From the psychedelic classic “Outcognito” album by Flaubert and the Fleabettes. At this time Flaubert was feeling a little oppositional, probably due to his excessive use of cocaine. Accused by his band members of “wussing out” with a recent series of acoustic forays, he came into the studio one morning, picked up his guitar, and in a few brief moments sketched out the bare bones of this infamous return to form, an uncompromising, no-holds-bored hard rock song.
One of the Fleabettes, Freebie “Flight Risk” Foamcorps, reports that he wrote the lyrics in direct response to the Thamesmen’s “Gimme some Money.” In the pre-Spinal Tap years, Nigel Tufnel was accustomed to mooch off other bands in the rehearsal spaces they shared. According to Flight Risk, he apparently hit up Flaubert once too often.
No matter what the exact provenance of the lyrics, they represent a striking new low in Flaubert’s mix of strange, hostile alienation with weirdo ideas of Buddhist nothingness.
When asked in later years if Flaubert felt bitter when he wrote this song (the band was indubitably on the skids at the time) he said, “Whaaaa?”
Lyrics:
I got nothing Inside of me I got nothing That’s the way it’s gotta be I got nothin’ At the end of the day If there’s nothing there You can’t take it away I got nothing Inside of me Got nothing That’s why I’m free And if bad should come I’m totally numb You can’t keep me Underneath your thumb I got nothing Nothin to hide When nobody cares how you feel That’s about the time the world gets real Got nothing inside of my head The part that cares is pretty much dead I got nothin’ that’s where I’m at I live where all the lines are flat Don’t ask me for sage advice The only thing I got is ice When nobody cares how you feel That’s about the time the shit gets real Got nothing inside of my head You can’t kill me ‘cause I’m already dead I got nothin’ that’s where I’m at I live where all the lines are flat Don’t ask me for sage advice The only thing I got is ice
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