They are notable for being the first of the British punk bands to release a single, put out an album, and tour the United States. Their debut album, Damned Damned Damned, was released six months before The Sex Pistols' debut, Never Mind The Bollocks.
The Damned have dissolved and reformed many times, with singer Dave Vanian remaining the sole constant. They have incorporated many styles in their music, most notably garage rock, psychedelic music, the British theatrical rock of Screaming Lord Sutch and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, and New Romantic.
In addition to serving as inspiration for many of the young bands who created hardcore punk in the US, The Damned are also generally regarded as one of the founders of goth music.
Original members Dave Vanian (David Lett), Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns), and Rat Scabies (Chris Millar) were all members of the semi-legendary Masters of the Backside which included future Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde.
Original guitarist Brian James (Brian Robertson) was a member of the early punk band London SS, a unit that never played live, but whose members later found fame in bands including The Clash and Generation X. Rat Scabies was also tried as the drummer for London SS, but was rejected.
Maintaining the goth connection, between 1996 and 2004 the bass guitarist of the Damned was one-time the Sisters of Mercy / the Sisterhood / Gun Club member Patricia Morrison. Morrison married Dave Vanian in 1996 but left the band after the birth of their daughter Emily. She originally joined the band after bassist Paul Grey was injured during a concert.
Discography:
Damned, Damned, Damned – February 25, 1977 (# 36)
Music For Pleasure – November 18, 1977
Machine Gun Etiquette – November 2, 1979 (# 31)
The Black Album – October 20, 1980 (# 29)
Strawberries – October 1, 1982 (# 15)
Phantasmagoria – July 15, 1985 (# 11)
Anything – December 5, 1986 (# 40)
Not of This Earth – November 11, 1995 (Retitled I'm Alright Jack & The Beanstalk in the UK, Germany and Sweden)
Grave Disorder – August 21, 2001
So, Who's Paranoid? – October 28, 2008
Evil Spirits – April 13, 2018
Darkadelic - April 28, 2023
So Messed Up
The Damned Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Messed up, she don't even ball
Well, she's so messed up
She has no fun at all
She's a sad case of hit-and-run
I think that I would rather fuck her mum
Oh yeah, her face is such a mess
Oh well, I'd save her the trouble
But I bet you'd still call it a crime
Oh would you, now?
So messed up, well, she's so messed up
Oh yeah, she's so messed up, so messed up
So messed up
So messed up
So messed up
So messed up
So messed up, lying in the gutter
So messed up
Flat on her face
So messed up
Yeah, so messed up
So messed up
Oh, she's so messed up she don't feel the pain
Oh, she's so messed up she's always been the same
Oh, well, she's so messed up she don't feel the pain
I think, know what I think, she ain't even got a brain
The Damned's "So Messed Up" is a punk rock song that centers around the singer's vitriolic and unapologetic indictment of a woman who is down on her luck. From the very first line, the singer declares the woman "messed up," and incapable of having fun. In the chorus, the phrase "so messed up" is repeated four times, with an increasingly desperate tone. The full extent of the woman's despair is then revealed when the singer speaks of her lying in the gutter, flat on her face. The woman's condition is further reinforced in the bridge, where the singer claims that she is so messed up that she doesn't even feel pain, and that she probably lacks a brain.
Line by Line Meaning
One, two, three, oh, she's so
The singer counts down in anticipation of describing a woman who is very messed up.
Messed up, she don't even ball
The woman is so messed up that she can't even have any fun.
Well, she's so messed up
The woman is very messed up.
She has no fun at all
The woman is not able to enjoy life.
She's a sad case of hit-and-run
The woman has likely experienced trauma and has not been able to recover.
I think that I would rather fuck her mum
The singer finds the woman so unappealing that they would rather have sex with her mother.
Oh yeah, her face is such a mess
The woman's face is in a terrible state.
The best thing she can do is die
The artist believes that death would be a release from the woman's pain and suffering.
Oh well, I'd save her the trouble
The artist sees ending the woman's life as a kindness.
But I bet you'd still call it a crime
The artist anticipates that others might not see it that way and would judge them harshly.
Oh would you, now?
The singer is sarcastically questioning those who would judge them for wanting to end the woman's suffering.
So messed up, well, she's so messed up
The woman is extremely messed up.
Oh yeah, she's so messed up, so messed up
The woman's condition is emphasized.
So messed up
The woman is very messed up.
So messed up
The woman is very messed up.
So messed up
The woman is very messed up.
So messed up
The woman is very messed up.
So messed up, lying in the gutter
The woman is in a very low and degraded state.
So messed up
The woman is very messed up.
Flat on her face
The woman is lying on the ground.
So messed up
The woman is very messed up.
Yeah, so messed up
The woman is extremely messed up.
So messed up she don't feel the pain
The woman is in such a state that she is not able to feel physical pain.
Oh, she's so messed up she's always been the same
The woman's condition is not new or recent, but has been ongoing.
Oh, well, she's so messed up she don't feel the pain
The woman is not able to feel physical pain because of her state of mind.
I think, know what I think, she ain't even got a brain
The singer believes that the woman's mental state is so dire that they question if she even has a functioning brain.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BRIAN JAMES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Not Kidding
on Shakin’ All Over
English artist
Pierre Clary
on Feel the Pain
DROP SOME BLUES = take some 3french blues3 pills -popular amphetamine and barbiturate drug since the '60's, see movie Quadrophenia