Chance eventually left to form The Contortions and pursue his own equally abrasive musical direction. Both groups were featured on the seminal "No New York" LP, a showcase of the early No Wave scene compiled and produced by Brian Eno.
Infamous for playing ten-minute sets filled with thirty-second songs, they sought to take music beyond what Lunch saw as the traditionalism of punk rock. The group left behind little more than a dozen complete recorded songs with most of the surviving titles collected on the 18-minute career retrospective CD titled "Everything". However other studio versions of several songs exist alongside a few live recordings.
Lunch and Chance both went on to become cult figures of the New York underground music scene and the group has been cited as a significant influence on subsequent post-punk groups such as Sonic Youth and The Istics.
The band reunited in 2008 for a series of performances, with Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore. The band continued to perform without Moore throughout 2009, including dates in Canada.
The Closet
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Won't you just please release me
I can't move and my kidneys fail
Size of this room feels like jail
I can't talk I can't enunciate
And I'm threatened like Sharon Tate
Suburban wealth and middle class well being
Personality down the drain
Take a bullet to my eyes
Blow them out and see if I die
The lyrics to Teenage Jesus and the Jerks' song The Closet talk about the feeling of being trapped in a close space and not being able to move or breathe freely. The person is pleading to be released from the closet as they cannot even talk properly due to the lack of air. The size of the closet feels like a jail and their kidneys are failing due to the lack of movement. The line "I'm threatened like Sharon Tate" is a reference to the Manson family murders where Sharon Tate, a famous actress, was brutally murdered along with her friends by Charles Manson's followers.
The lyrics also touch on the theme of suburban life and how it can be suffocating to one's personality and feelings. The middle-class well-being and suburban wealth have drained the person's personality down the drain making them feel like they are dying. The last line "Take a bullet to my eyes, Blow them out and see if I die" seems to suggest that the person would rather die than continue living in this way.
Overall, the lyrics to The Closet by Teenage Jesus and the Jerks seem to talk about the feeling of being trapped or suffocated, both literally and metaphorically. While the lyrics can be interpreted in different ways, the song does talk about the weight of societal pressure and the desire for release from it.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm in a closet and I can't breathe
Feeling trapped and suffocated in a situation that's beyond my control.
Won't you just please release me
Desperately asking for help or a way out of my current situation.
I can't move and my kidneys fail
Feeling physically and emotionally paralyzed by the situation.
Size of this room feels like jail
The space is suffocating and feels like a prison cell.
I can't talk I can't enunciate
Feeling powerless and voiceless in this situation, unable to speak up or communicate effectively.
And I'm threatened like Sharon Tate
Feeling like a victim of cruelty or violence, with no escape from danger.
Suburban wealth and middle class well being
Growing up in a privileged environment that dissects emotions and creates a lifeless environment.
All it did was strip my feelings
Being brought up in an atmosphere that doesn't welcome feelings eroded my individuality.
Personality down the drain
Feeling like I've lost a sense of who I am due to the stifling environment.
Take a bullet to my eyes
Expressing a desire for pain or self-destruction to escape the situation.
Blow them out and see if I die
Feeling hopeless and desperate for a way out, even if it means risking my own life.
Contributed by Maya K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Scott Brown
I'm so grateful to the beautifully disturbed person who took the time to upload this. I always loved Lydia Lunch and many of the No Wave bands that were her contemporaries. This song is made even better by segwaying it with John Cale's "Leaving up to You".
otott
the lyrics are perfectly written
Kati Casey
I was kinda depressed today, but this made me realize there are worse shits out there.
Jessie Fox
I love this song :D. Although it makes me think of those coffin cells people of the Salem Witch Trials were put into when they couldn't afford to pay for a regular jail cell.
Elevator Here
She's touring. An absolute godsend.
Space Junk
Carai, é muito foda
namesrohsseldaedeht
And i'm treated like sharon tate
Rene
Best no wave artist ever
enrcislir
Great music. I like
samensa1
read a semi-autobiographical novel by lydia lunch and yeah, her worldview is so bleak (maybe more than mine even, ha). this music makes sense coming out of her.