After arriving in New York City at the age of 16, she worked as a bar maid and go-go dancer at the Baby Doll Lounge on White street in Tribeca. Lydia met Alan Vega (who became her first friend in NYC) and Willy DeVille (who gave her the name 'Lunch' because she'd often been stealing lunch for The Dead Boys). Then she moved in for about a year with then-boyfriend James Chance (born James Siegfried) who had come to New York (from Milwaukee) in the last week of 1975. They lived at a funky two-room fifth-floor walk-up apartment on East 2nd street (between Avenue A and B) and at a tiny storefront on Twelfth street.
Lunch moved into a large communal household of artists and musicians in NYC, including Kitty Bruce, daughter of Lenny Bruce. After befriending the 'godfathers of punk' Suicide at Max's Kansas City, she founded the short-lived but influential No Wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks in 1976 with her artistic partner, James Chance. Both appeared on the seminal No Wave compilation No New York. Lunch later appeared on two songs on Chance's album Off White (credited to James White and the Blacks; Lunch used the pseudonym "Stella Rico") in 1978.
She appeared in two films directed by the husband and wife film-making team of Scott B and Beth B; In the short film Black Box (1978) she played an unnamed torturer, and in the feature length, neo-noir thriller Vortex (1982) she played a private detective named "Angel Powers". During this time, she also appeared in a number of films by Vivienne Dick, including She Had her Gun All Ready (1978) and Beauty Becomes The Beast (1979), co starring with Pat Place.
In the mid-'80s she formed her own recording and publishing company called "Widowspeak" on which she continued to release a slew of her own material, including songs and spoken word.
A self-avowed "confrontationalist", identified by the Boston Phoenix as "one of the 10 most influential performers of the '90s", Lunch's solo career featured collaborations with musicians such as J. G. Thirlwell, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Nick Cave, Billy Ver Plank, Steven Severin, Robert Quine, Sadie Mae, Rowland S. Howard, Michael Gira, The Birthday Party, Einstürzende Neubauten, Sonic Youth, Die Haut and Black Sun Productions. She also acted in, wrote, and directed underground films, sometimes collaborating with underground filmmaker and musician Richard Kern (including several films, such as Fingered, in which she performed unsimulated sex acts), and more recently has recorded and performed as a spoken word artist, collaborating with such artists as Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins, Don Bajema, Hubert Selby Jr., and Emilio Cubeiro, as well as authoring both traditional books and comix (with award-winning graphic novel artist Ted McKeever).
Simon Reynolds (author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984) wrote: "And although 'affection' is possibly an odd word to use in reference to a bunch of nihilists, I do feel fond of the No Wave people. ... there are great moments throughout Lydia Lunch's long discography." Selected quotations:
I'm nihilistic, antagonistic, violent, horrible - but not obliterated, yet.
I would be humiliated if I found out that anything I did actually became a commercial success.
There’re enough happy assholes out there, why should I be another one in the line...
It seems to me, that for over two thousand years now; mad-men, maniacs, and would be messiahs have been pilfering, have been pillaging, have been plundering, and have been raping the entire planet; and the way I see it, Mother Nature is getting pretty pissed off.
No pornography exploits women. It exploits men. It’s the men that are made to look stupid, silly and ridiculous, chasing after the golden elixir. Women look beautiful, do what they wanna do and get paid for it.
The only way to define the art of Lydia Lunch is simply not to.
Lady Scarface
Lydia Lunch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
12th street at eight
If you're done I'll be there don't be late
Instructed as such
Without a soft touch
If it would've mattered it didn't too much
I waited for you a minute or two
Fumbing around
A cigarette
Smoked it to the ash and then lit up again
Blowing smoke rings
Blinding the air
If you're comin baby you're just two in a rears
I'm too impatient and you're just too late
My attention span is just not that great
Then this young kinda guy walked right on by me
I couldn't have been more than 16
It's just nothing I can do you gotta understand
You see, he had this walk
I mean, down ??? and
No he wasn't going my direction so I just kinda turned an eye
I had to I was really possessed
I mean, I wasn't myself
I was so close
I crept like a cat
Visions of seduction lurking under my hat
He was so young
Such innocense
If I had control I didn't feel any yet
I couldn't be heard
Not a sound did I make
If this is the real thing there's just no need to fake
So now was the time
The crucial 8th mile
If I had to do it it would be with a smile
A tap on his back
A slip on my belt
He turned around and I knew that the ground would melt
I put on the ice
The smile was gone
Hey baby, and the rest...
The lyrics to Lydia Lunch's song Lady Scarface tell a story of a woman waiting for a date on 12th street. As she waits, she smokes a cigarette and observes the people passing by. Her attention is drawn to a young man, whom she finds particularly attractive. Despite her reservations, she decides to approach him and make her move. The lyrics reveal her hesitation and apprehension in the situation, but also her determination to go through with it. She puts on a smile, taps the young man on the back and slips him her belt, hoping for a positive response. The lyrics end there, leaving the listener to interpret the eventual outcome.
Line by Line Meaning
We had a date
Our prearranged plan was to meet.
12th street at eight
Our meeting place is on 12th street at eight.
If you're done I'll be there don't be late
If you finish early, I'll be there waiting for you. Don't be tardy.
Instructed as such
Given these specific directions.
Without a soft touch
Without being sensitive or gentle.
If it would've mattered it didn't too much
Even if it should have mattered, it didn't really.
I waited for you a minute or two
I waited for you to show up for a short time.
Well just what kind of a girl do you think I am
What is your perception of me as a woman?
Fumbling around
Clumsily searching or touching.
A cigarette
A rolled tobacco product used for smoking.
Smoked it to the ash and then lit up again
Finished smoking the cigarette and then immediately lit another one up.
Blowing smoke rings
Expelling smoke from the mouth in circular shapes.
Blinding the air
Making the air opaque by filling it with smoke.
If you're comin baby you're just two in a rears
If you're coming, you're running late.
I'm too impatient and you're just too late
I lack patience and you are not on time.
My attention span is just not that great
I am easily distracted.
Then this young kinda guy walked right on by me
I noticed a young man walking by.
I couldn't have been more than 16
He appeared to be very young, no more than 16.
It's just nothing I can do you gotta understand
There was nothing I could do.
You see, he had this walk
He had a particular way of walking.
I mean, down ??? and
I mean, he walked with confidence.
No he wasn't going my direction so I just kinda turned an eye
He wasn't walking in my direction, so I just glanced at him.
I had to I was really possessed
I felt compelled to look at him.
I mean, I wasn't myself
I felt under a spell or not in complete control of myself.
I was so close
I was very near to him.
I crept like a cat
I moved quietly like a cat.
Visions of seduction lurking under my hat
I had thoughts about seducing him.
He was so young
He was very young.
Such innocence
He appeared very innocent.
If I had control I didn't feel any yet
I didn't feel in control of the situation yet.
I couldn't be heard
I was being very quiet.
Not a sound did I make
I made no noise.
If this is the real thing there's just no need to fake
If this is a genuine emotion or feeling, then there is no need to pretend otherwise.
So now was the time
This was the perfect moment.
The crucial 8th mile
The most important moment.
If I had to do it it would be with a smile
If I had to do it, I would do it cheerfully.
A tap on his back
I tapped him on his back.
A slip on my belt
I was adjusting my belt.
He turned around and I knew that the ground would melt
He turned and I felt weak in the knees.
I put on the ice
I tried to play it cool.
The smile was gone
I stopped smiling.
Hey baby, and the rest...
The rest is left unsaid.
Contributed by Kylie S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@gypsyclublady
This is So FANTASTIC ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
@DV8TheOriginalMartinVogelman
My sentiments exactly
@GKViddingHD
I still don't know whether to take the lyrics in the literal sense and that she really arrests the boy, or if it is all an allegory..
@KristaAMartin
❤ 12th Street & 8 makes more money than 5th Street & Vine, don't you think.