In 1996, after attending the Evergreen State College for two years, Wozniak moved east to New York, where Marcy Playground began to coalesce around the songs that would become the self-titled album. Bassist Dylan Keefe and drummer Dan Rieser filled out the band's sound, and complemented Wozniak's songwriting. The self-titled album was released in 1997, and Marcy Playground emerged into the mainstream with the success of the single "Sex and Candy." Marcy Playground is quiet and minimalist in tone. Wozniak's songs run in many different styles: some are modern folk music; many have undertones reminiscent of children's songs; the blurred sound of psychedelia makes appearances; and then there are the songs with a clear rock sound. The only band member who contributed to all of the album was Wozniak himself; several others filled in for Rieser and Keefe on some of the songs, notably Jared Kotler (bass and drums).
Marcy Playground's next outing was 1999's Shapeshifter, not as much of a success commercially as the self-titled album.
A minor controversy came to light when Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers revealed on Marcy Playground's website forum that the cover art for Shapeshifter had originally been conceptualized and commissioned by Leary for his band's aborted After the Astronaut album. He admitted to being a fan of Marcy Playground, but accused the band of an apparent lack of imagination and originality. Leary's outrage was eased once he learned that Capitol Records, former home of the Butthole Surfers and then-current home of Marcy Playground, had pitched the artwork to Wozniak as original work from their own art department and that Marcy Playground had no knowledge of the work's origins. Upon learning the truth, Wozniak proclaimed that he was "honored" to have an album cover designed by Paul Leary. There were apparently no bad feelings between the bands once the controversy had been cleared up.
After Shapeshifter, drummer Dan Rieser left the band to pursue other interests. The position was eventually filled on his recommendation by Gonzalo Martinez De La Cotera, a friend whose previous band Lincoln had opened for Marcy Playground.
After a considerable hiatus and at least one failed attempt to record a follow-up to Shapeshifter, Marcy Playground's third album, MP3, was finally released in 2004 with even less commercial success than the two preceding albums.
Marcy Playground did little if any touring in support of MP3. Despite releasing many singles, the band never matched the success of their single "Sex and Candy".
As of July 12'th 2008, John Wozniak posted a blog on MySpace stating his unreleased solo effort is now officially going to be a Marcy Playground record and is going to be released within the next few months along with a separate "Rarities and B-Sides" album. They are still performing live although to their many fans dismay, venues are sporadic. Meanwhile, Keefe has held the job of WNYC radio program On the Media's technical director, a position he left in December 2007.
Wave Motion Gun
Marcy Playground Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's an armchair with a secret engine and you...
You climb in and get naked watching Star Blazers
Wish you had their amenities
To fend off your enemies
In one big blast from your wave motion gun
There's a whole raft of little buttons and you...
You pick one and hope it takes you to Mars
Soon there'll be no pain again
You'll feel like yourself again
When you shoot all your heroin
In one big blast from your wave motion gun
And so downstairs behind the oven there's a...
There's a dark hole where... where the gas comes in
You know you should... you should climb in
It'll get you there so much faster
Soon there'll be no pain again
You'll feel like yourself again
When you shoot all your heroin
In one big blast from
In one big shot from
In one big blast from
In one big shot
From your wave motion gun
Wave motion gun
Wave motion gun
Wave motion gun
Wave motion gun
Wave motion gun
The lyrics of Marcy Playground's "Wave Motion Gun" seem to deal with the themes of escapism, addiction, and the desire for power. The song tells the story of a person who uses a secret armchair with an engine to watch a favorite sci-fi show called "Star Blazers." The armchair provides comfort and a temporary escape from reality. However, the lines "Wish you had their amenities to fend off your enemies in one big blast from your wave motion gun" show that the person wants to have the power of the characters in the show to protect themselves.
The song then shifts to a darker tone as the person uses a secret panel to access heroin and refers to it as if it were a wave motion gun. The lines "Soon there'll be no pain again, you'll feel like yourself again when you shoot all your heroin" imply that the person is using drugs to escape from their pain. The final stanza describes the person climbing into a dark hole to get to their destination faster, possibly implying the idea of suicide.
Overall, the lyrics of "Wave Motion Gun" depict a person who is struggling with their reality and seeks various ways to escape from it by using different means such as sci-fi shows, drugs or even suicide.
Line by Line Meaning
Backstage behind the curtain there's an...
Behind the stage there is a hidden armchair with an extraordinary feature.
There's an armchair with a secret engine and you...
You climb into the armchair and activate its secret engine.
You climb in and get naked watching Star Blazers
You strip down and watch the cartoon series Star Blazers.
Wish you had their amenities
You wish you had the resources they have.
To fend off your enemies
To protect yourself from your foes.
In one big blast from your wave motion gun
Using your powerful weapon, the wave motion gun, to defeat your enemies with a single shot.
And so you reach down to that secret panel and there's a...
You reach down to a hidden panel and find something surprising.
There's a whole raft of little buttons and you...
You see a variety of buttons and select one of them.
You pick one and hope it takes you to Mars
You choose a button and anticipate that it will transport you to the planet Mars.
Soon there'll be no pain again
Your discomfort will soon subside.
You'll feel like yourself again
You will return to a normal state of mind.
When you shoot all your heroin
After injecting all of your heroin.
In one big blast from your wave motion gun
Again referring to the wave motion gun, using it to feel the effects of heroin all at once.
In one big shot from
A single injection.
In one big blast from
A single use of the wave motion gun in this context.
From your wave motion gun
Referring once again to the weapon.
Wave motion gun
The name of the weapon.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN K. WOZNIAK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind