The studio core comprises Spike Slawson on vocals, bassist Fat Mike, Joey Cape on guitar and backing vocals, Dave Raun on drums, and Chris Shiflett on guitar (his brother Scott of Face To Face/Viva Death fills in for Chris on tour). Touring members have included Brian Baker (Bad Religion/Minor Threat), Barry DaLive (Crosstops/RKL), Eric Melvin (NOFX), Matthew MacNasty (bagpipes player from the Real McKenzies), and Warren Fitzgerald (The Vandals).
Originally a themed 7" singles project, now each of their full length albums covers a different genre of music spanning the 50's to the 90's. Their first release in 1997 was entitled Have a Ball, followed by Are a Drag in 1999. In 2001 they released Blow in the Wind and two years later released Take a Break. Almost immediately after the release of Take a Break the released a live album Ruin Johnny's Bar Mitzvah The genres they've butchered now include country, on Love Their Country featuring covers of songs made popular by The Dixie Chicks, Johnny Cash and others. Their most recent release is a collection of B-sides from their album Have a Ball, simply titled Have Another Ball.
The Gimme Gimmes perform to entertain themselves as much as for the entertainment of their fans. Their albums and concerts are some of the most lighthearted and off the wall musical experiences in the punk world. Concerts are often interrupted between songs to freshen cocktails at the on stage tiki bar. CD liner notes relate the hardships of recording such as Fat Mike getting so caught up in "Wild World" that he believed he was Fat Stevens, a guitar-toting Islamic Extremist, so that when Spike sang "All My Lovin" he mistook it for "Allah my Lovin" and condemned Spike to death for heresy.
The Gimmes are also known for their costumes. Each album has a 'theme' for which they all dress up for the cover art and live shows. Some themes include red suits, metallic suits with fezzes, cheerleader outfits, drag (each Gimme dressed as a character from a musical they took songs from on the cover of Are a Drag: Chris Shiflett was Columbia and Spike was Dr Frank N. Furter from Rocky Horror, Joey Cape was Annie, Fat Mike was Sandy from Grease and Dave Raun was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz). During a Warped Tour they dressed as AFI, to the confusion of many fans. Most recently they have been dressing as cowboys, but are possibly best known for their lurid Hawaiian shirts.
Or their live album, "Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah", the band performed for a crowd of 30 at a Bar Mitzvah. The CD contained video of the actual event and the liner notes were written by attendee Benjamin Rosenblatt who describes the events: "They made a lot of mistakes. They even started a song then stopped, then started again." -track 7 "Strawberry Fields Forever" on the CD.
One Tin Soldier
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That was written long ago
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone
And the valley-people swore
Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away
So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they'd kill
It came an answer from the mountain
With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain
All the riches buried there
Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away
Now the valley cried with anger
"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
And they killed the mountain-people
So they won their just reward
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain, dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
"Peace on Earth" was all it said
Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away
Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away
The song One Tin Soldier by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is about two communities, one that lives in the valley and one that lives on a mountain. The people on the mountain have a treasure that is buried deep beneath the stone, and the people in the valley want it for themselves. The lyrics depict how the valley-people send a message up the hill asking for the treasure, but the mountain-people decide to share their secrets instead of the treasure itself. However, the valley-people are not satisfied with this and decide to kill the mountain-people to take the treasure for themselves. When they finally reach the treasure, they find that it only contains the message of "peace on earth."
The song is a metaphor for greed, betrayal, and the futility of violence. It highlights how people can be blinded by their greed and go to any lengths to achieve their goals, including killing their own neighbors. The song also represents the idea that we should not put our faith blindly in material possessions, as they may not bring us true happiness or fulfilment in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Listen, children, to a story
Pay attention to what I'm about to tell you
That was written long ago
This happened in the past
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
There was once a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below
And there were people living in the valley below
On the mountain was a treasure
There was a valuable item hidden in the mountain
Buried deep beneath the stone
It was buried very deeply
And the valley-people swore
The people in the valley promised to get it
They'd have it for their very own
They wanted it exclusively for themselves
Go ahead and hate your neighbor
It's okay to dislike your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
It's okay to cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
Do it religiously
You can justify it in the end
You can find a reason for it
There won't be any trumpets blowing
There won't be any great announcement
Come the judgment day
When it's time to be held accountable
On the bloody morning after
After the violence has occurred
One tin soldier rides away
Someone will be victorious and leave
So the people of the valley
The valley inhabitants
Sent a message up the hill
Sent a message to the mountain
Asking for the buried treasure
Asked for the hidden treasure
Tons of gold for which they'd kill
A massive amount of gold worth killing for
It came an answer from the mountain
The mountain replied
With our brothers we will share
We'll share our secrets with our brethren
All the secrets of our mountain
All the details of our valuable source
All the riches buried there
All of the buried wealth
Now the valley cried with anger
The valley inhabitants were furious
"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
They started a war cry
And they killed the mountain-people
They murdered the mountain inhabitants
So they won their just reward
They felt entitled to the treasure
Now they stood beside the treasure
They were finally next to the treasure in question
On the mountain, dark and red
The mountain was now darker and redder due to the violence committed
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
They removed the obstacle and checked what was underneath
"Peace on Earth" was all it said
Only a message proclaiming peace on Earth was written
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dennis Earle Lambert, Brian Potter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind