Track Info. For America Must Be Destroyed

Listed below are information for specific tracks off of *America Must Be Destroyed.* All song descriptions and information taken from Genius, except the CD booklet info, which was taken directly from the physical CD's.

## Ham on the Bone

“Ham On The Bone” is a fast-paced thrash punk song with elements of grindcore.

The song has a double meaning, the straigh-forward, non-story meaning would simply be about mastrubation. In context with the story of *America Must Be Destroyed,* it describes the story of how Oderous Urungus's Cuttlefish of Cthulhu was taken away by the Morality Squad.

“Ham On The Bone” dates back to as early as 1988, where it was performed at a much slower tempo reminiscent of surf rock.

## Crack in the Egg

"Crack in the Egg" is a song about the birth of Oderous's "offspring"\*, a T-Rex named Gor-Gor. The song describes the birth and summoning process of the dinosaur, but eventually Oderous gets tired of the hatching process, and shoots the egg up with crack cocaine. This of which turns Gor-Gor into a ravenous monster.

## Gor-Gor

One of GWAR’s most popular songs, “Gor-Gor” serves as the summoning song for the band’s pet (or as Oderous calls it, his "offspring"), Tyrannosaurus Rex, Gor-Gor.

The intro of the song features a twisted rendition of the melody to “Rock-a-bye Baby”, a lullaby traditionally sung to soothe children and help them fall asleep. The live version from the *Tour De Scum* video features an extended “Rock-a-bye Baby” outro over shots of a slain Gor-Gor.

An 8-minute demo of an earlier version of the song from 1986 was released on the *Let There Be GWAR* demo album. A demo of the *America Must Be Destroyed* version was later released in 2006 on GWAR’s *Blood Bath And Beyond* DVD.

In 2004, the instrumental was re-recorded for the Codename: Kids Next Door episode “Operation: F.O.O.D.F.I.T.E.”, with re-written vocals performed by voice actress Grey DeLisle and the cast of Kids Next Door. “Gor-Gor” would later be re-recorded again in 2009 and released as a downloadable song for Guitar Hero 5.

## Have You Seen Me?

"Have You Seen Me?” juxtaposes two radically different musical styles. The verses are sung in a soft, smooth jazz tone broken up by single lines shouted by lead singer Oderus Urungus. The chorus is styled as loud, plodding metal and the interlude features a faster thrash style.

The sounds of conversations and cups clattering in the intro are typical of a busy coffee shop. The walking bass line and scatting put forth the imagery of a beatnik poetry jam, which is furthered by the music video where GWAR appears as a group of cigarette-smoking, sunglasses-wearing, monster beatniks.

The chorus line of "Have You Seen Me?" is in reference to the (formerly) common practice of printing pictures of missing children on milk cartons with the accompanying caption “Have you seen me?” Oderus Urungus is suggesting that he is the one responsible for the missing children.

The line in the second verse, " Just like Fatty Arbuckle. I'm gay and I'm proud!" makes a reference to Roscoe Conkling “Fatty” Arbuckle who was a famous silent film actor, comedian, and director. He wasn’t gay, but was once arrested for raping and murdering a 25-year old woman named Virginia Rappe in 1921. This brutal act aligns him with Oderus Urungus, who throughout this song describes scenes of rape and murder.

## The Morality Squad

Sung by Edna P. Granbo (Hunter Jackson), “The Morality Squad” is a classic rock-styled anthem for the titular fundamentalist crusaders. The end of the song features an homage to the legendary “Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!” radio ads, which were previously referenced in the bridge of “Techno’s Song”. The song’s music video, taken from *Phallus In Wonderland*, shows a rooftop fight between GWAR and The Morality Squad.

The Morality Squad made their debut during the 1990 Tour De Scum, where they interrupted concerts and attempted to destroy GWAR to stop their obscene ways. A voiceover by Granbo would play at the beginning of the show, shaming the crowd for attending GWAR’s “spectacle of debauchery”. Tiny would appear during “Maggots”, Father Bohab (who doesn’t have a presence on the song or album) appeared during “Sexecutioner”, and Corporal Punishment (originally named Private Parts) and Granbo would appear during “The Morality Squad”. For some shows of the tour where Jackson was absent, Granbo would be performed by Don Drakulich (Sleazy P. Martini), similar to how Jackson’s Techno Destructo character was handled during the late 80s.

Lastly, in the booklet for the original 90's CD of *Scumdogs Of the Universe,* the lyrics have written annotations and complaints, claimed to be done by Edna P. Granbo. In the corner of the booklet, she wrote:

> `"Dear Consumer,`
>
>
> `Edna P. Granbo here, leader of the ultra-right wing morality squad with words of warning. This album you have purchased is far from your typical rock band - it is the vilest and most depraved group of hell-spawn group since the Beatles! Yes, GWAR is attempting to insidiously take over the minds of young people and warp this planet into a seething cesspool of sin! Oh! This album, Scumdogs Of The Universe, is their latest attempt to dominate the mind of the world's youth, but DO NOT fear! I, Edna P. Granbo, have intercepted this album and have coated it with a special mind-altering drug which is seeping into your fingertips even as you hold it. This drug shall protect you from the effects of GWAR, but that is not enough! Reading the 'lyrics' sheet will uncover many blasphemies - so I have underscored and highlighted the juicy - I mean vilest parts so you can avoid them at all costs! GWAR MUST BE DESTROYED!`
>
>
> `Thank you,`
>
>
>
> `Edna P. Granbo"`
>
>

Due to the band’s changing roster and story concepts, “The Morality Squad” went unperformed for over 20 years before returning to the setlist of the 2017-2018 Blood Of Gods tour, where it was performed instrumentally during the final fight against tour villain Karen E. Beaujolais' GlomBot.

Coincidentally, “The Morality Squad” shares its concept and classic rock style with the Styx song “Heavy Metal Poisoning”, with both songs being about fundamentalist crusaders leading a moral campaign against sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The drum intro of “The Morality Squad” also bears many similarities to drum fills throughout “Heavy Metal Poisoning”. In 2020, current GWAR lead guitarist Brent Purgason (Pustulus Maximus) conducted an interview with former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung, discussing topics that included fundamentalist censorship.

## America Must Be Destroyed

This is GWAR’s first instrumental song, though it features heavy use of vocal samples from legendary African American slam poetry group The Last Poets and the 1964 Stanley Kubrick film *Dr. Strangelove*.

While ostensibly about various corruptions and injustices in America, the usage of samples relay specific messages about racial tensions, anarchy, and warmongering.

This song is rarely performed live, but the two most well-known times are after the defeat of Gor-Borg on the Slave Revolt Tour and some of the battles with Jewcifer in 2006.

## Gilded Lily

A punky thrash song, “Gilded Lily” is ostensibly about GWAR’s misadventures at “high society” parties.

The phrase “(to) gild the lily” means to try to improve something without reason, usually with a negative effect.

Whenever lead singer Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus) was not allowed to wear his usual Cuttlefish of Cthulu codpiece (usually for television appearances or concerts in places with stricter obscenity guidelines), he would don a toothy replacement he called the “gilded lily” or “mangina”.

## Poor Ole Tom

“Poor Ole Tom” is a slow, sludgy song about a miserable drifter named Tom who gets ruthlessly abused by everyone he meets.

The music video, directed by lead singer Dave Brockie, follows the story of the song. Near the end, Tom morphs into the Antarctic Ant, a monster that GWAR fought at their earliest concerts. The video was originally released on the *Twice The Violence* VHS, with audio of a live version of the song.

An early demo of “Poor Ole Tom” would be released alongside the music video as a bonus feature on the 2006 *Blood Bath And Beyond* DVD.

## Rock 'N' Roll Never Felt So Good

An obscene pastiche of classic rock songs, “Rock N Roll Never Felt So Good” tells of Oderus Urungus falling in love with a severely handicapped girl, kidnapping her, and performing a myriad of sexual acts on her. The limbless female main focus of the song was given the name “Latrina”, though that name is rarely referenced directly.

During the late 97-99 tours, GWAR instead brought out a Princess Diana character during the song as a way to poke fun at a member of the Royal Family dying a “commoner’s death”. (Dave Brockie would further voice his disdain for the public’s view of Diana’s death in “Lady Died”, the hidden track from DBX’s debut album.)

The descending portion of the end of “Rock N Roll” is routinely used to end the more “epic” songs during concerts, such as “Hell-O! Medley”. It was also used in the ending of “The Ballad of Vincent Bologlioni” off of *Slaves Going Single*.

The hanging subtonic D chord in the ending is a reference to the original unedited version of “Love Surgery”, which ends the same way. The concluding segment, a portion of the main riff of “Je M'Appelle J. Cousteau”, is a reference to how “Love Surgery” and “Cousteau” were performed live back-to-back during early 90s concerts, most notably on *Live From Antarctica*. The band occasionally omits the “Cousteau” riff when performing “Rock N Roll” live, instead choosing to transition into another song.

## The Road Behind

Written as a parody of “Patience” by Guns ‘N’ Roses, “The Road Behind” is GWAR’s attempt at a gentle power ballad featuring an acoustic intro with whistling and intentionally anti-sentimental lyrics. The chorus is sung by bassist Beefcake The Mighty, at the time portrayed by Mike Bishop.

According to an interview with Mike Bishop, “The Road Behind” was originally supposed to feature only him on lead vocals. Dave Brockie initially didn’t want to sing on the song, saying it was “too pop”, so Bishop tracked it as a solo song before Brockie changed his mind.

This song has become one of GWAR's more iconic and popular songs.

## Pussy Planet

This song features Beefcake the Mighty on lead vocals, and Slymenstra Hymen on backing vocals. It was written with the intention of being a duet between the two, before Beefcake took lead.

The title appears to refer to the Earth, stating that Earth is full of nothing but cowards. The lyrics, however, have nothing to do with it.

It features a fight at the end between Beefcake, Oderous and the Sexecutioner.