I ended my trip with and overdose of art in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, Amsterdam. Here’s a bunch of shots from the newly re-furbished Van Gogh Museum. Enjoy!
Could you possibly explain the lyrics to "Sammy" to me? If there is a meaning that is.
It’s loosely based on Sammy Davis Jr., famous entertainer. If you don’t know him he was a member of the “rat-pack”, an African-American Jew, and was supposedly a member of Anton Lavey’s Church of Satan…besides that it’s just a crazy word-wiggle.
Spent the day at the newly renovated Rijksmuseum and it was fucking amazing. In yet another amazing coincidence of this trip, the Van Gogh and this museum just got major make-overs and opened up again within the last month. I was here about 15 years ago and I can say they have done an amazing job with the project. Even though they had tons of problems through-out the restoration, they finally persevered and the Rijks Museum has to be considered one of the finest in the world.
One of the most amazing things about the Rijksmuseum is that they let you get really close to the objects, and take pictures to your hearts delight. I must say I enjoyed it every bit as much as the Kubinka Tank Museum…tomorrow Van Gogh!
On Haunted Ground
On this haunted ground
Where spirits abound
And whisper to me in words
I cannot know the meaning of
But must try to understand
I have come five thousand miles
Met sideways looks and toothy smiles
To meet the fate that life has piled
Like a platter of shit in my life
This rebuilt land
Ruined and rebuilt by man
I watch a baby dance
Vietnam, Afghanistan
Is it always is the same?
A place, a name…
A bloody stain
Why must we fight our wars
Is it just another chore?
Or part of some infernal plan?
Are they ever justified
Are noble soldiers led by lies?
How can it ever be right
To burn someone alive?
Is this the fate of man?
To die and kill and never understand?
Or live just enough to save us from the sand
Of the hourglass, forever downwards
Propelling us forever forwards
To another war, another bloody fucking war…
I sit here and drink and eat
And yet know I’m not complete
Until I find the ghosts that haunt me
That terrorize and threat and daunt me
But now its just this restaurant and me
With friends I love and likewise see
This melancholy, is it folly?
I hear the battle cry - URRAH
Rise up, rise up, another volley
The shells are screaming in my ears
The babies laugh has turned to tears
As war continues grinding gears
There’s a supermarket standing there
Where once stood snarling
Russian bear
As I sit here drinking beer
People live here, amongst statues
While souls are calling from the ground
Can’t tell you what I found
In Volgograd, in Stalingrad
I was deeply moved by the “Hall of Honor” on Mamayev Kurgan, and was proud to acknowledge and offer my respects to all of those who died to break the back of the Nazi beast…not just the Russians, to all who served in what we can only hope is the last “great” war (including both of my parents). When we got back to the hotel that night, I wrote a little poem. It’s a bit of a departure from my normal style, this I admit, but I felt I had to put words to the feelings that were boiling within me.
On Haunted Ground
On this haunted ground
Where spirits abound
And whisper to me in words
I cannot know the meaning of
But must try to understand
I have come five thousand miles
Met sideways looks and toothy smiles
To meet the fate that life has piled
Like a platter of shit in my life
This rebuilt land
Ruined and rebuilt by man
I watch a baby dance
Vietnam, Afghanistan
Is it always is the same?
A place, a name…
A bloody stain
Why must we fight our wars
Is it just another chore?
Or part of some infernal plan?
Are they ever justified
Are noble soldiers led by lies?
How can it ever be right
To burn someone alive?
Is this the fate of man?
To die and kill and never understand?
Or live just enough to save us from the sand
Of the hourglass, forever downwards
Propelling us forever forwards
To another war, another bloody fucking war…
I sit here and drink and eat
And yet know I’m not complete
Until I find the ghosts that haunt me
That terrorize and threat and daunt me
But now its just this restaurant and me
With friends I love and likewise see
This melancholy, is it folly?
I hear the battle cry - URRAH
Rise up, rise up, another volley
The shells are screaming in my ears
The babies laugh has turned to tears
As war continues grinding gears
There’s a supermarket standing there
Where once stood snarling
Russian bear
As I sit here drinking beer
People live here, amongst statues
While souls are calling from the ground
I’ll try and tell you what I found
In Volgograd, in Stalingrad
Am I allowed to ask a follow-up question about the print store? I'm doing it anyway, I guess. How likely is it that you'll put up prints that are more child-friendly than the ghouls and gore (like the Infi-skull and Kitty Cone, for example)? I'd kill for any print, but at the same time- I can't corrupt every child (and Grandma) in my life.
Unfortunately I can only print the ones I have high-rez copies of and lots of those went out quickly before I had good scans. Will keep trying to scan and find some that aren’t quite so horrible!
Any chance of ever getting a Gwar cardboard cutout one day? I would love to have a full set for my humble apartment. I would at least want one of Oderus, but would love to have them all. Thank you kindly Dave. Slave#976 Richard Hoop
Working with a bus wrap company to try and do just that!
Are you coming back to Europe with Gwar soon Dave?
We’ll see…we don’t do that great there and the promoter canceled the last UK tour because nobody was buying tickets…which sucks because we love playing there. Hopefully the new album will get us back there.
Where/when/how did you come up with the word GWAR?
AnonymousGWAR came from the word GWAAARRRRGGGHHHJHLLHGH was what we called the band in the earliest days. It has no meaning, it’s pretty much just a war cry, or something you yell when taking a hard shit. We shortened it to get it on T-shirts…
