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.
The Terrible Monster
The Vindictives Lyrics
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The Vindictive's song, The Terrible Monster, explores the idea of a monster that lives inside the singer's head. The monster has three heads and a singular mission, which seems to be to gobble up everyone's ambition. This monster represents the singer's inner demons, and their struggles with their own self-doubt and fears that hold them back from achieving their goals. The singer questions themselves, doubting their abilities, and feeling like they are stuck in a vicious cycle of self-doubt that makes them feel like they are spinning around like a turd in a whirlpool.
The lyrics go on to say that sometimes the singer sits in a concrete pit, representing their feelings of being stuck and trapped by their own fears and doubts. But eventually, they come to the realization that the monster is full of shit, meaning that their fears and doubts are unfounded and not based on reality. The song speaks to the universal struggle of dealing with one's inner demons, and the importance of recognizing and confronting those demons to live a fulfilling life.
Line by Line Meaning
It's got three heads and a singular mission that gobbles up everybody's ambition
The monster represents the negative voice in our heads that sabotages our goals and dreams by consuming our ambition.
your questions stem from an error in playschool and now you're spinning around like a turd in a whirlpool
The negative voice in our heads stems from childhood experiences and can cause us to feel stuck and trapped in negative thought patterns.
and sometimes you'll sit in a concrete pit until you realize that the monster's full of shit
We may find ourselves feeling trapped and hopeless due to the negative voice, but eventually we may come to the realization that it is not based in truth or reality.
there's something wrong with the terrible monster that lives inside my head
The negative voice is not a healthy or normal part of our psyche, and acknowledging it as a problem is the first step towards overcoming its hold on us.
Contributed by Olivia G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.