"It's just about how hard it is for kids to grow up today. They're inundated with the media and images and cliques they try to have to fit into. Two images that are really strong for me lyrically are `ordinary's just not good enough today,' and when I think of kids today, I would Never think of a group of eight-year-olds going out to a baseball park and throwing the ball around.
"It doesn't happen any more. I have a nine-year-old brother; he's either inside playing Nintendo or staying up late on a school night watching Beavis & Butt-Head. And you juxtapose that against the old Superman, on the black and white series. He was a real hero, good values, strong willed, a gentleman, but I think Beavis & Butt-Head wins today."
"Hey, you all remember that game where you're, you're like 8 years old or 9 years old, You'd be walking home from 4th grade, Remember 4th grade? Remember your 4th grade teacher? mine was Ms. Bealak, she was a real bitch. Remember 4th grade and you're walking home right, all of a sudden you're jumping, like this, right? You're avoiding the cracks, you're not steppin' on the cracks because, remember that game?,Don't step on the cracks, don't break you're mother's back, well we're playing in Denver, it's hot as shit and we're all exausted by the heat and all, Mike and I are walking right, and we start hopping over the cracks like a bunch of idiot's, hold on, you don't understand, In my crazy head i start thinking about this silly kids game, it's supposed to be this silly kids game where you hop over the cracks, you don't break your mother's back, I'm thinking: you know what this isn't a game, this is like preparation for being an adult, or being like a teenager, and what happens, hold in, is those cracks become the math exam you failed, or the girlfriend or boyfriend, and now you're having a baby, They're pregnant, or the day your parents sit you down and tell you that they're getting a divorce. Those are the cracks that you have to hop over, you guys get that? this is what I'm thinking, and you're mother's back becomes your back. And no shit that it is to hard to take and sometimes you're gonna break right? Well this next song is about those days when you feel like you're surrounded by the cracks, they're all around you, It's called 'carnival'"
Raine's friend was showing him the gun...
Raine's hands were shaking because he had never held a gun before...
His friend took the gun back and removed the clip, but there was still a bullet in the chamber. Raine did not know this...
His friend went to take a shower, leaving Raine to look at the gun... While his friend was in theshower, Raine thought it would be cool to pretend he was Starsky fromStarsky and Hutch, so he snuck up on his buddy. As his friend got out of the bathroom Raine jumped out and "BANG!".....but he didn't pull the trigger.
Everything up to here is true. Raine says he dreams a lot aboutalmost killing his friend. When he tells this story in concert, herecites it like the dream shows him, so when he gets to the part where he pointsthe gun at his friend he tells the audience that he "blew his brains out!"
His friend is not dead, but Raine dreams of shooting him and that is the story behind the Big Dumb Rocket
This song is a true story about a friend of mine. We were down south staying at a friends house and this one person had a really cool looking gun. He told me it's a Beretta. It's like a handgun, a real gun right. So my friend is in the garage or is out in the back or something and I'm playing with this gun. I used to be this super huge Starsky and Hutch fan. So I'm holding the gun thinking I'm pretty cool I guess. I take the clip out because I don't want to hurt anyone obviously. So I put the clip back in the box thinking I'm fine. So I go and sneak behind this corner and I can see him with my left eye and i'm gonna scare him when he comes by. So my left eye can see him, and my left eye see's him turning the corner, and I'm holding the gun like this, like Starsky would. And he come's around the corner and I say Bang! and he falls and he's almost in tears. He's laughing and crying, he's not sure what to do. I just pointed a gun at my best friend alright. But everything's ok because I took the clip out. But I guess these Beretta's are famous for having 13 bullets and there's a bullet still in the chamber.
How are you guys doing this evening? So how many people here have younger brothers or sisters here? That you're going to go home and beat the shit out of? I have a younger brother...we did that until he got bigger than me, but most of our songs are about just that i, try to write all the lyrics that just specifically talk about pounding your siblings...but this next song is about going home, maybe even this evening and giving them a hug, it's called Clumsy.
This song contains the Lyrics: "Over there, he's the rubberman, a rubber dress with Betty Page eyes". Betty page was a 1950's pin-up model. She is said to be one of the most photographed people other than Marilyn Monroe herself. Betty Page mostly posed nude for lingerie. Sometime in the late 1950's, she stopped modelling and disappeared. Many different rumours circulated as to her whereabouts. Some believed that she was dead, but it was generally believed that she left business to become a mother and homemaker in Florida. To this day, Nobody knows the truth as to what happened to Betty Page, however, she still remains part of the imagination of many authors and screenwriters. Frequently, they use her name for one of the major female characters. In the disney film "the Rocketeer," Betty Page was suposed to be the name of the female lead. Disney lawyers preveneted this and caused a name change for this character. You see, Lawyers feel that since Betty page was a real person/public figure, she might still be out there waiting to claim her rights (and money due to her.) So to avoid lawsuits, her name usually never makes it to the final draft. I'm not sure if thats what the writer of this song was thinking when he wrote it. Another interesting fact: Betty Boop was actually a spin off of the 1950's pin up model Betty Page. They got the idea of Betty Boop from Betty Page.
