Flashing forward to late 2009, the first VE album is inching ever closer and prime 'Evils Graham Crabb and Adam Mole took a third stab at a PWEI reunion in honour of the band's 25th anniversary. The other three erstwhile Poppies couldn't commit to it and didn't see it ever happening; they did, however, seem okay with Crabb reviving the PWEI name. Behind-the-scenes jiggery-pokery took place and, with all of a month left before the planned March 2010 release of Vive Le Vile Evils, Crabb and Mole dissolved their duo on friendly terms and a new PWEI sallied forth.
Over the course of the Vile Evils' five-ish year reign of terror, the band's lineup changed semi-regularly. Initially a three-piece (with former PWEI drummer Fuzz Townshend), they parlayed the songs which would have formed the basis of the 6th PWEI album into a 2006/7 tour of the U.K. (along with unsung 'Evils Luke Mole and Matt K). Townshend departed somewhere during the band's extended stretch in the studio in 2007, but come 2008, recordings began trickling forth. February 2008 saw the release of "Council Housed and Violent", a collaboration with U.S. act 3kStatic, which reworked parts of their own first single, "Fucking & Fighting", which found its way to market a month later. Separate videos were made for each version.
The second release, at the end of June 2008, samples Zombies legend Colin Blunstone on vocals, in a drastic reworking of The Zombies "The Way I Feel Inside" acapella. (According to Crabb, "The Zombies were very kind in giving permission to use the vocal, probably because their publishers weren't so kind & insisted on 100% of the publishing.") Two months later, the "No Fear" remix disc was released, and "Demon", a collaboration with Mansell, was scheduled for release shortly afterward. Plans being plans, however, it got delayed a bit and didn't taste sunlight until February 2010, when it emerged as a "split" single with an updated version of PWEI's "Axe of Men" as a b-side. At the time of this writing, there are no plans for any further Vile Evils releases, though American label dPulse have made the artwork for the aborted album available for downloading in the short term.
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Wasted
Vile Evils Lyrics
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Forever laid out wasted, wasted
A little reminder on the kitchen floor
A little reminder and I'll tell you more
A little reminder up against the wall
A little reminder and I'm ten feet tall
Forever laid out wasted, wasted
Forever wasted
Forever laid out, forever wasted
Forever laid out, forever wasted
Forever laid out, I'll be wasted and laid out forever
A little reminder, a little reminder
Mine, all mine, all mine to remind you
Forever laid out I will be
Forever laid out wasted, wasted
A little reminder on the kitchen floor
A little reminder and I'll tell you more
A little reminder up against the wall
A little reminder and I'm ten feet tall
Forever laid out I will be
Forever laid out wasted, wasted
The lyrics of Vile Evils's song Wasted describe the state of being utterly consumed by addiction, to the point where the only conceivable future is one of being 'forever laid out wasted'. The repetition of this phrase - 'forever laid out I will be / forever laid out wasted, wasted' - emphasises both the inevitability and the despair of the situation, suggesting that the singer feels completely trapped and without any hope of breaking free.
The chorus is punctuated by a series of 'little reminders', which are perhaps the moments of clarity or brief pauses for reflection that sometimes accompany addiction. These reminders seem to generate temporary feelings of power and invincibility, represented by the assertion that 'I'm ten feet tall'. However, the overall impression of the lyrics is one of bleakness and hopelessness, with the repeated refrain underscoring the sense of futility and resignation.
Overall, Wasted is a stark and unflinching depiction of addiction, with lyrics that offer no easy solutions or happy endings. This raw honesty and intensity is characteristic of much of Vile Evils's work, and contributes to their reputation as a band that refuses to shy away from difficult subjects.
Line by Line Meaning
Forever laid out I will be
I will always be sprawled out and incapacitated
Forever laid out wasted, wasted
I will always be in a state of intoxication and unable to function
A little reminder on the kitchen floor
A small clue left on the floor to remind me of my actions
A little reminder and I'll tell you more
If you give me a little reminder, I'll confess to more misdeeds
A little reminder up against the wall
A little something to jog my memory when I'm backed up against a wall
A little reminder and I'm ten feet tall
A small memory can give me confidence to deal with anything
Forever wasted
I will always be in a state of intoxication
Forever laid out, forever wasted
Perpetually incapacitated and under the influence
Forever laid out, I'll be wasted and laid out forever
I'll always be drunk and unable to function properly
A little reminder, a little reminder
A gentle hint to help me remember my reckless behavior
Mine, all mine, all mine to remind you
It's my responsibility to remind you of the consequences of my actions
Contributed by Gabriel G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.