Lightning Bolt are known for their guerrilla-style live performances, where they typically play on the ground rather than a stage, with the crowd gathered around them. The band's sound is typically loud and aggressive, though the group cites composers Philip Glass and Sun Ra as compositional influences.
The band formed while Chippendale and Gibson attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, and Chippendale had heard about "a new kid who was a whiz on the bass guitar." The two formed Lightning Bolt, with Brian Chippendale on drums, Brian Gibson on bass guitar, and with Hisham Bharoocha on guitar and vocals joining the group after their first show. Bharoocha left the group in 1996 to continue with another RISD band that would eventually become Black Dice, and Chippendale took over vocal duties. The only officially-released music with Bharoocha was a track on the Repopulation Program compilation. For the first few years, Lightning Bolt was primarily an improvisational band, touring the United States for months at a time and "just playing". The concept of writing songs and recording an album didn't occur to the band until 1997, when Ben McOsker, founder of Load Records, approached the duo.
During these formative years, Chippendale and his freshman-year college roommate Matt Brinkman began to set up Fort Thunder, a disused warehouse space in the Olneyville district of Providence. The space eventually came to house a number of local avant-garde artists and musicians, including Brian Ralph as well as Lightning Bolt.
07. dead cowboy
Lightning Bolt Lyrics
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He's gonna bathe in a river of blood
He wants to party till the wheels fall off
Six feet under ground
What the world needs
Is another dead cowboy
Throw him in an oil pit, six feet deep, six feet wide
We're gonna cook him till his ears fall off
What the world needs
Is another dead cowboy
The lyrics to Lightning Bolt's song Dead Cowboy are a politically charged and violent call-to-action, suggesting that the world needs another "dead cowboy" and going so far as to suggest throwing former US president George Bush into an oil pit and cooking him alive. The lyrics are likely a response to the US war in Afghanistan and Bush's leadership during that time. The repeated refrain of "what the world needs is another dead cowboy" indicates a frustration and anger towards western imperialism and cowboy culture, which is often glorified in American society.
The use of violent imagery in the song is meant to shock and provoke a response from the listener. The suggestion of bathing in a river of blood and cooking Bush alive is not meant to be taken literally, but instead to highlight the destructive and inhumane nature of war and imperialism. The repetition of the phrase "six feet under ground" further emphasizes death and the consequences of violent actions.
Overall, the lyrics to Dead Cowboy are a powerful statement against war and imperialism, calling for an end to violent conflict and suggesting that those who perpetuate war and violence should face consequences for their actions.
Line by Line Meaning
Take George Bush to Afghanistan
Let's send George Bush to the conflict in Afghanistan
He's gonna bathe in a river of blood
He is responsible for the violence and chaos in Afghanistan
He wants to party till the wheels fall off
He is ignoring the consequences of his actions and continuing to pursue his own interests
Six feet under ground
He deserves to die and be buried
What the world needs
The world would benefit from
Is another dead cowboy
Another powerful and reckless figure who will face consequences for their actions
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
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