Morphine was formed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States in 1990 by M… Read Full Bio ↴Morphine was formed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States in 1990 by Mark Sandman (vocals, bass) and Dana Colley (saxophone). Jerome Dupree became the group's drummer in 1991 prior to the release of their debut album, Good. "Low Rock" is Morphine's unique combination of jazz, blues and pop/rock, sung with darkly comic and ironic lyrics. Their guitarless sound relied on an unusual combination of baritone/tenor sax, percussion and a two string slide bass.

While "Good" earned the band critical notoriety and substantial underground cred, they did not -- with this release or any subsequent -- break into the mainstream. After the release of Good, the band replaced Dupree with Billy Conway, a former bandmate of Sandman. Morphine's 1992 release of Cure for Pain, promoted by heavy touring, received some mainstream positive attention, selling over 300,000 copies worldwide and spawning a chart hit in many countries with the single Buena

Subsequent releases include Yes and Like Swimming.

On July 3, 1999, Mark Sandman collapsed on stage in Palestrina, Italy, a suburb of Rome. He was pronounced dead of a heart attack at the scene. He was 46. Morphine released The Night -- arguably their best effort -- posthumously in 2000.

After Sandman's death, the remaining band members reformed and continued to record as Twinemen and later as The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band

In 2004, the Mark Sandman box set Sandbox was released by Hi-n-Dry, Mark Sandman's own label. It contains two CDs and a DVD of previously unreleased material spanning Sandman’s musical career. The DVD features clips from early Sandman shows, interviews from the Morphine tours, and various videos from other Sandman solo and group projects, such as Treat Her Right.

"Some day there'll be a cure for pain,
And that's the day I throw my drugs away" - Mark Sandman

Links:
The Other Side - A Morphine Fanzine
Morphine at Myspace

Test-Tube Baby/Shoot'm Down
Morphine Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm just a test-tube baby
I'm just a test-tube baby
I start out clean each day
I start out fresh and clean
I start out clean each day
I'm just a test-tube baby

I have a pinch of this

I have a taste of that
I have a glass of this
I have a jug of that
I have a bag of this
I have a box of that
I start out clean each day
I start out fresh and clean
I start out clean each day
I'm just a test-tube baby

Shoot a crack smoker down
Shoot a crack dealer down
Shoot'm down
Shoot'm down
Shoot'm down
Shoot'm down

Shoot a crack smoker down
Shoot a beer drinker down
Shoot a beer drinker down
Shoot a pot smoker down
Shoot a bartender down
Shoot'm down
Shoot'm down
Shoot'm down
Shoot'm down

Hey shoot Colombia down
Shoot Mexico down
Shoot Panama down

Shoot El Salvador down
Shoot'm down (x10)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Morphine's song "Test-Tube Baby/Shoot'm Down" have an eerie quality to them. The repeated phrase "I'm just a test-tube baby" suggests a sense of detachment, as if the singer is somehow not fully human. The repetition is reinforced by the line "I start out clean each day," which implies a constant cycle of renewal, as if the singer is being remade over and over again. This sense of detachment is also evident in the list of items the singer describes as having "a pinch of this," "a taste of that," "a glass of this," and so on. The repetition of the phrase "I have" suggests a sense of accumulation, as if the singer is gathering together all these disparate elements, yet the items remain unnamed and undefined, adding to the song's unsettling quality.

The second part of the song is more overtly political, with the repeated phrase "Shoot'm down" appearing multiple times. The song suggests a world in which drug addicts, dealers, and even entire countries are viewed as expendable, as if their lives don't matter. The shift from individual drug users and dealers to entire countries suggests a sense of scale that is both horrifying and surreal. By the end of the song, the repeated phrase "Shoot'm down" has become a mantra, a call to action that is both nihilistic and terrifying.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm just a test-tube baby
I was created in a laboratory with no natural conception

I start out clean each day
I begin each day with no physical addiction

I have a pinch of this
I consume small amounts of various substances

I have a taste of that
I sample different drugs and alcohol

I have a glass of this
I drink moderate amounts of different beverages

I have a jug of that
I consume larger amounts of certain liquids

I have a bag of this
I take recreational drugs in small doses

I have a box of that
I keep various substances in large quantities

Shoot a crack smoker down
Advocating for violence towards drug users

Shoot a crack dealer down
Advocating for violence towards drug dealers

Shoot'm down
Continuing to advocate for violence towards those associated with drugs and alcohol