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.
Strawberry Fields Forever
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause I'm goin' to
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm goin' to strawberry fields
And nothin' is real and nothin' to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever
Misunderstandin' all you see
It's gettin' hard to be someone but it all works out
It doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm goin' to strawberry fields
Nothin' is real and nothin' to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm goin' to strawberry fields
Nothin' is real and nothin' to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever
Strawberry fields forever
Strawberry fields forever, yeah
The song "Strawberry Fields Forever" by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is a cover of The Beatles' original song, released in 1967. The lyrics depict a surreal and dream-like world where nothing is real and nothing is worth getting too concerned about. The opening lines, "Let me take you down/Cause I'm goin' to strawberry fields" suggests that the singer is taking the listener on a journey through their imagination, or perhaps an escape from reality. The repetition of "nothin' is real" and "nothin' to get hung about" reinforces the idea that the singer is trying to detach themselves from the reality they are in.
The lines "Livin' is easy with eyes closed/Misunderstandin' all you see" could be interpreted as being ignorant of the realities of the world and how it operates. The next line, "It's gettin' hard to be someone but it all works out" suggests that despite the difficulties of trying to fit into society, everything will ultimately work out in the end. The final repetition of "Strawberry fields forever" brings the listener back to the idea of the dream-like, escape from reality where things can be perfect and carefree.
Line by Line Meaning
Let me take you down
Allow me to lead you on a journey
'Cause I'm goin' to strawberry fields
Because I am journeying to a place called strawberry fields
And nothin' is real and nothin' to get hung about
In strawberry fields, everything is imaginary and there is nothing to worry about
Strawberry fields forever
Strawberry fields will always exist in this imaginary state
Livin' is easy with eyes closed
It is easy to ignore the real world when you close your eyes
Misunderstandin' all you see
What you perceive may not be the truth
It's gettin' hard to be someone but it all works out
Trying to be someone you're not can be difficult, but it will all be okay in the end
It doesn't matter much to me
These challenges are not of great concern to me
Strawberry fields forever
This imaginary world will always be present
Strawberry fields forever, yeah
There is a sense of excitement and affirmation for this imaginary place
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind