New York City (8/26) –
The new pop-protest single, “AIDS in My Tummy” was released today to mixed reviews. The song, which unabashedly rips-off the classic Archies song (“Yummy Yummy Yummy (I’ve Got Love in My Tummy)”) is rock band SOCIETY BLOWS! newest quest for chart success. The song isn’t all just good-humored pop fun though, as the lyrics reveal a decidedly political edge.
“Our music isn’t just about enjoying life or being in love or partying, because that’s just not what this world is about,” guitarist and lead-vocalist Zac Zanzibar told AN. “We make music that matters. Music that addresses the problems in this society, and where they came from.”
If there’s one thing “AIDS in My Tummy” does without hesitation, it’s point the finger. Where in the past songs like “We are the World”, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?”, and “Get Low” have all embraced an attitude of cooperation and dedication to a common goal – be it ending world hunger, achieving peace, or getting everybody laid – “AIDS” takes a different approach.
The song’s opening lyrics, “Yucky, Yucky, Yucky/I’ve got AIDS in my tummy/And I feel like blaming you!” don’t seem to leave a whole lot of room for ambiguity, especially when followed in the next stanza by, “I blame my lover/I blame my dealer/I blame the White House too!”.
“Solving problems is about finding out who’s responsible, and punishing those people,” said Argus Antichrist (keyboards/tambourine). “You can’t fix whatever it is that’s broken until you first find the guy who broke it.” Judging from the blank stares of modest confusion and potential disbelief on the faces of his interviewers, Argus cited a historical example to support the band’s stance. “Look. Back in the 1950’s, when all those witches were running around Virginia and turning people to stone and what not, did everyone all get together and talk about harmony and acceptance and sending s*** to Africa? No. They took those motherf***ing witches and they burned them at the f***ing stake.”
When told that there were a few inaccuracies in his statement, least of all that the Salem Witch Trials occurred hundreds of years ago, Argus responded:
“F*** it. This song is about AIDS, and where it comes from, and who’s behind it, and who’s to blame. It isn’t like it’s some stomach virus or cough that you just get because you come in contact with germs – AIDS is part of a bigger conspiracy involving an elaborate network of corrupt government officials, drug dealers, and articles three and six of the Patriot Act.”
When we asked songwriter and bassist Vlad Venderhorn where the real message in the song lay, he directed us to the second verse:
Yucky Yucky Yucky
We’ve got AIDS in this country
And I know what we have to do
Gotta ride to Congress
With a batch of Anthrax
And a pack of wild lions too
“It’s all about government culpability. There are so many problems in this country that can all be traced back to a lack of wherewithal in Washington. Drug addiction, weight problems, bird flu…it all comes right from the top.”
When asked if the band really advocated extreme violence and terrorism against the legislative bodies of this country, Venderhorn laughed. “Not at all really. Anthrax just fit with the rhyme and meter. And Zac really loves lions, so I put that one in there for him.”
But that doesn’t mean that the band is against exacting revenge for trespasses.
“This song is about finding out who’s responsible for your disease. Whether it’s George Bush, Tipper Gore, or a relatively dirty male prostitute who wasn’t without his charm, we just show our listeners the door. They are the ones who ultimately have to walk through it.”
Reviews of the single (released today as a single by Capitol Records and available next month on the band’s new album Sharing Needles) have varied tremendously. Some critics have called it “deplorable anti-establishment noise”, while others have labeled it as a “completely unnecessary revamp of a song that no one even liked in the sixties”. Several notable publications felt that it was “not worth a review”. Perhaps the most startling thing about the record is that it seems to be severely at odds with some of the band’s earlier work, including hits like “There’s No Risk in Doing H”, “You Can’t Spell Disease without ‘You’ and ‘Me’”, and “Let’s All Just Get Really F***ed Up and Have Unprotected Anal Intercourse”.