Their early sound was seen as very Do-It-Yourself take on Folk/Rock and had been retrospectively compared to punk music by some, subsequently however over the next few years the bands sound would become more refined and psychedelic.
The band was named by Kupferberg who borrowed it from the euphemistic substitute for the word "fuck" famously used in Norman Mailer's novel, The Naked and the Dead. Incidentally, the band is featured in a chapter of Mailer's book, Armies of the Night as they play at the 1967 march on the Pentagon in protest of the Vietnam War (with Scott Rashap on upright bass).
The Fugs were a satirical and self-satirizing rock band that performed at protests against the Vietnam War nationwide.
Their 1968 Transatlantic Records album "It crawled into my hand, honest" (TRA 181) also helped to make them more widely known on the European side of the Atlantic. (This album {minus LP artwork, of course,} is now also available as tracks 11 to 30 of "Electromagnetic Steamboat")
The band's frank lyrics about sex, drugs, and politics aroused a hostile reaction in some quarters, and enthusiastic interest in others. One of their better known songs was an adaptation of Matthew Arnold's poem, Dover Beach. Another was a William Blake poem.
The Fugs played their "final" concert of the 1960s in 1969 at the Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania with the Grateful Dead.
The Fugs, minus Weaver (plus Rashap), reunited in 1984 with several performances at the Bottom Line in New York.
A reunited Fugs toured in the fall of 2004, with Josh Lieberman on glass armonica in several Chicago performances.
I Want To Know
The Fugs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or break open
Our veins
Solely to know
Solely to know
Solely to know
Hunger
To feel
All of the skin
All of the skin
All of the skin
The thrill
Of the knowing
Has me
Out of my brain
I want to know
I want to know
Into our eyes
Hundreds of flash
Cause us to feel
The life in the sky
I want to know
I want to know
We drink
Or break open
Our veins
Solely to know
Solely to know
Solely to know
I want to know
I want to know
Please let me know
I have to know
Solely to know
Solely to know
The Fugs are a counterculture rock band that lived and played during the 1960s in New York City. "I Want to Know" is a tune from their debut self-titled album, released in 1965. The song's lyrics are cryptic, but they add to the overall vibe of the song. The song is about the need to know everything and the insatiable hunger that comes with it.
The song's first verse talks about self-destruction in the search for knowledge. The need to know is so great that the singer will go to extremes to achieve knowledge. They're willing to break open their veins, causing self-harm, to uncovering the truth. The intense imagery of the lyrics reveals a deep yearning to know everything, even if it's harmful.
In the second verse, the singer reveals that the hunger for knowledge is driving him forward. They want to feel everything, even if it requires getting beneath the surface. The thrill of the knowing is so great that the singer feels as though they're losing their mind. The chorus repeats the statement, "I want to know", revealing that the singer's goal is to find answers, no matter the cost.
Line by Line Meaning
We drink
We consume liquid
Or break open
Or physically damage
Our veins
Our circulatory system
Solely to know
Only to gain knowledge
Hunger
Strong desire
Drives me onward
Motivates me to continue
To feel
To sense or experience
All of the skin
The entirety of the body's largest organ
The thrill
The excitement or enjoyable sensation
Of the knowing
Of acquiring knowledge
Has me
Causes me to
Out of my brain
To be overwhelmed or driven to madness
I want to know
I yearn to gain information
Into our eyes
Through our vision
Hundreds of flash
Many bright, sudden bursts
Cause us to feel
Result in our experiencing
The life in the sky
The vitality or energy in the atmosphere above
Please let me know
I implore or request to be informed
I have to know
It is imperative for me to learn
Contributed by Connor S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bob
on I Shit My Pants
The song "I Shit My Pants" is not The Fugs, someone uploaded it with a Fugs album cover but it was a Canadian band named "Salty Seamen", it's available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vjOmICY2vg