Initially a avantgarde thrash metal / prog rock hybrid, Thought Industry's signature sound is showcased on their first two albums; Songs For Insects and Mods Carve The Pig: Assassins, Toads And God's Flesh, however by the time of their third album Outer Space Is Just A Martini Away, the band had started to shed their metal roots and had moved into alternative and art rock by the time they recorded their fourth album, 1997's Black Umbrella. The band are known to have remained active as of 2001 but disbanded shorly after the release of their magnum opus Short Wave On A Cold Day.
Boil
Thought Industry Lyrics
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Dennis Hurley, guns and coffee. Lucky strikes.
Suede shoes. Polyester slacks cramped posture.
Staleman, frail hands. Shake caffeine palsy. Lame
Veteran korea grips breasts. Wife's breasts. Gorge
Bruised nipples. Welted glazed thighs. Half-gallon
Bourbon. Slit my intentions. Boil.
Octopus lentils, leeks, lamb cabbage, spinach, squash
Pie, prunes, and eggplant, curdled goat's blood milk,
Head cheese, rye roast. Peel shrimp fetus cold aborted
Daughter. Mormon. Right wing. House wives swallow
Dennis' love zanex. Wet sleep dead man. Slit my
Aspirations. Boil.
Me be itsy silly fluffy boy. Golly folly. Skippy
Trippie pixie slippy toy. Lolly polly. Shoot me.
Rat squeal secrets. Desade roleplay. Whipped skin
Hot back. Sidhartha cancer. Tock murders the lorax.
Shower head. Crammed fist. Launch crying children
Sprint deceptive off chin. Priss grin. Wipe cream crust
On the red white blue. L. B.J. kiss me. Slit my
Occupation. Boil.
[II) Burning Kalamazoo To The Ground With Zippo fluid]
Clear filthy water. Dung campus housing. Slumlord
Rule. Raise my rent. Pure cutesy water. Strappy vein
Bulging tight lamp cord. God of love. Don't travel to
Belfast, Ian. Arms poked bony skin. Plum badge of
Honor.
War hero. Suck. Stick. Right. Pregnant womb K'zoo.
Mud scene pie easy stroking farce. I'm not loyal.
"Step down Mr. and Mrs. Politically Correct. It's so
Easy to be "punk" and "aware" living at home. You
Can't change shit, you're too self-righteous; you're the
Bigots you flount to loathe."
Cappuccino, Darvans with vodka. Pente'. Zig Zag.
Courvoisier. Nitrous. Karaoke. Cornbread Patrick.
Albert Hoffman dreams a wind chime. Buck shot.
Limbau swill rot champagne. Swill granola holy. Meth
Sneeze blood hurl. Slit my education. Boil light.
Shoot me boy. Love's a prescription love feast.
Let's go sailing Mr. Hurley.
The song "Boil" by Thought Industry is an intense and complex piece that showcases the band's experimental approach to music, lyrics, and performance. The first section, "Eating Shit As An Occupation," offers a series of disturbing and surrealistic images that seem to criticize the dehumanizing effects of modern society, consumerism, and war. The main character seems to be a veteran suffering from PTSD who spends his days eating junk food, drinking alcohol, and watching TV. His wife is mentioned briefly, but her image is distorted and violent, suggesting that he may be projecting his own frustrations and traumas onto her. The lyrics also mention a range of bizarre and repulsive foods, such as lentils, eggplants, goat's milk, and shrimp fetuses, which may reflect the singer's disgust with his own body and sexuality. The final lines, "Slit my intentions. Boil," imply a desire for self-destruction or transformation, as if the character wants to escape from his meaningless and painful existence.
The second section, "Burning Kalamazoo To The Ground With Zippo fluid," shifts the focus to a more political and social commentary, criticizing the hypocrisy and ignorance of middle-class liberals who claim to be "punk" or "aware" but refuse to challenge the status quo or confront their own privilege. The lyrics attack the gentrification of urban spaces, the exploitation of tenants by landlords, the glamorization of drug culture, and the cooptation of counterculture by the mainstream media. The chorus, "Shoot me boy. Love's a prescription love feast. Let's go sailing Mr. Hurley," may be interpreted as a sarcastic or ironic invitation to embrace escapism, self-delusion, or fatalism, as if the band is mocking the listener or themselves for thinking that music or art can change the world or save us from ourselves.
Overall, "Boil" is a challenging and thought-provoking song that blends elements of punk, metal, jazz, and avant-garde music with surrealistic lyrics and intense vocal delivery. The band's members have stated in interviews that they were influenced by artists such as Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Black Sabbath, and King Crimson, as well as by genres such as prog rock, fusion, and noise. The song was released in 1993 on the album "Songs for Insects," which received critical acclaim but limited commercial success. The band went through several line-up changes and hiatuses but continued to release albums and tour until 2002, when they disbanded. In recent years, they have reunited for select shows and announced plans to record new material.
Line by Line Meaning
Dennis Hurley, guns and coffee. Lucky strikes.
Dennis Hurley is a man who enjoys guns and coffee, and he smokes Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Suede shoes. Polyester slacks cramped posture.
Dennis wears suede shoes and polyester slacks that make him uncomfortable by squeezing his posture.
Staleman, frail hands. Shake caffeine palsy. Lame
Staleman (an unknown person) has frail hands and shakes due to consuming caffeine, causing his movements to be lame.
Veteran korea grips breasts. Wife's breasts. Gorge. Bruised nipples. Welted glazed thighs. Half-gallon. Bourbon. Slit my intentions. Boil.
A Korea veteran is sexually aroused by gripping his wife's breasts and drinking half a gallon of bourbon. His intentions lead him to boil over with emotion and potentially violence.
Octopus lentils, leeks, lamb cabbage, spinach, squash. Pie, prunes, and eggplant, curdled goat's blood milk. Head cheese, rye roast. Peel shrimp fetus cold aborted daughter. Mormon. Right wing. House wives swallow. Dennis' love zanex. Wet sleep dead man. Slit my aspirations. Boil.
Various types of food are jumbled together in this line, but there is a disturbing image of a cold, aborted shrimp fetus that someone (perhaps a housewife who is a Mormon and right wing) peels. Dennis is mentioned to have a love for Xanax, which causes someone to sleep through sexual intimacy with a dead man. The artist is so disturbed by these images that he wishes to have his aspirations (and potentially his enemies) boiled away.
Me be itsy silly fluffy boy. Golly folly. Skippy trippie pixie slippy toy. Lolly polly. Shoot me.
The singer (or someone else) is expressing themselves in a childish manner, but then invokes a darker sentiment of being shot.
Rat squeal secrets. Desade roleplay. Whipped skin hot back. Sidhartha cancer. Tock murders the lorax. Shower head. Crammed fist. Launch crying children. Sprint deceptive off chin. Priss grin. Wipe cream crust on the red white blue. L. B.J. kiss me. Slit my occupation. Boil.
This set of lyrics is filled with disturbing images that are difficult to connect together. Perhaps they are meant to be random ideations of violence, sex, and rebellion. The culmination of the line leads the singer to want to have their occupation boiled away, which could be symbolic of wanting to have a fresh start.
Clear filthy water. Dung campus housing. Slumlord rule. Raise my rent. Pure cutesy water. Strappy vein bulging tight lamp cord. God of love. Don't travel to Belfast, Ian. Arms poked bony skin. Plum badge of honor.
The artist is experiencing life in poor conditions, with dirty water, poor housing, and a slumlord who raises their rent. However, they try to find beauty in the small things like pure water and a bulging vein. There is a passage that refers to God of love and advice to Ian to not travel to Belfast, potentially suggesting a religious or political rebellion. The artist also has a plum badge of honor on their bony skin, which could be related to their experiences with war or violence.
War hero. Suck. Stick. Right. Pregnant womb K'zoo. Mud scene pie easy stroking farce. I'm not loyal.
The artist might be a war hero, but they reject the assumptions of what people might think of them. They are critical of the pregnant womb in Kalamazoo, perhaps because of the poverty and struggles that are faced there. They see life as a farce and find the act of stroking it like pie in the mud to be easy. Ultimately, the artist rejects loyalty to anything.
"Step down Mr. and Mrs. Politically Correct. It's so Easy to be "punk" and "aware" living at home. You Can't change shit, you're too self-righteous; you're the Bigots you flount to loathe."
In this line, the artist is calling out those who claim to be politically correct or aware, but are not actively trying to change anything. They accuse these people of being self-righteous and hypocritical, suggesting that they are the same bigots that they claim to hate.
Cappuccino, Darvans with vodka. Pente'. Zig Zag. Courvoisier. Nitrous. Karaoke. Cornbread Patrick. Albert Hoffman dreams a wind chime. Buck shot. Limbau swill rot champagne. Swill granola holy. Meth Sneeze blood hurl. Slit my education. Boil light.
This set of lyrics is a list of drugs and experiences that likely involves partying and experimentation. There is even mention of Albert Hoffman, who discovered LSD. A list of food and drink follows, and then the singer expresses a desire to have their education boiled away or destroyed, perhaps suggesting that they are seeking something else, like hedonism, instead of traditional education or knowledge.
Shoot me boy. Love's a prescription love feast. Let's go sailing Mr. Hurley.
The artist ends with another provocative line, which references being shot but could also be seen as an invitation for adventure or excitement. They claim that love is like a prescription and a love feast, perhaps a commentary on the way we experience love and desire in today's society. Lastly, they suggest going sailing with Mr. Hurley, a reference to one of the earlier lines in the song.
Contributed by Noah O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.