King Missile is a band that has been led in various incarnations by poet/si… Read Full Bio ↴King Missile is a band that has been led in various incarnations by poet/singer John S. Hall since 1986. Their work, in the group's current configuration, is a type of Performance Art Rock with John S. Hall's spoken word. In their first inception, as King Missile(Dog Fly Religion), the band's sound was a neo-pyschedelic blend of Dada influenced music and occasional spoken word as well as conventional singing. Their music became more accessible with the departure of Dogbowl and the notable addition of former Bongwater guitarist Dave Rick . The group is probably best known for the 1993 radio hit Detachable Penis. They'd achieved a cult following via college radio with their 1986 song "Jesus Was Way Cool". They were an anchor band for the legendary independent label Shimmy Disc. Now known as King Missile III (pronounced "the third"), the group released its ninth album, Royal Lunch, in 2004.

King Missile III 1998 - present

* John S. Hall - vocals: singing and spoken word
* Sasha Forte - bass, violin, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
* Bradford Reed - pencilina, drums, percussion, synthesizer, backing vocals

Prophecy
King Missile Lyrics

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They were all-around friendly ones, they have guns with anger, and they took turns and exchanged shifts in the subway hoping for a dog tie and telekinetic toenail broth, and when they presented their arms to the soupman and told him of the overthrow plan where simple drainpipe pillows washed over an angry mob of screaming leftovers sizzling and chanting for the freedom of the sky rink, the soupman man took umbrage and ran back inside to tell on them, singing "Ladle, ladle, thy kingdom come, kiss me on the bum, do you want a stick of gum?". The throng continued to amass outside and within the circumference, inner circles accumulated and plotted, in graphic detail, the exact nature of their diametrical opposition. Then they ate pie and when all the irrational numbers had been engulfed, swallowed up in the spontaneous mass, even the innocent little children began to join in the chorus of hate and a beautiful sound was heard upon the Great Lawn as the genuine counter-revolution began to assert itself on closed-circuit television, in portable hairdryers and shortwave radios and microwave ovens and telekinetic magicians and psychic channellers and funnel cakes,and funeral processions were stopped dead in their tracks as the corpses climbed out of their coffins and did an evil skeleton dance while playing xylophone medleys on each other's decaying bones and the great matriarch descended from the sky to chastise the soupman for letting his ingredients run loose among the hungry, for he too would be implicated in the show trial, and when the fallen were brought before the grand tribunal, all the hosiery of the earth witnessed the mockery of justice and the draconian outcome and no one spoke out, not out of fear but out of relief, and a great baldness uncovered the land as all life blew a heavy sigh and the people forgave themselves and went on about their business in the dog food factories and the cannibal malls, and the coercion committees convened in hideaway palaces to lead out the sentences and everyone partook in equal sentences of the body and the blood of the brave traitors. But the great belly of the universe began to rumble and grumble, and all could hear the message and fear swept over the unchosen as the fornicators and the insane trampled over the hypocrites and baby savers, for their great day came and the unborn and the justborn swelled into a mighty avenging angel and all were smolden discriminately, for they were all with sin, and they had never had the hope they had hoped to have had, and veribly, they all prayed to the wrong burger joint, and they all went out, "Burger King, Burger King, Burger King", but it was too late. The king was mad and angry, and he sent down a cloud of processed cheese food that invoked the hungry and the blind, and their hairstyles were made fun of by the fashion queens of the west, and yet in all the carnage of flowers serted itself against the rubble in revolt, and spoke in a mighty falsetto, "I am a deity of redemption! Lift my battles and ye too shall breath eternal fire and nitrous oxide!" and many did follow the flower and float into and unto the eternal stream of urine, and they were neither angered nor drunken with joy. They were blissed and blessed and saved, and Junior said, "Boy, am I hungry, Dad. Are there any more tofu donuts in the air sickness bag?" and Dad said, "Here, Junior. Here, Junior, take and eat. Do this in resemblance of me." and Junior said, "Oh daddy, oh daddy, oh daddy, oh daddy, this is the best Christmas ever".

Overall Meaning

The song "Prophecy" by King Missile is a surrealistic and cryptic narrative that explores themes of power, rebellion, justice and redemption. The lyrics describe a chaotic and absurd scenario in which a group of people armed with anger-filled guns plan to overthrow the corrupted regime of a soup man who betrayed their cause. Despite their noble intentions, their rebellion spirals into a violent and senseless orgy of hate, as even the innocent and the dead are drown into the vortex of madness. However, amidst the carnage and the despair, a glimmer of hope arises from an unlikely source, a flower that speaks in a falsetto voice and promises salvation to those who follow it. This flower becomes a beacon of light in the darkness of the world, offering a way out of the cycle of violence and oppression.

The song can be interpreted as a critique of the political and social systems that perpetuate inequality and injustice, and the struggle of the individual to find meaning and purpose in a world that seems to be devoid of them. The lyrics use surreal and absurdist elements to convey a sense of disorientation and confusion, reflecting the feeling of many people who feel lost and powerless in the face of the collective problems of humanity. However, the song also suggests that there is a way out of this predicament, through the recognition of the inherent value of all life and the pursuit of a higher purpose beyond the narrow confines of self-interest and selfish desire.

Line by Line Meaning

They were all-around friendly ones, they have guns with anger
There were people who were typically friendly but had guns and were angry

and they took turns and exchanged shifts in the subway hoping for a dog tie and telekinetic toenail broth
These people took turns and exchanged shifts in the subway, hoping they'd get some kind of reward, such as a dog tie or telekinetic toenail broth

and when they presented their arms to the soupman and told him of the overthrow plan where simple drainpipe pillows washed over an angry mob of screaming leftovers sizzling and chanting for the freedom of the sky rink
When they spoke to the soupman about their plan to overthrow people, they told him how the plan would work by showing simple drainpipe pillows washing over people who were angry and chanting for freedom

the soupman man took umbrage and ran back inside to tell on them, singing "Ladle, ladle, thy kingdom come, kiss me on the bum, do you want a stick of gum?"
The soupman man became angry and ran back inside to report to someone, singing 'Ladle, ladle, thy kingdom come, kiss me on the bum, do you want a stick of gum?'

Then they ate pie and when all the irrational numbers had been engulfed, swallowed up in the spontaneous mass
After this, they all ate pie and when all of the irrational numbers were eaten, they were engulfed by the spontaneous mass

even the innocent little children began to join in the chorus of hate and a beautiful sound was heard upon the Great Lawn as the genuine counter-revolution began to assert itself
Even the innocent little children started participating in the chorus of hatred and a beautiful sound was heard on the Great Lawn as the genuine counter-revolution began to emerge

and funeral processions were stopped dead in their tracks as the corpses climbed out of their coffins and did an evil skeleton dance while playing xylophone medleys on each other's decaying bones
Funeral processions stopped as corpses started climbing out of their coffins and doing a skeleton dance while playing xylophone medleys on each other's bones

and the great matriarch descended from the sky to chastise the soupman for letting his ingredients run loose among the hungry, for he too would be implicated in the show trial
The great matriarch came from the sky to scold the soupman for not taking care of his ingredients and he would also be implicated in the show trial

and when the fallen were brought before the grand tribunal, all the hosiery of the earth witnessed the mockery of justice and the draconian outcome and no one spoke out, not out of fear but out of relief
When the fallen were brought to trial, everyone saw how unjust it was but no one spoke out, not out of fear but out of relief

and a great baldness uncovered the land as all life blew a heavy sigh and the people forgave themselves and went on about their business in the dog food factories and the cannibal malls
A great baldness was over the land and everyone was sad but they forgave themselves and went about their business like nothing happened

and they were all with sin, and they had never had the hope they had hoped to have had
Everyone had sinned and never had the hope that they wanted

and veribly, they all prayed to the wrong burger joint, and they all went out, "Burger King, Burger King, Burger King", but it was too late
Everyone prayed to the wrong burger joint and tried to fix it by shouting 'Burger King' but it was already too late

The king was mad and angry, and he sent down a cloud of processed cheese food that invoked the hungry and the blind, and their hairstyles were made fun of by the fashion queens of the west,
The king was angry and sent down a cloud of processed cheese food that made the hungry and blind people go crazy, and their hairstyles were made fun of by fashion queens of the west

yet in all the carnage of flowers serted itself against the rubble in revolt, and spoke in a mighty falsetto
Even with all the destruction happening, flowers started to bloom and fight against it, speaking in a mighty falsetto

"I am a deity of redemption! Lift my battles and ye too shall breath eternal fire and nitrous oxide!"
The flower spoke that it was a deity of redemption and that if people followed their battles, they would breathe eternal fire and nitrous oxide

and many did follow the flower and float into and unto the eternal stream of urine, and they were neither angered nor drunken with joy
Many followed the flower and floated in the eternal stream of urine, neither angry nor drunk with joy

They were blissed and blessed and saved, and Junior said, "Boy, am I hungry, Dad. Are there any more tofu donuts in the air sickness bag?"
Everyone was happy and saved, and Junior asked his dad if there were any more tofu donuts in the air sickness bag

and Dad said, "Here, Junior. Here, Junior, take and eat. Do this in resemblance of me." and Junior said, "Oh daddy, oh daddy, oh daddy, oh daddy, this is the best Christmas ever"
Junior's dad gave him a donut and said to eat it in memory of him, and Junior was happy and called it the best Christmas ever

Contributed by Carson V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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