The Dead Milkmen's songs found moderate success on alternative and college radio stations. Videos, notably Punk Rock Girl, even found their way onto MTV in the late 1980s. Topics for their music include satire on the 1980s music scene, toxic waste, jellyfish afterlifes, UFOs, conspiracy theories, and cover bands.
Irreverent absurdity fueled their initial popularity, particularly among college DJs. However, this genre was somewhat abandoned with the 1992 release of Soul Rotation, a much more subtle album.
After the Dead Milkmen went on indefinite hiatus in 1994, Genaro and Sabatino formed a new band, Butterfly Joe. Sabatino was also in the punk rock bands Narthex, Big Mess Orchestra, and Hunger Artists. Genaro was in a band called Touch Me Zoo. Linderman was in a band called Burn Witch Burn. Schulthise left music in the early 1990s after developing tendonitis, preventing him from playing bass, and committed suicide in 2004.
The Dead Milkmen took the stage again for two consecutive nights in November 2004 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia to play a show in memory of Dave Schulthise. Proceeds were donated to a variety of mental health organizations and to a Serbian monastery that Schulthise supported.
The band reunited in 2008 and released a new album (The King in Yellow) in 2011.
Life Is Shit
The Dead Milkmen Lyrics
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Said he was gonna take some words and make them rhyme
I said "You can fool some of them some of the time,
But you can only fool half them all of the time"
He said "Yes I do believe this is true,
Would you like to come and sniff some glue?
And we'll fly to where the skies are blue
And look for things both bright and new"
And on a pretty Sunday morning
A bunch of pretty Baptist girls
Linked their pretty hands and they sang
Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
And in the sky I saw Richard Nixon
Smoking a lacey with Mr. Dickson
He said "Son there's something I must say,
I do believe I've found a better way"
And a vision came
And I new it was Bob Crane
And Bob sang:
Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
And when my friend and I were done
We went to rest upon the sun
Cause life takes from us the things we love
And it robs us of the special ones
And it puts them high where we can't climb
And we only miss them all the time
And we sing:
Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
The Dead Milkmen's song "Life is Shit" is a cynical but humorous commentary on the state of the world and the disillusionment that comes with it. The song begins with the singer meeting a friend who wants to write a song with him, and the singer responds by remarking that you can only fool some of the people some of the time, and half of them all of the time. Then, the friend invites him to "sniff some glue" and escape the world's misery by finding "things both bright and new." This sets the tone for the song as a satire of mindless escapism and the transient and empty happiness it brings.
The song's refrain, "Life is shit, life is shit, the world is shit, the world is shit," is repeated throughout the song, with different verses providing illustrations of just how bad life can be. In the second verse, a group of pretty Baptist girls singing shows the futility of religion and its inability to make life any better. The third verse features a surreal conversation between the singer and Richard Nixon, who offers to show him a "better way," only for the singer to see a vision of Bob Crane singing the same refrain. This blends political disillusionment with personal loss and a sense of meaninglessness that underscores the song's overarching theme.
Overall, the song offers a bleak but funny take on the human condition, pointing out the negative aspects of life while mocking those who try to escape it. It's a cynical commentary on the cultural and political landscape of the time, as well as a reflection of the band's own disillusionment and frustration.
Line by Line Meaning
I ran into a friend of mine
I met a friend of mine
Said he was gonna take some words and make them rhyme
My friend announced that he is going to write some lyrics for a song
I said 'You can fool some of them some of the time,
I told my friend that not everybody can be deceived all the time
But you can only fool half them all of the time'
However, you can only trick 50% of the people all of the time
He said 'Yes I do believe this is true,
My friend acknowledged the truth in what I just said
Would you like to come and sniff some glue?
He then offered me an invitation to use drugs with him
And we'll fly to where the skies are blue
He suggested we take a trip to a lovely place
And look for things both bright and new'
We'll seek things that are promising and exciting
And on a pretty Sunday morning
One fine Sunday morning
A bunch of pretty Baptist girls
Some attractive Baptist females
Linked their pretty hands and they sang
They held hands and sang together
Life is shit, life is shit
Their song's message was that life is disappointing
The world is shit, the world is shit
They also believed that the world as a whole is disappointing
This is life as I know it
This is their understanding of life
And in the sky I saw Richard Nixon
I had a vision of the deceased Richard Nixon in the sky
Smoking a lacey with Mr. Dickson
He was smoking a marijuana cigarette with somebody named Mr. Dickson
He said 'Son there's something I must say,
Nixon had some advice for me
I do believe I've found a better way'
He claimed to have discovered an improved approach to life
And a vision came
Then I had another vision
And I new it was Bob Crane
I realized it was Bob Crane, an American actor
And Bob sang:
Bob started singing this:
Life is shit, life is shit
Life is disappointing
The world is shit, the world is shit
The world as a whole is disappointing
This is life as I know it
This is how Bob perceives life
And when my friend and I were done
After smoking drugs and conversing with one another
We went to rest upon the sun
We went to bask on the sun
Cause life takes from us the things we love
Life deprives us of what we hold dear
And it robs us of the special ones
It also takes away those who are important to us
And it puts them high where we can't climb
It places them out of our reach
And we only miss them all the time
As a result, we are constantly longing for them
And we sing:
And so we sing this song:
Life is shit, life is shit
Life is just disappointing
The world is shit, the world is shit
The world is equally disappointing
This is life as I know it
This is just how life seems to us
This is life as I know it
This is just how life appears to us
This is life as I know it
This is all we have come to understand about life
This is life as I know it
This seems to be the reality of the world
This is life as I know it
This is how we see things
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAVID SCHULTHISE, DEAN SABATINO, JOSEPH GENARO, RODNEY LINDERMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind