So I heard this band, At the Drive-in, on the radio. I really was digging the two singles they had out, so I went and bought the CD. Looking over the lyrics, they’re like nothing I’ve ever seen from an alternative band, it reads like poetry, and just totally blows my mine. This is the song “invalid litter dept.”
That’s my favorite song on the album. Tpyed exactly as it is printed in the liner notes. I have absolutly NO idea what it means, and that’s one of the reasons that I decided to come here with it. Some of the phrases sound so cool, but together…? “beneath the hail of contraband,” “a stretcher made of cobblestone curfews,” “while the guillotine laughs again.” Those phrases are so sweet. Think any of you guys could help me to figger this one out? Thanks a lot
After the quote, what I was trying to say is that there are a lot of sweet phrases but I don’t understand the overall meaning of the song. The three lines I took from the song are not meant to be read together. sigh If only I could type…
I’ve seen the music video for this song several times. The entire thing is photographs of corpses and newspaper headlines. There are little facts that pop up on the screen, describing the Juarez slayings of Mexican women who work for American factory owners for a very low wage. These women are treated horribly and lots have been brutally murdered. None of the cases have been solved.
I hope you don’t mean that the lyrics are “sweet” as in “Awww, a kitty! That’s so sweet,” because they’re not. I think they’re very vivid, but very scary as well. They do a good job of painting a horrific picture. If you meant “sweet” as in “Sweet! Tony Hawk just did the 900!” then I guess the lyrics are.
P.S. Isn’t ATDI a great band?
P.P.S. I don’t mean to sound condescending in my second paragraph. Please don’t think I am.
I live close to Juarez, so the video is sort of hard for me to watch. But, ATDI is the biggest and best thing to happen to the area scene, well since the Bobby Fuller Four in 1966 - a long wait. And I don’t say that to be flippant. Its about time that this remote corner of North America gets some attention somewhere.
Every once in a while in Juarez there is an arrest, and the authorities declare the case to be solved. But eventually the killings start again. There is an Egyptian chemical technician named Abel Latif Sharif who has been rotting in jail for years there, supposedly he was the “ring leader” of the killers. (Apparently, as a foreigner he was a convenient scapegoat). Then the blame shifted to sex gangs who prostituted, then killed the women. Finally the bus drivers in the employ of the factories were the alleged killers. I think it is now emerging that there is no single killer or group of killers, but just a general sense of anomie going on in the slums in Juarez that is cheapening life. Most of the victims are women, between 17 and 25, from southern Mexico or central America, short, dark skinned, long haired (in other words indigenous); with no connections in the area.
Ironically, Juarez’ sister city El Paso has a very low murder rate for a city its size.
ATDI is awesome, and “invalid litter dept.” is also my favorite song from that album, but I have no idea what the lyrics mean to ANY of their songs. I just like to listen.
FireUnderpantsBoobs: Sorry bout the misunderstanding there, I was not using ‘sweet’ as in kitty, I was using it more as Tony Hawk ‘sweet’.
I honestly have not heard of any of the Juarez incidents, but with this information, I can kinda see what the lyrics are talking about. I don’t claim to understand them, but I think I follow sort of what they are tyring to say.
I’ve gotten more of a chance to listen to the CD more, now, and they rock like nothing. They’re quite awesome. However, I totally follow White Lightning, that I have no idea what most of the lyrics mean, but they’re great to listen to.
ATDI (Or, Rage Against the Fugazi, as I like to call them) –
It’s good to see they’re getting some notice, because they are better than most other bands you’re hearing about today. Having said that, I don’t care for them too much. Not that anyone asked.