Sister Machine Gun founder Chris Randall and guitarist Miguel Turanzas are, without a doubt, one of music's hardest working duos. In addition to recording, producing, and touring, they also run their own record label, Positron! Records. Not simply a vehicle for SMG, the label has unleashed 17 releases including albums from Van Christie (Die Warzau), Matt Walker (Filter/Smashing Pumpkins/Cupcakes) and Mike Fisher (Machines of Loving Grace).
SMG's extensive catalog explores just about every genre of modern music, from electro-funk dance to Hendrix-flavored industrial strength rock. Their seventh release, Influence, is an elektro-industrial tour-de-force that recalls the industrial sound of the late eighties and early nineties. Heavy beats, distorted guitars and pounding synth lines drag your favorite sounds kicking and screaming into the future.
Sister Machine Gun's catalog of critically acclaimed albums includes four on the pioneering Wax Trax! label: Sins Of The Flesh (1992), The Torture Technique (1994), Burn (1995), and Metropolis (1997); plus three on their own Positron! Records: [R]evolution (1999) sistermachinegun: 6.0 (2001) and Influence (2003). The liner notes of these albums read like a veritable Who's Who of modern music, and include Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie/Tin Machine), Sascha & En Esch (KMFDM), Charles Levi (Thrill Kill Kult/Pigface), Gino Lenardo (Filter), Scott Churilla (The Rev. Horton Heat), Matt Walker (Filter/Smashing Pumpkins/Cupcakes), and Jim Marcus & Van Christie (Die Warzau).
With fans that treat the band as a religion, and an online presence second to none, Sister Machine Gun are Chicago's Ambassadors of Industrial.
Negative
Sister Machine Gun Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I won't kill my ? because it wouldn't do me to try
I know I was hopeless, but I never had my pride
In my mind the numbers feel like words when my conscience dies
So negative
Negative...
I want to feel like God, whatever gets me through the night
I never understand the pain, but I never try to fight
I'm on my broken back, bleeding here
So negative
Negative...
The lyrics of "Negative" by Sister Machine Gun describe a deep sense of resignation and hopelessness, as the singer admits to feeling a perverse sense of satisfaction in their own suffering. They acknowledge a compulsion, a "hunger," that they cannot resist, even though they know that it will ultimately be to their detriment. The singer frames this addiction (which is left intentionally ambiguous) as a kind of sickness or disease, one that they want to need, like a kind of dark comfort. The singer also touches on themes of powerlessness and divine authority, admitting a desire to feel "like God" in order to stave off the pain of their own existence.
The repeated refrain of "so negative" serves to underline the overall tone of the song - a sense of despairing nihilism that permeates every line. The lyrics tap into a kind of emotional depth that resonates with many people who have felt similarly lost in their own lives, and the frankness with which they grapple with these feelings is what gives the song its real power.
Line by Line Meaning
? with a hunger what I never could deny
I have an insatiable appetite for something that I can't refuse
I won't kill my ? because it wouldn't do me to try
I won't destroy a part of myself because it would be fruitless to even attempt it
I know I was hopeless, but I never had my pride
Even though I felt like a lost cause, I never lost my dignity
In my mind the numbers feel like words when my conscience dies
When I'm devoid of moral responsibility, numbers take on the significance of words to me
So negative
My outlook is pessimistic
I want to need this sickness, this disease, I know it's right
I desire to depend on this affliction because I believe it's appropriate for me to do so
I want to feel like God, whatever gets me through the night
I aspire to feel godlike, and I'll do whatever it takes to get through the night
I never understand the pain, but I never try to fight
I don't comprehend the agony, but I don't even attempt to resist it
I'm on my broken back, bleeding here
I'm injured and suffering, possibly writhing in pain, due to whatever's going on in my life
So negative
My attitude remains gloomy
Contributed by Cooper R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.