*I started this weekly review in 2012! I have been superlatively tardy. But, alas, it now comes to an end. BTW: This is one of my favorite punk rock records by the band Blaster the Rocket Man.* 

Today’s installment is over Tracks 16, 17, and 18 of Blaster the Rocket Man’s 1999 release, The Monster Who Ate Jesus.

Go here for initial comments on album and the linear notes.
Go here for comments on Tracks 1, 2, and 3.
Go here for comments on Tracks 4, 5, and 6.
Go here for comments on Tracks 7, 8, and 9.
Go here for comments on Tracks 10, 11, and 12.
Go here for comments on Tracks 13, 14, and 15.

Track 16 – Venus at St. Anne’s

Surf-rock/rockabilly mashup with gang vocals, “Up! Up! Up! Up!” in concert with hand-claps. The underlined portion of the C. S. Lewis excerpt below are the only lyrics to speak of, both passionately and tersely delivered before a time change slowly paves the way to the song’s conclusion.

Up!

“I deny the charge. Foam-born Venus…golden
Aphrodite . . . Our Lady of Cyprus . . . I never
breathed a word against you. If I object to boys
who steal my nectarines, must I be supposed to 
disapprove of nectarines in general? Or even of
boys in general? It might, you know, be stealing
that I disapprove of.”
– C.S. Lewis

Track 16 – Beehive Behave

Punk rock. Punk rock. Punk rock. The snare drum sounds like a stop-watch on Jolt! Lyrically witty, e.g., “Queen Bee says King me, honey.” Also, time change/bridge accents the allegorical observation: “Those worker bees buzz, buzz, buzz . . . No one knows why – it’s just – because . . .”

This is a tune for punk rock purists. 😉 In true punk rock convention, the song clocks-in at under a minute and fifteen seconds with the concluding imperative — “Beehive Behave!!!”

Queen Bee!
Queen Bee!
Queen Bee says King me, baby (2x)

Her Royal Monstrosity
hovers above me
I suffer the sting
beware!

Beehive behave! (many times over)

Queen Bee!
Queen Bee!
Queen Bee says King me, honey

Hive Mind
is hope for mankind
Flesh begets flesh
begets . . .

Beehive behave! (again and again)

Those worker bees buzz, buzz, buzz…
No one knows why
it’s just 
because . . .

Beehive behave! (to the end)

Track 16 – Baby Unvamp (is Making a Comeback)

This tune is the locus classicus of the Blaster the Rocket Man catalog. Musically: straight-forward punk rock, drum in the pocket. Feels (perhaps) somewhat Ramones-esque. Lyrically: just brilliant, just brilliant, man! The tune ends with repetitive chanting. Also, a couple John Milton quotes are thrown in for good measure. You don’t see that everyday in punk rock.

She’s comin’ back
She’s runnin’ back
But somewhere along the way
she decided to play the whore
in the mud once more
Forgotten what He shed His blood for
For her

She was burnin’ with a passion fire
that soon became a mire of sin
that locked her in
inside her self
“Thou are become (O worst imprisonment!)
The Dungeon of Thyself.”*
The chains chaffed
She bled until she said
Oh God what have I become?

“Myself my sepulcher. A moving grave.”*
I am a slave once more
A whore cryin’ at your feet
So incomplete . . .

Baby unvamp is making a comeback
She’s starting to run back
to the Father and the Son
The only One who loves her
unconditionally
with Grace and Mercy

She clings to the Cross of Death
The Cross of Life
Her only hope
The Cross of Christ

She remembers when she first met Him
She was kickin’ in a pool of her own blood
Coughin’ it up
When He picked her up
She gave self up
and He raised her up

Presented her to the Father
without blame
Made her His bride
Gave her His Name
Erased the shame
She’s not the same!

All we little unvamps
once were sluts, were whores, were tramps
But now we are the Bride
of Jesus Christ

She’s growing
She’s teething
and one day she’ll bite you till you’re dead!
dead!
dead!
Alive!
in Christ!
Forgiven.

* Both quotes from “Samson Agonistes” by John Milton

Well, that’s it. Sorta. Appended to Track 18 are some silly answering machine messages, candid “in the recording studio” dialogue, and a whimsical rendition of “March of the Macrobes.”