Song of the Day Redux, Day 5: Wake Up (Shabutie)

Shabutie – Wake Up

Wake Up is the final track of the 1999 EP, Plan to Take Over the World. Not related to the Coheed song of the same name.

The Content: A strong album closer. Oh man. One of the key lyrics is hard to make sense of. Lyric sites say that the first line of the chorus is "it's hard charger", which doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Not to say that Claudio hasn't used nonsense lyrics, but it doesn't feel right here. And lyric sites all just copy each other, word for word, so identical lyric site submissions don't verify the authenticity of the lyrics. I think he's saying "It's heart torture," which makes sense, but it's certainly up for dispute. It could be "It's a heart charger" which would make more sense than "hard charger".

He mentions his father in the first verse, as well as the title of the song. "Wake up Dad, I'm a man." That looks to me like what the song's about: Claudio's relationship with his father. We know how things went with his father's addiction and how Claudio integrated that into his music in SSTB, so it definitely makes sense that he'd bring that into his music a few years before that. It looks like the "I loved her so much I was afraid, and to sit here in the silence, listen for cries" would be about his concern for his mother when his father was using. In that light, I'd see "No, I'm never going higher" at the end as Claudio's resolution never to fall to his father's level.

The Music: Dat bass. Ohh man. Mic Todd's on fire here. This song is super funky. It's also more metal than the rest of the EP, so we could classify this song as funk metal. I do sort of get a Rage Against the Machine vibe from the instrumentals here. Claudio's vocals are excellent here, showcasing a lot of different styles, almost screaming at times, and then soaring into a higher melody with "I'm never going back there once again!".

The Part: Probably the heavy part of the intro for me. WAKE UP!

Wake up!

I'm on the inside
You can't punish the sane (how weak you stand)
I'm at your strong side
Wake up Dad, I'm a man (can you stomach this?)
I've licked the inside
Pierce the chest of a God!

It's heart torture [lyric sites say: "Who is the hard charger?"]
Liar, my fist in place, your mouth

You've been a bad dog
Locked in, moralize the sounds that surround my nerves
Twitching to please you
Try that shit again motherfucker I'll knock your teeth in

It's heart torture
Liar, my fist in place, your mouth
It's heart torture
Liar, come play my games, wake up.

And I'm never going back there once again
And I loved her so much I was afraid
And to sit here in the silence, listen for cries,
Oh, I've been denied

Oh man [I moan?], I miss you
Like a beggar to Christ, what I wish of you
Grown on the outside
It'll come out of our salary, in similar effect

Never fucking never
I give it back to you
Never fucking never
Yes back to
Never fucking never
Give it back

No, I'm never going higher.

Next up: Nauraushaun (Origins / Life Without You)