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.
The Greenless Wreath
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This bone-cage slips away
Lost in the shivering trees
Your absent voice is clay
Last breath of green
First breath of stone
Sweep this cage of bone
I hold exhaustion close
The shining world is all that it seems
I fall in love with ghosts
Whispering to you
Through reconstructed teeth
A cage of bone in the greenless wreath
Last breath of green
First breath of stone
The lyrics to Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's song The Greenless Wreath can be interpreted in several ways, but one of the most prominent meanings is that it is about the death and decay of nature. The opening lines "At last in the trembling leaves / This bone-cage slips away" suggest the singer is shedding their mortal coil and becoming one with nature. The "bone-cage" is a metaphor for the human body, and the "trembling leaves" represent the natural world. The next line "Lost in the shivering trees / Your absent voice is clay" further reinforces the idea of death and decay. The "absent voice" could refer to the absence of life, while "clay" suggests decomposition.
The next stanza "Hungry for your desperate dreams / I hold exhaustion close / The shining world is all that it seems / I fall in love with ghosts" paints a picture of the singer's melancholy state. The singer could be mourning the loss of a loved one or even humanity's disregard for nature. The "shining world" could refer to the façade of beauty that surrounds us while everything is slowly decaying. The final line "I fall in love with ghosts" suggests that the singer has come to terms with their situation and is content living among the dead.
Overall, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's The Greenless Wreath is a somber, yet beautiful song that reminds us of our mortality and the ephemeral nature of life.
Line by Line Meaning
At last in the trembling leaves
Finally, amidst the shaking foliage
This bone-cage slips away
My physical body gradually fades out of existence
Lost in the shivering trees
As I blend into the surrounding environment
Your absent voice is clay
Your voice, that was once so vivid, now feels lifeless and meaningless
Last breath of green
The final moments of life before departing into the afterlife, represented by the color green
First breath of stone
Entering the afterlife, symbolized by the hardness and permanence of stone
Sweep this cage of bone
Abandoning my mortal shell entirely
Hungry for your desperate dreams
Craving to enter into your unconscious mind and desires
I hold exhaustion close
Embracing weariness as it is the only emotion that remains familiar
The shining world is all that it seems
Reality, though full of tragedy and despair, is still awe-inspiring and beautiful
I fall in love with ghosts
Becoming attached to the memories and phantoms of the past
Whispering to you
Speaking softly to you in this new realm
Through reconstructed teeth
Grinning widely, despite a reconstructed physical form
A cage of bone in the greenless wreath
Although I have left my body behind, my soul is trapped in a world without life or color
Last breath of green
Once again referencing the final moments of life
First breath of stone
Reaffirming the idea of the afterlife's hardness and permanence
Contributed by Wyatt P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.