The original lineup consisted of vocalist Jason Cruz, guitarists Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos, bassist Jim Cherry and drummer Adam Austin. After releasing a self-titled 7" record, they became one of the first bands to be signed to Fat Wreck Chords, the record label owned and operated by Fat Mike of the band NOFX. Austin left the band in 1992 and was replaced by Brad Morrison who also left the band and was replaced on drums by Jordan Burns, formerly of fellow Simi Valley natives Ten Foot Pole. Their first album, Another Day in Paradise, was released in May of 1994. Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues followed in 1996. In 1998 they released The Skinny Years...Before We Got Fat, a compilation album of their pre-Fat Wreck Chords material.
The band showed notable musical growth on their 1998 album Twisted by Design, which was both speedy and technical but also punk-based and with darker overtones. The album established a mixture of the fast, poppy sound the band had established with Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues but mixed it with more atonality and more abstract song structures. Bassist Jim Cherry left the band in 1999 and went on to play in Pulley and Zero Down, but died of heart failure in 2002. He was replaced by Chris Aiken, whose musical background had a strong impact on the 2000 album The Element of Sonic Defiance, which continued in the fast, melodic punk tradition of the band while introducing more hard rock and metal elements.
In 2002 the band released their fourth full-length album An American Paradox, their first release to appear in the Billboard Top 200. The initial production run contained a bonus song entitled "Don't Look Back". A video was filmed for the song "Cemetery" and was included on several punk rock video compilations. In 2003 they recorded and released a live album as part of the Fat Wreck Chords Live in a Dive series. Exile in Oblivion, was released in 2004, with a video filmed for the song "Analog." Strung Out released their sixth full-length album, Blackhawks Over Los Angeles on June 12, 2007.
In March 2009, Strung Out released a compilation of B-sides, demos, and covers called "Prototypes and Painkillers" with material from all eras of the band's history. Many of these tracks have been on various punk compilations and/or were included in their "Live in a Dive" recording.
On September 29, 2009, Strung Out Released a their 7th studio album titled Agents of the Underground.
Perfect World
Strung Out Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
who needs to love when you got the bowl
who needs money when youve got your credit
you got your plastic paying all your bills
who needs books when you got tv
you don't need to read with the vcr
who needs to cook we got the microwave
we be livin in a perfect world ???
a system helpless by itself ???
who needs to get up and change the channel
when the remotes can do that for you
who needs children when youve got abortion
you can kill your babies if you want to
who needs books when you got tv
you don't need to read with the vcr
who needs to cook we got the microwave
you don't have to walk when you've got a car
[chorus]
The lyrics to Strung Out's song Perfect World are a scathing indictment of modern society's love affair with convenience and material possessions. The singer begins by asking a series of rhetorical questions that suggest people have become complacent and disconnected from the things that truly matter in life. The references to the bomb, credit, and plastic suggest a society obsessed with power and consumption, where money and possessions have replaced human connection and compassion. The lines "who needs to love when you got the bowl" and "who needs children when you've got abortion" are particularly biting, highlighting the idea that people are willing to sacrifice family and relationships for the sake of convenience and self-gratification.
The chorus then asks the question, "we be livin in a perfect world?" The use of the word "perfect" is ironic, as the preceding lyrics have depicted a world that is anything but ideal. The line "a system helpless by itself" suggests that the system is out of control and that individuals have lost their power to change it. Overall, the lyrics to Perfect World are a powerful critique of modern society's values and priorities, urging listeners to question the status quo and strive for a more meaningful existence.
Line by Line Meaning
who needs peace when we've got the bomb
We don't need to strive for peace when we have the power to destroy others with bombs.
who needs to love when you got the bowl
Love is no longer a necessity when you can satisfy your physical desires with drugs.
who needs money when youve got your credit
We don't need actual money when we can rely on credit to fulfill our wants and needs.
you got your plastic paying all your bills
We can rely on credit cards to pay for all of our expenses.
who needs books when you got tv
We don't need books to gain knowledge or entertainment when we have television.
you don't need to read with the vcr
We can watch movies or shows on VCR instead of reading for entertainment.
who needs to cook we got the microwave
We don't need to cook our own meals when we have the convenience of a microwave.
you don't need to walk when you've got a car
We can rely on automobiles for transportation instead of walking or exercising.
we be livin in a perfect world ???
We are seemingly living in an ideal world, but it comes at a cost.
a system helpless by itself ???
This system of convenience and instant gratification is unsustainable and lacks self-sufficiency.
who needs to get up and change the channel
We don't need to physically move to change the television channel with modern technology.
when the remotes can do that for you
We rely on remote controls to operate our devices and make our lives easier.
who needs children when youve got abortion
Having children becomes unnecessary when we have the option to terminate pregnancies through abortion.
you can kill your babies if you want to
Having control over the decision to have children or not can be seen as a form of power.
[chorus]
The chorus repeats the phrase 'we be livin in a perfect world' to emphasize the theme of this song.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Written by: JACOB IRA KILEY, JAMES PAUL CHERRY III, JASON ALEXANDER CRUZ, JORDAN LIEBERMAN, ROBERT J RAMOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind