They began their career in 1991, cutting their first 7" record later that year with the lineup of Joey Vindictive (vocals), Johnny Personality (bass), Billy Blastoff (guitar), Dr. Bob (guitar), P.J. Parti (drums) and Erik Elsewhere (drums). The band would end up releasing 12 albums until July of 1996, when Joey Vindictive revealed that his health issues would prevent the band from going on. Luckily for him, he overcame his ailments to re-form the band in 2000, cutting a new album and overseeing the re-release of a significant part of their catalog. Dr. Bob died in 2003 due to a heroin overdose. Their song "The Invisible Man" was featured in the Ubisoft game Watch Dogs, where it attracted attention to restart the band once more in 2013, releasing a new EP titled Mono-Flexi, and to remaster most of their previous songs as Songbooks coming in volumes starting from I to III.
The Vindictives' website is currently down indefinitely.
Basketcase
The Vindictives Lyrics
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The lyrics to The Vindictives' song "Basketcase" are about the singer's search for a small gadget that they had once owned and valued greatly. The gadget is never explicitly named, but the singer's attachment to it is clear through lines such as "I had one once I really knew it well" and "That little plastic thing was in my pocket." The singer seems to be so fixated on finding the gadget that they say they "can't remember where [they] was when [they] last had it but if [they] did [they]'d never tell."
The chorus of the song, which repeats the word "basketcase" four times, serves to emphasize the singer's emotional state. They feel "hypnotized," "crucified," and "stupefied" by the loss of the gadget. At one point, the singer's neighbor drops a pink object on their lawn, and the singer goes to pick it up at dawn. It's unclear whether this object is meant to replace the missing gadget or if it's a completely unrelated item.
Overall, the lyrics to "Basketcase" seem to be about the human tendency to become attached to material objects and the emotional impact that losing those objects can have. The singer's search for the gadget is obsessive and all-consuming, and the repetition of the word "basketcase" in the chorus suggests that this loss has had a profound effect on their mental state.
Line by Line Meaning
Gadget gadget gotta get that little gadget, I had one once I really knew it well, can't remember where I was when I last had it but if I did I'd never tell.
The singer is obsessed with finding a gadget and says he knew it well before but doesn't remember where he last had it or wants to reveal it.
Basketcase, she left me hypnotized basketcase, she left me crucified basketcase, she left me stupefied basketcase,
The singer uses the word 'basketcase' repeatedly and claims that the gadget and the unidentified woman left him confused, affected and in a state of shock.
That little plastic thing was in my pocket, it's sitting right next to the phone, it broke in pieces cause I always dropped it, I feel like I got broken bones,
The singer reveals that the gadget was a plastic thing he always carried in his pocket near the phone but it broke into pieces, which causes him pain and suffering equivalent to broken bones.
I watched my next door neighbor through my window, she dropped a pink thing on my lawn, she used to work the winos at the peepshow, I went to pick it up at dawn
The artist confesses to creeping on his neighbor and watching her drop something on his lawn. He describes her past work and goes to pick up the thing she dropped at dawn.
Contributed by Kaitlyn W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.