W.A.S.P. began following the demise of Circus Circus, a Los Angeles-based band featuring Blackie Lawless and Randy Piper. The original lineup of W.A.S.P. was formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 by Lawless, Piper, Rik Fox, and Tony Richards.
The first lineup did not last for long, as Rik Fox was let go and went on to join the band Steeler with vocalist Ron Keel and guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. He was replaced by Don Costa, the bassist in Richards' former band, Dante Fox (which later evolved into Great White). Shortly afterward, Costa also left the band and his position on the bass was filled by Brayden Parker. By the time they recorded their debut album "W.A.S.P.", Lawless had taken over on bass and Chris Holmes had joined on lead guitar. At the same time, guitarist Chris Holmes joined the band.
Shortly after the album's release in 1984, Richards was replaced by former Keel drummer Steve Riley. The group released "The Last Command" in 1985, before Piper left in July 1986. Lawless subsequently switched back to guitar, with Johnny Rod (real name John Tumminello) leaving King Kobra to take over as bassist. "Inside the Electric Circus" followed in October. A live album "Live...In the Raw" was released in 1987. Riley left during the subsequent tour to join L.A. Guns. He was replaced for future shows by a string of temporary substitutes. By early 1988, W.A.S.P. had started working on its fourth studio album with Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali.
The band's popularity peaked in the 1980s, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy metal bands. W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock themed image, lyrics and live performances. They have sold over 12 million copies of their albums.
The band was a prominent target in the mid-1980s of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) led by Tipper Gore, who at the time was wife of then-Senator Al Gore (D-TN), an organization that pushed for warning labels on recorded music. The band immortalized its fight with the PMRC on the song "Harder, Faster" from their 1987 live album, Live...In the Raw.
"I Wanna Be Somebody" was the most successful single from W.A.S.P.'s debut album. and It was ranked at No. 84 in VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs of All Time.
In October 2007, W.A.S.P. embarked on The Crimson Idol Tour, to celebrate that album's 15th anniversary. It is the first time that the album, often regarded to be among the band's finest work, was performed in full from start to finish. The tour kicked off in Greece, in Thessaloniki at the Principal Club Theater on October 26, 2007.
Blackie Lawless remains the only member from the original line-up. They released their most recent album in November 2009, entitled Babylon.
On September 21, 2012, the band celebrated the 30th anniversary of their first ever live show by kicking off a world tour at The Forum in London. The set for the tour was split into three sections: songs from the first four albums, a cut-down rendition of the Crimson Idol performance and a final segment for newer material.
I Am One
W.A.S.P. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But still feel like black spots in my space
You know that feeling of existential dread in the back of your head
No? Well maybe it's just mine
And I get lost in thought so often that reality is getting harder to find
And I dissociate for hours at a time
While my mind is hard at work creating stories from my hurt
But the thing that I'm creating's taking hours from my life
Cause any time away from my world is a distraction
Ain't a surprise that what I'm attracted to is mostly passion
Mostly others are lacking
But maybe someday, I will find the balance
Tell me one thing
Am I being dramatic or does everything feel like it's falling in place
Falling in place
But baby someday can you tell me the one thing
That I want to hear and make me feel like everything is falling in place
Falling in place
Falling in place
I could live a hundred lives never seeing your smile
And feel miserable until the one I do
You're the light of my current darkness
Sending orange lightning bolts directly to my heart with explosions of pink, yellow, and Blue
That tear the roof off and expose me to truth
Don't know if you'll ever know that these songs are all about you
But it don't really matter because I'm writing them anyway
I believe that you believe in me
And that means more than anything
You make me want to try again
Cause I can hear you call through the static
Even without the drugs, I'm still an addict
But maybe someday, I will find the balance
Tell me one thing
Am I being dramatic or does everything feel like it's falling in place
Falling in place
But baby someday can you tell me the one thing
That I want to hear and make me feel like everything is falling in place
Falling in place
Falling in place
Don't let your world go gray
Plant your flowers one seed at a time
And watch them grow
The lyrics to W.A.S.P.'s song "I Am One" express the feeling of existential dread and dissociation that the singer experiences in their life. They describe how they create stories from their hurt, and how the thing they are creating is taking hours from their life. The singer isolates themselves from other people because time away from their world is a distraction. They question whether they are being dramatic or if everything is falling in place. The lyrics also include a message of hope, encouraging the listener to plant their flowers one seed at a time and watch them grow.
Line by Line Meaning
It's been a while since I felt this great
I haven't felt this good in a long time
But still feel like black spots in my space
But there are still dark, negative things in my life
You know that feeling of existential dread in the back of your head
Do you know that feeling of being anxious about the meaninglessness of life?
No? Well maybe it's just mine
No? Maybe that feeling is unique to me
And I get lost in thought so often that reality is getting harder to find
I daydream so much that it's becoming harder to distinguish reality from my fantasies
And I dissociate for hours at a time
Sometimes I snap out of reality for hours and I lose track of time
While my mind is hard at work creating stories from my hurt
During those times, my mind is trying to make sense of my pain by creating stories
But the thing that I'm creating's taking hours from my life
But spending all that time on my fictional stories is taking away time from my real life
Cause I'm isolating myself, don't give many people time
Because I'm isolating myself, I don't give many people time or attention
Cause any time away from my world is a distraction
Any time I spend away from my created world feels like a distraction
Ain't a surprise that what I'm attracted to is mostly passion
It's no surprise that what I'm drawn to is mostly intense emotions, rather than real life
Mostly others are lacking
Most people in my life don't meet these expectations
But maybe someday, I will find the balance
But I hope that someday I'll be able to find a balance between my fantasies and real life
Tell me one thing
Can you tell me one thing?
Am I being dramatic or does everything feel like it's falling in place
Do you think I'm being dramatic or does it seem like things are finally coming together for me?
Falling in place
Things falling into place
But baby someday can you tell me the one thing
But can you please tell me the one thing that will make me feel like everything is going the right way?
That I want to hear and make me feel like everything is falling in place
The thing that I want to hear that will make me feel like everything is coming together
I could live a hundred lives never seeing your smile
I could live a hundred lives and never see your smile
And feel miserable until the one I do
And even then, I'd still feel miserable until I actually see it
You're the light of my current darkness
You are the thing that brings light to my current dark situation
Sending orange lightning bolts directly to my heart with explosions of pink, yellow, and Blue
Your presence electrifies me, and my heart pumps with different emotions at the sight of you
That tear the roof off and expose me to truth
That leave me feeling exposed and open to the truth
Don't know if you'll ever know that these songs are all about you
I don't know if you'll ever realize that all of these songs were written about you
But it don't really matter because I'm writing them anyway
But it doesn't matter because I'm writing them for myself, to deal with my emotions
I believe that you believe in me
I have faith that you believe in me and my abilities
And that means more than anything
That belief means more to me than anything else
You make me want to try again
You inspire me to try again, to strive for better things
Cause I can hear you call through the static
Because even through difficult times, I can hear your call and feel your support
Even without the drugs, I'm still an addict
Even if I'm not addicted to drugs or alcohol, I still have addiction tendencies
But maybe someday, I will find the balance
But I hope that someday I'll be able to find a balance between my addictions and real life
Don't let your world go gray
Don't let your world become depressing and colorless
Plant your flowers one seed at a time
Start small and work your way up to bigger things
And watch them grow
And enjoy the beauty of the process as they grow
Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Phabian Maldonado
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind