. "Y Tagata en Situ").
A second album, Big Electric Metal Bass Face, built on the foundation laid with Disco Rigido and upped the ante with excursions into funk (listen to "Funkopolis" as well as the live take of "Coming Down"). Contributors to the band at the time included Chris Vrenna and James Woolley, who both served time in Nine Inch Nails during the mid-Nineties.
Marcus and Christie then teamed up with Jane Jensen to form Oxygiene 23, and released an album ("Blue") on Fifth Column Records.
Engine, a 1995 release on WaxTrax!, was a huge jump forward and found critical acclaim for its decimation of genre boundaries. Die Warzau could no longer be simply pigeonholed into the "industrial" category, as their music became more organic, rounder on the edges yet still retaining their trademark knack for insistent rhythm and pure, unrefined electronic noise. "Liberated" and "All Good Girls" became trademark songs for the group. Fellow WaxTrax! act Sister Machine Gun "inherited" an unused song from this period ("Hole In the Ground"), which they included on their Burn album.
Die Warzau as a group then went on hiatus for a number of years, with Marcus and Christie working on other projects--Jim Marcus founded the pure funk group Everplastic while Van Christie worked on Eco-Hed.
By 2005, though, the duo had reconvened and released Convenience (on their Chicago-based Pulseblack Records). A continuation of the path they started on with Engine, songs like "Radiation Babies", "Kleen" and "Linoleum" further blur any genre lines and leave something truly original. More output is expected from the group in 2006, including a collaboration with funk pioneer George Clinton.
Bodybag
Die Warzau Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, it's in your
Pay the country, ? all search the city streets, no
? mouth and I don't know why, it's hard to
It's hard to breathe and then you play hard-to-get, you're searching
You search some more and then you die inside, it's in your
It's in your body, body
Lost in the color sky, sing like a movie star
Open your mouth, try to choose your words, it's hard to
It's hard to breathe, it's hard to look me in the eye
Why don't you pay in advance and you could just have the world, it's in your
It's in your body
It's in your body
Leave ? on the side of the road
I've got the finest of furnishings, I just may overload
Why don't we move to the city 'cause I've got too much to eat
I find the country disheartening, I just don't feel the need
It's in your body
It's in your body, body, body, body
Break from the fantasy, a tour in the mind
The motion and the majesty wait
It's in your body
It's in your body, body, body, body
It's in your body
Oh, it's in your body, body, ?
? courageous ? I don't feel the heat, it said there's
Too much ? mysteries, you'll learn to love the street, back off it
In murky grey, you know it's just not black and white, I feel the
Promise of history, my fingers ?
It's in your body
It's in your body, body, body, body
It's in your body...
The song "Bodybag" by Die Warzau expresses various emotions and feelings that people experience in their daily lives. The repeated line "It's in your body" refers to the idea that all of these emotions and experiences are stored in our bodies and affect us physically as well as mentally. The first stanza talks about the struggle of finding something meaningful in life, whether it be in the country or in the city. The line "Pay the country, ? all search the city streets, no" can be interpreted as searching for happiness and meaning in all places but not finding it. The singer is tired after this search, and it's affecting them physically as they are struggling to breathe.
The second stanza talks about the struggle of communication and expressing oneself. The line "Lost in the color sky, sing like a movie star" can be interpreted as someone who is lost in their own thoughts and fears and is trying to hide that fact by putting on a show. However, they find it difficult to speak the right words, and that physical strain is affecting their body.
The final stanza talks about the complexity of life and how it's not always black and white. It refers to the idea that life is full of mysteries, and we cannot always comprehend everything that's happening around us. But despite these complications, it's important to keep moving forward and embrace the journey.
Line by Line Meaning
It's in your body
This thing we're talking about is inside your physical being
Oh, it's in your
Reiterating that it's inside of you
Pay the country, ? all search the city streets, no
Trying to find something in the city and in the country, with little success
? mouth and I don't know why, it's hard to
Having difficulty speaking, for some unknown reason
It's hard to breathe and then you play hard-to-get, you're searching
Feeling suffocated and then acting like you don't care, but still searching
You search some more and then you die inside, it's in your
Continuing to look for something, but ultimately feeling empty
It's in your body, body
Once again reminding us that this thing is inside the body
Lost in the color sky, sing like a movie star
Feeling overwhelmed and singing out loud
Open your mouth, try to choose your words, it's hard to
Having trouble expressing oneself
It's hard to breathe, it's hard to look me in the eye
Feeling uncomfortable and anxious
Why don't you pay in advance and you could just have the world, it's in your
Suggesting that you could have everything if you just paid for it upfront
Leave ? on the side of the road
Abandoning something on the side of the road (unclear what it is)
I've got the finest of furnishings, I just may overload
Having a lot of nice things and possibly having too much
Why don't we move to the city 'cause I've got too much to eat
Suggesting a move to the city because there's too much excess in the current location
I find the country disheartening, I just don't feel the need
Feeling disappointment and lack of necessity in the country
Break from the fantasy, a tour in the mind
Taking a break from daydreams and spending time in one's own thoughts
The motion and the majesty wait
There's a sense of anticipation for something grand
Oh, it's in your body, body, ?
Once again emphasizing that this thing is inside the body
? courageous ? I don't feel the heat, it said there's
Not feeling brave, and sensing that something is missing
Too much ? mysteries, you'll learn to love the street, back off it
There's too much confusion, but we need to learn to appreciate it; don't get too close though
In murky grey, you know it's just not black and white, I feel the
Things are not so clear-cut, and there's a sense of something being amiss
Promise of history, my fingers ?
Feeling moved by the past, but the rest of the lyric is unclear
Contributed by Wyatt D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Hypnocat242
This was my jam in college. Working college radio at WPLS 96.5 Furman University. Industrial was life. I still feel this vibe in my techno and House.