Muse-ic Monday: In Defense Of The Undead

Hollywood Undead is one of my favorite bands. I started listening to them from the first time that I heard "Undead" on the radio nearly ten years ago.

CAUTION - This post might not be work safe or for children. It contains explicit content that may even offend some adults. You've been warned!

They caught my attention because they were this strange mixture of rap and rock, but they were different than anything I'd ever heard before. They bent the genre even more. They were funny, yet their lyrics were dark, moody, offensive, and sometimes extremely scary and depressing. They are a group of six dudes, (now five it seems. Oh well, I didn't even realize Duece was gone. Guess he wasn't as important as he thought he was.), who rapped/sang about smoking weed, drinking whiskey, bangin' sluts and toting guns. They have great singing voices but they can also rap and scream pretty damn well too. They also wear these crazy, creepy masks ala Slipknot.

I know, you're saying “Holy shit, that's totally creepy.”

Yeah, well not really. It's all fun and games. They're really just a group of pretty normal looking guys. See?

I think that's why I love them so much. You know all of their songs about being hardcore, gun toting thugs are most likely bullshit. But, they do it so well, while listening to the songs, you totally don't care.

Normally I'd call this a form of selling out or straight up lying to fans. As an audiophile I find honesty between bands and their fans to be crucial. But right off the bat you know they're just guys having fun who found an entertaining way to make great music and some money from their talents. I can respect that shit, yo.

I think they are most famous for their humorous songs about partying and shootin' shit up, such as “Gangsta Sexy”, “Everywhere I Go”, “Comin' in Hot” and “Dead In Ditches”. They're a band that gets you in the mood to party and have some fun.

Some of my favorite lyrics to “Everywhere I Go” are as follows. I can't help but giggle every time I hear them.

“Let's get this party jumping
Let's see some 40 chugging
I wanna see your booty rubbing
Against my dick when I start buzzing

Come on, girls, I wanna see you drinking
I wanna see your brains start shrinking
Make a move, I saw you winking
Drunken pussy's what I'm thinking

I don't give a fuck if you're drunk or not
Turn it up loud and feel the ambiance
Grab two hoes and do some body shots
I wanna party all night until they call the cops

Fuck a wristband, let's all do a keg stand
I'm like Cheech without the Chong hitting up the beer bong
When the cops show up, they're gonna get the finger
And I don't give a fuck 'cause I'm the designated drinker! “

-Hollywood Undead “Everywhere I Go”

Now let's all listen along together!

Another favorite party song, well, my personal favorite party song from them. It's just so fun to drink whiskey too & dance around with your friends. "Comin In hot"

Aside from great party songs the band has much more to offer than that. Every time I get a craving for them it's because of these fun songs and then I'm quickly reminded how all around bad ass they are. They have some seriously powerful lyrics.

“Pour me, pour me, pour me another,
It holds me, holds me,
Like no other,
One more drink, then I swear that I'm going home,
Truth is, I don't really have a place to go,
So pour me, pour me, pour me another.

I wake up right about the mid-afternoon,
With the sun in the sky but night's coming soon,
And I walk to the mirror just to fix myself,
Yeah life gets harder when you love nothing else,
So I pick my pills from the counter drawer,
Pick my self-esteem up off the fucking floor,
I guess I'm a man of no recourse,
As I crack another bottle, got no remorse,
And I'll say a little prayer for the child in me,
I swear I used to be what I truly believe,
That I'm not just a man with these broken dreams,
That even I could go to heaven,
If I part the seas...”

-Hollywood Undead “Pour Me”

Keep those speakers cranked up ya'll...I've got a few more of my favorite songs by them coming up back to back.

This next one is my all time favorite Undead song. It's beautifully dark and heartbreaking, laced with a little bit of hope.

(S.C.A.V.A was created by combining the names of two of their daughters, Scarlet (Danny's daughter) and Ava (J3T's daughter)

“When the end is getting closer
And the earth has burned the sky
Now repent 'cause it's all over
Just let me die

Here's the massacre
A mausoleum fit for me
Lived a hundred years
A hundred years I didn't see
Gave all my hope away
Is there any left for me?
Bombs are splitting atoms
What can the future bring?
We can fill a million choirs
And wait 'till children sing
We can walk a million miles
And end up in the sea.
And our lungs just keep filling,
And lying when we breathe.
The world's filled with liars,
Liars like me!
And I look at my child
It's finite – this feeling.
Eyes blue like the sky
I see all of this meaning.
I reach up to God
And I ask if I'm dreaming.
So sorry I don't have
Those things that you're needing
And darling a kiss
Kiss me. I'm leaving!

When the end is getting closer
And the earth has burned the sky
Now repent 'cause it's all over
Just let me die
As my body lies here broken
And I'm carried to the light
Now my heart is finally open
Just let me die!

Everybody says greetings and goodbyes
Everybody pays – no one knows the price
We know the price of sin
The sin of sacrifice
I know I'll sin again
But who can save me twice?
How much can we ask?
You'll get the answer first
How much can we kneel
With the air that chills the Earth?
The air keeps getting colder.
My knees keep hitting dirt.
The innocent can cry without the guilty getting hurt.
You ask who you love and you don't know, no, do you?
The spirit of God just passes right through you.
You gave away heaven handed right to you
And I can see it all. Tell me, is it true?
Kiss me, my darling. Darling, I need you.

Where do we go?
We go, oh, Lord, I don't know
Where we go?
We don't know
I don't,
Where do we go?
We go, oh, Lord, I don't know
Where we go?
We don't know

Lord, I don't know!

When the end is getting closer
And the earth has burned the sky
Now repent 'cause it's all over
Just let me die
As my body lies here broken
And I'm carried to the light
Now my heart is finally open
Just let me die!”

Holywood Unded “S.C.A.V.A”

So C'mon, once again sing along with me kiddies! This is made using Anime. Beautiful.

Another favorite is “Take Me home”. This video has an incorrect title listed and it's made using cool video game cut scenes.

Lastly, just to prove they are indeed different than any band out there right now, let's listen to “Bullet”. It's a depressing song about suicide set to the happiest tune you'll ever hear.

I guess what I'm trying to say by this post is that you should never judge a book by it's cover. Don't judge them by only hearing a darkly depressing song, or by only having heard a crazy party song. Don't brush off this band as some poser ass, white boys who've never gang banged in their life. Don't hate on them for wearing weird masks. The truth of it is that it doesn't fucking matter whether or not Charlie Scene has ever had a six-some while poppin' caps in the PoPo's ass... What matters is that they're capable of suspending our disbelief. And that's why I love them. Musicians are writers too and that's what we're all about. Suspending disbelief and sucking you into the worlds we've created. Hollywood Undead has mastered this skill and adding music to their stories only make it that more intense. Some are obviously fictional but I'd be willing to bet there are also some autobiographical songs in there too.

I can't stand "real" rap that talks about the same issues that these dudes talk about. Yet, when they do it I love it. It's not because they're white. It's because they do it in a humorous manner. It's fun. Don't be offended. 

They're also my go to music for when I'm being insanely destructive and crazy playing APB: Reloaded. They're music is literally perfect for that game.

Next April I'll be attending my first ever music festival with some dear friends, Welcome To Rockville, and I'm praying that they'll be playing. I'd kill to see them live! 

Watch the music videos that I've posted above, all of them, don't just stop after the first one. And then please leave a comment about what you thought of them. Are they only posers using gimmicks to make money or are they something deeper than that?

Author  ~  Whiskey Black

Listening to Hollywood Undead “From The Ground”