Bug Hunt
Paul Austin Kelly Lyrics
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He's grinning like a lunatic and looking mighty mean
He's got a shell of iron and two wings of neon green
He's the biggest ugly cockroach that I have ever seen.
I'm dashing to the closet 'fore ol' ugly gets away
It's where I hide my stash for keeping ugly bugs at bay
I'm flinging wide the door and leaping hot into the fray
Goin' on a bug hunt, knock him on the head
Goin' on a bug hunt, kill them all dead
Goin' on a bug hunt, run him right down
Goin' on a bug hunt, squish him in the ground.
I'm on a great safari, pith helmet and spud gun
I'll bid him sayanari, I've got him on the run.
I ripped that magazine away and shot him with a spud
Old Ugly skittered out the door, that bullet was a dud
I jumped up and tore after him, screaming for his blood
Old Ugly skittered back inside, I landed in the mud.
I'm tracking mud and anger all over Momma's place
The mud is on my feet and the anger's on my face
Revenge is such a cold dish, I'll give that bug a taste
Add in my own relish when I've laid him all to waste.
Goin' on a bug hunt like you've never seen
Have a Boogy Buggy Bar-B-Que, pick his bones clean
Goin' on a bug hunt, you know it's sad but true
Bug has each got six legs, I only got two.
After half an hour I got'im cornered in my room
I'm feeling pretty jazzed as I pick up the nearest broom
I can almost see him sweating as he contemplates his doom
But just as I'm about to put that critter in his tomb,
I'm suddenly aware another sound's been going down
It's got a steady beat, a kind of military sound
It's pounding in my ears but it's coming from the ground
I fling my broom onto the floor and fast as lightning whirl around,
And now at last I see them in their camouflage attire
Pouring from the woodwork, from the muck and from the mire
There must be half a million bugs, an army just for hire
And Mr. Ugly there behind shouts the order, “READY? FIRE!”
We're goin' on a man hunt, you know we're really keen
We're a mean, lean fighting, ugly Bug Machine
We're goin' on a man hunt, better understand
We may be ugly bugs but, we always get our man!
The song "Bug Hunt" by Paul Austin Kelly tells the story of a young boy who discovers a giant cockroach in his home and goes on a mission to catch and kill it. The lyrics are comically violent, with the boy using phrases like "run him right down" and "making pieces of your prey" to describe his methods. Despite the gruesome tone, the song is light-hearted and humorous. The second half of the song takes an unexpected turn when the boy realizes that the cockroach is not alone and is actually the leader of an army of bugs. The boy becomes the hunted instead of the hunter and is forced to face the consequences of his previous actions.
One interpretation of the song is that it is a commentary on the destructive nature of violence. By portraying the boy's pursuit of the cockroach in such an exaggerated and absurd manner, the song highlights the absurdity of violence as a means of solving problems. The twist ending, in which the boy becomes the target of an even larger and more dangerous group of bugs, serves as a cautionary tale about the unforeseen consequences of violent actions.
Line by Line Meaning
Seen'im peeking out from under Momma's magazine
I saw the cockroach peeking out from under my mother's magazine
He's grinning like a lunatic and looking mighty mean
The cockroach had an evil look on his face and seemed to be enjoying himself
He's got a shell of iron and two wings of neon green
The cockroach's shell was very hard and he had two bright green wings
He's the biggest ugly cockroach that I have ever seen.
The cockroach was the largest and ugliest one I had ever seen
I'm dashing to the closet 'fore ol' ugly gets away
I hurried to the closet before the cockroach had a chance to escape
It's where I hide my stash for keeping ugly bugs at bay
I kept my bug spray in the closet to keep ugly bugs away
I'm flinging wide the door and leaping hot into the fray
I opened the door and jumped into the fight
The only way to keep the peace is making pieces of your prey.
The only way to keep the bugs from bothering you is to kill them
Goin' on a bug hunt, knock him on the head
I was going on a mission to kill the cockroach
Goin' on a bug hunt, kill them all dead
I was determined to kill every bug in sight
Goin' on a bug hunt, run him right down
I was going to chase the cockroach down
Goin' on a bug hunt, squish him in the ground.
I planned to squash the cockroach into the ground
I'm on a great safari, pith helmet and spud gun
I pretended to be on a safari with a hat and toy gun
I'll bid him sayanari, I've got him on the run.
I was confident I had the cockroach on the ropes
I ripped that magazine away and shot him with a spud
I pulled the magazine away and tried to hit the cockroach with my toy gun
Old ugly skittered out the door, that bullet was a dud
The cockroach ran away and my toy gun did not hit him
I jumped up and tore after him, screaming for his blood
I ran after the cockroach, determined to kill him
Old ugly skittered back inside, I landed in the mud.
The cockroach ran back into the house and I fell into the mud
I'm tracking mud and anger all over Momma's place
I made a mess and was angry all over the house
The mud is on my feet and the anger's on my face
I was smearing mud on the floor and was very angry
Revenge is such a cold dish, I'll give that bug a taste
I wanted revenge and planned to make the cockroach suffer
Add in my own relish when I've laid him all to waste.
I was going to enjoy killing the cockroach
Goin' on a bug hunt like you've never seen
I was going on a killing spree not seen before
Have a Boogy Buggy Bar-B-Que, pick his bones clean
I planned to celebrate by having a barbecue after I killed the bugs
Goin' on a bug hunt, you know it's sad but true
I knew that it was sad but true that I had to kill the bugs
Bug has each got six legs, I only got two.
The bugs had six legs while I only had two
After half an hour I got'im cornered in my room
After thirty minutes, I finally cornered the cockroach in my room
I'm feeling pretty jazzed as I pick up the nearest broom
I was excited to have found the cockroach and picked up a broom to kill him
I can almost see him sweating as he contemplates his doom
I imagined the cockroach felt scared as he realized he was going to die
But just as I'm about to put that critter in his tomb,
Right when I was going to kill the cockroach
I'm suddenly aware another sound's been going down
I became aware of another sound happening
It's got a steady beat, a kind of military sound
The sound was steady and sounded like it came from a military group
It's pounding in my ears but it's coming from the ground
The sound was loud and seemed to be coming from the ground
I fling my broom onto the floor and fast as lightning whirl around,
I threw the broom down and turned around quickly
And now at last I see them in their camouflage attire
I saw a group of bugs blending in with the surroundings
Pouring from the woodwork, from the muck and from the mire
The bugs were coming out of the woodwork and from other dirty places
There must be half a million bugs, an army just for hire
There were hundreds of thousands of bugs, an army of them
And Mr. Ugly there behind shouts the order, “READY? FIRE!”
The cockroach, who I called Mr. Ugly, was giving orders to the other bugs
We're goin' on a man hunt, you know we're really keen
The bugs were going on a hunt and were excited about it
We're a mean, lean fighting, ugly Bug Machine
The bugs were a tough fighting machine
We're goin' on a man hunt, better understand
I had to understand that the bugs were hunting for me
We may be ugly bugs but, we always get our man!
The bugs were ugly but they always got their prey
Contributed by Carson H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.