Named after the 1932 Bela Lugosi film, White Zombie's musical style was sample-heavy, based around groovy riffs and Rob Zombie's snarling vocals. The samples that filled their records were mostly from obscure horror films, but used creatively to create a kind of carnival freak-show vibe.
Rob Zombie, still known at this time as Rob Cummings, supported himself through multiple jobs, including working as a cycle courier. Most famously, he was a production assistant on Pee-Wee's Playhouse, but he also worked as a designer on pornographic magazines. At this time, he became involved with Shauna Reynolds, another up-and-coming designer. Together they shared a love of classic horror and sci-fi, heavy music, and the weirder corners of American underground culture. They decided to form a band that would draw upon all these influences and White Zombie was formed. Rob took vocals and the name Rob Straker (later changed to Rob Zombie), while Reynolds became the bassist and assumed the name of Sean Yseult. They became the only constants in the often-fluctuating band line-up.
White Zombie best showed their signature style on their final two studio albums. La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1 and Astro-Creep: 2000 Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head were impressive displays of their sample/riff style, thanks to higher production values.
In 1998, Rob Zombie founded his own label, Zombie-A-Go-Go, signing surf and horror acts like The Bomboras and The Ghastly Ones, as well as compiling the mix album Halloween Hootenany. He was managing the new band of his brother Michael, now known as Spider One, the punk-tinged Powerman 5000, but also looked to his own solo career.
After huge opening week sales of his first solo album, Hellbilly Deluxe that dwarfed those of any White Zombie release, it was announced that the band had split up. Bassist Sean Yseult left to form female horror-rockers Famous Monsters and, later, Rock City Morgue. Rob Zombie went on to continued success with his solo music project, and new acclaim as a successful film director.
Grease Paint And Monkey Brains
White Zombie Lyrics
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Gambling with souls
Roulette on the wire
Ace is in the hole
I sink beneath the feeling
Moon is in my hands
A crooked wheel of Twenty-One
Laugh, yeah, drown and Laugh
Your life is over
If God is the dealer
Why do we never win?
A bloody mix of silk and mud
That starts all over again
No, laugh, yeah,
Drown and Laugh,
Your life is over!
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Clowns, they scare
The children
Roll around the
The ring, The
Animals they
Want to kill
Anyone, anything
Laugh, yeah
Drown and
Laugh,
Your life is over!
The lyrics to "Grease Paint and Monkey Brains" by White Zombie are a dark commentary on the seedy world of the circus, specifically the connection between gambling, death, and the exploitation of performers and animals. The opening lines describe the midway as a space where death is present, gambling with souls, and where the use of a crooked wheel in Twenty-One game is the norm. The singer struggles to understand it all, feeling overwhelmed by the experience, and sinking beneath the weight of it.
The chorus of the song serves as a warning that laughing and drowning in the chaos of the circus, whether as a performer or spectator or both, means that one's life is over. The bridge then speaks of clowns scaring children, animals that want to kill, and the bloody and never-ending cycle of a deadly mix of silk and mud, all with the bright carnival lights obscuring the darkness of the situation.
The song's lyrics highlight the brutal, often overlooked truth of the circus world, where the blurring of lines between entertainment and suffering can be hard to stomach. White Zombie does not shy away from the reality of what makes the circus so simultaneously captivating and repulsive.
Line by Line Meaning
Death is on the Midway
The presence of death is felt on the carnival grounds.
Gambling with souls
Taking risks with people's lives and well-being.
Roulette on the wire
The uncertainty and unpredictability of life.
Ace is in the hole
An advantage that is kept hidden and can be used at the right moment for success.
I sink beneath the feeling
Becoming overwhelmed with the emotions and sensations of the moment.
Moon is in my hands
Feeling a sense of control over a powerful force, like the moon.
A crooked wheel of Twenty-One
A rigged game of chance (blackjack).
I just don't understand, no!
Expressing confusion and frustration about the situation.
Laugh, yeah, drown and Laugh
Enjoying oneself fully in the moment, even if it means experiencing both joy and pain.
Your life is over
The inevitable and ultimate end to one's existence.
If God is the dealer
Questioning the fairness and justice of the universe.
Why do we never win?
Expressing the sentiment that life is a losing game.
A bloody mix of silk and mud
A combination of beauty and ugliness, or of high and low class.
That starts all over again
The cyclical, repetitive nature of life.
Clowns, they scare the children
The unsettling and disturbing aspects of seemingly harmless things.
Roll around the ring
Performing for others' entertainment and enjoyment, like circus animals.
The animals they want to kill anyone, anything
The primal, violent nature that can lie beneath the surface of all living beings.
Laugh, yeah, drown and Laugh
Despite the cruel and brutal nature of existence, finding a way to enjoy life to the fullest.
Your life is over!
The end is always near, so make the most of every moment.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JAY NOEL YUENGER, JOHN TEMPESTA, ROB ZOMBIE, ROB WOLFGANG ZOMBIE, SHAUNA YSEULT REYNOLDS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind