The band tour the U.S. frequently in a renovated vintage Green Tortoise bus, and their live performances have featured puppet shows, pseudo-scientific scholarly presentations, and performances by members of the Butoh group inkBoat. SGM's music has been categorized as anything from avant-prog to art rock to experimental metal to RIO (Rock In Opposition). Many reviewers have remarked that the group is altogether unclassifiable.
The band uses many homemade devices as instruments, such as the viking row-boat and the spring-nail guitar. Rathbun plays a stringed bass instrument of his own construction called The Log which uses piano strings and is perhaps 7 feet long; it is played with two sticks: one in the left hand generally used as a fret, another in the right hand striking the strings. Mellender's percussion instruments consist of restaurant kitchen equipment, trash can lids, and other "found" metal objects, in addition to traditional percussion instruments.
They've announced their imminent end, as their last concerts will be held early April around California. But 2011 will still see a new album, a movie and a live DVD.
06. Gunday's Child
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Lyrics
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Drill-day's child is full of grace,
Gun-day's child is breastless and blind,
Shell-day's child is out of its mind,
Bomb-day's child will always be dumb,
Cannon-day's child can never quite come,
But the child that's born on Battle-day is blithe and bonny and rotted away.
The lyrics of "06. Gunday's Child" by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is a dark portrayal of how war destroys lives and damages both the living and the dead. The song is structured on a series of four-line stanzas, each describing a child born on a different day representing the different types of weapons used in wars. The first two lines of each verse are similar to the traditional children's rhyme about birthday's children, but the second two lines describe the horrors and destruction caused by warfare.
The lyrics speak of the consequences of war, the violence that it unleashes, and how it can create lasting damage. The Gun-day child's description in the verse is especially haunting, as the child is described as "breastless and blind." It implies the child was so close to the violence that they had been maimed, highlighting the deep scars war leaves behind. The final verse of the song describes how every child born on battle Day is born dead or becomes infected immediately after birth. The line "blithe and bonny" symbolizes the innocence and beauty of newborns, which is contrasted with their inevitable decay in war-torn settings.
Overall, the song's message is a critique of war and how it destroys lives, leaving children and families with life-long scars. The lyrics are poetic, dark, and ominous, and convey the message powerfully.
Line by Line Meaning
M-day's child is fair of face
The child born on Monday is considered to be attractive
Drill-day's child is full of grace
The child born on Tuesday is graceful
Gun-day's child is breastless and blind
The child born on Sunday is without breasts and blind
Shell-day's child is out of its mind
The child born on Wednesday is insane
Bomb-day's child will always be dumb
The child born on Thursday is always foolish
Cannon-day's child can never quite come
The child born on Friday can never quite succeed in life
But the child that's born on Battle-day is blithe and bonny and rotted away
However, the child born on a day of war is cheerful and attractive but likely to die in battle
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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