The Widow Makers - War! War! Constant War!

It might seem a little off that a band that calls themselves The Widow Makers writes and performs a song like War! War! Constant War!, and the final lines of  the song show that the band thought of that too, and they address it: 

We call ourselves The Widow Makers, just a heavy metal band you see,

But you sons of bitches are the widow makers.... of reality!

Obvious what the band's take is on the recent developments in the Middle East and the ongoing conflict with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The band is based in Great Britain, but their song implies that there is always the possibility of war spreading to other countries, including their own. 

In this style of music, the rhythm and music can sometimes seem to be more important than the lyrics. At least to some of our 'old' ears that grew accustomed to different styles of music. We're being diplomatic; plain speaking, the music is so loud that we can't hear or make out the lyrics, and even when we can the meaning of the lyrics can be hard to decipher. The band has taken especial care to have the singer's voice and the lyrics heard, and the meaning of it all is pretty clear!  

Ones who say they're for peace are the ones that bring about war
They've started yet another one, we're not sure what they're fighting for
Over a parcel of land compared to the size of the earth
Is tiny and inconsequential, how much could it be worth?
War, war, constant war!
Wars don't end before the next one begins
Carrying on mankind's deadliest sins
Get the artillery ready, guns big and small
Fight for the peace that we demand for all!
 
Leader of one of the largest countries on earth
Invaded a neighbor, how much is it really worth?
Ego and power, land grabbin' and murder
Been fightin' for years against a brave defender
War! War! Constant war!
No end in sight for the aggressive bear
Who tries to grab and steal, keepin' armies there
While the leader of the U.S. grows green with envy
And helps another war-monger to start more frenzy
 
Leader of what used to be the world's great democracy
Started bombs flying and refused to let anyone see
What was going on with his Israel leader tryst
But he couldn't give the plan cuz it doesn't exist!
War! War! Constant war!
Been only days, but now they all reassure
Only take a few days, maybe a few weeks more
We'll create regime change, like we did in Iraq
We're awesome warriors! We really rock!
 
War! War! Constant war! Beg yer pardon, we seen it all before!
Pat the troops on the back,give them plenty what's for!
If they do come back, fuck them over like you do
Aid war-mongers, be in league with murderers...
Because you are one too!
War, war, constant war!
We call ourselves The Widow Makers, just a heavy metal band you see
But you sons of bitches are the widow makers.... of reality

The Widow Makers - Baby, Gonna Rock Ya

Classical stringed instruments have been crossing over into other genres from classical for a long time.

  The Beatles in the 1960's used them, just one example of bands before and since that have. We're no rock music historians, but this just may be the first time that band members themselves played the stringed instruments of a string quartet, 2 violins, viola, and cello, on a recording. The other examples we can think of usually used outside musicians. 

The core players of The Widow Makers, 4 young men that went to music school together, are the ones that play on the recording. They did have to have a few other musicians fill in for the group. These 4 musicians have been playing classical string quartet music together since music school, so it's a natural thing for them to incorporate it into their rock music. Their latest song Baby Gonna Rock Ya is not what you can call innovative or original, but the music is the thing in this song. The words are kind of just along for the ride, in our opinion.

Yeah baby all the mornin' long!
Carry it over to afternoon
End up the whole damn daylong!
Until ya roll over and swoon!

Yeah baby, gonna rock ya!
Like you never been rocked before
Never ending rockin' and roll
Until yer really damn good and sore!

Gonna do it all brash and loud!
Non-stop with lotta soul and sound
Gonna play it hard and make ya proud
The roarin' music will abound!

Yeah baby, gonna rock ya!
Like you never been rocked before
Never ending rockin' and roll
Rock ya til' yer damn good and sore!

All mornin' long! Gonna rock ya!
In the afternoon! Gonna rock ya!
All damn daylong! Gonna rock ya!
Make ya swoon! Gonna rock ya,!

Ya know baby, gonna rock ya!
Like you never ever been before
Long lastin’ rockin' and rollin’
Til yer really damn good and sore!

The Widow Makers - Sooner Or Later

 We've got it on good authority from our associate in Britain that knows the band members of The Widow Makers that they are a laid back group, pretty much home bodies when not touring or playing a gig. Somehow that doesn't jive with their seeming  obsession with death centering in the songs they've sent to us. Make no mistake, they're fine musicians, some of them classically trained. So why heavy metal, why so many songs about death? We're not sure, but they're not the only ones to be obsessed with the end of us all. Philosophies and religions of the world have been trying to make sense out of death as long as there has been humans with the brain capacity to contemplate it. Some are afraid of it, which to our minds makes no sense. Of course fear of the unknown in general is a human trait, but the inevitable is what it is: The End. Period. Whether you believe in anything after death, that is your decision. To our minds, there's but two possibilities; Either there is some form of awareness after death, or there is not. If there awareness, we'll have to deal with that when it happens. If there is no awareness, then it doesn't matter because you won't know it any way. So maybe the band's attitude is the healthy one to take. Explore it, don't deny it, roll with it, create because of it. Death really is life's last  great adventure.

The swirling, evil maelstrom
Spins over all of your heads
You think you are immune from it
But sooner or later you're dead!

Realize your mortality
No one gets out of this alive
No matter what you may believe
No matter how hard you strive!

Boogie on, pathetic human
The scythe wielder
Has your number and address
He is a perfect yielder

Come to terms, ignorant human
Come to terms with your death
Come to terms, with your passing
Come to terms with your last breath!

Realize your mortality
(Come to terms!)
No one gets out of this alive
(Come to terms!)
No matter what you may believe
(Come to terms!)
No matter how hard you strive!
(Come to terms!)

The swirling, evil maelstrom
Spins over all of your heads
You think you are immune from it
But sooner or later you're dead!

 

 

The Widow Makers - The Storm

 The Widow Makers with their latest song The Storm shows a folksong-like quality. There is a prominent part for the violin, something not usually associated with rock bands, but we know some of the members have a history of playing together in a classical string quartet.  They've used the violin before, as well as the cello in their songs. Another group of our artists that shows their versatility, and perhaps maybe sometime they could include a string quartet in a rock song.

 When the storm clouds start to gather
What you do is totally naught
You'll find it don't really matter

With terror you will be fraught

The wind, the rain, the lightning
Are completely disconcerting
And the people that choose to stay
The wind will take and blow away

Lay on your back in the meadow
The rain fills your mouth and your eyes
The river rises and starts to flow
Despite your gurgling cries!

The wind, the rain, the lightning
Are completely disconcerting
But the people that choose to stay
The wind will take and blow away

True to form, the powerful say
The dead they deserved to die
It's merely the price that they pay
For not being special like I

The storm does not affect the worthy
It ends for us like a bad movie
No matter what the worthies say
They're still gonna die anyway!

The wind, the rain, the lightning
Are completely disconcerting
But the people that choose to stay
The wind will take and blow away

The storm does not affect the worthy
It ends for us like a bad movie
No matter what the worthies say
They're still gonna die anyway!

The wind, the rain, the lightning
Are completely disconcerting
But the people that choose to stay
The wind will take and blow away

The Widow Makers - Beware The Black Widow!

 Our resident hard rock band is in Great Britain, has never made a tour of the U.S., but they plan on doing one soon. In the meantime they keep us supplied with their latest creations, this one concerning the hazards of the Black Widow spider! Contrary to popular belief, the bite of a black widow is seldom lethal, but that wouldn't want us to try a bite to find out! Their bite is still quite toxic and can cause some nasty symptoms like muscle cramps and spasms, muscle pain, abdominal cramps, excessive sweating, and heart rhythm issues. These symptoms can last from 3 days to weeks! Very rarely is there a fatality caused by the bite, usually in someone with complicating health issues. 

And the band draws a parallel between the perils of the spider and...a woman, in that the female black widow spider kills the male after mating and cannibalizes it!  Probably not going to make this a popular song among women, but among hard rockin' ladies, who knows? This song is unique in that one of the band members plays an amplified cello that can be heard in the introduction and continues throughout. Their previous song Take No Prisoners used an electric violin. We've learned that 4 members of the band went to music school together, and had a string quartet for a few years that played extensively at the school and other venues! They played most of the standard string quartet repertoire, and how they came to shift their focus to hard rock must be an interesting story we here at Big And Tall Records hope to hear some time!

Look at the black widow spider 

Weaving her net of doom and death 

Waiting to catch unwary prey 

To deprive them of their last breath

 

 She weaves silk that is sheer and strong

 In patterns that hang in the air

 So fine that it cannot be seen 

By anything traveling near 

 

When her web begins to vibrate 

Then she no longer lays in wait 

She springs to action once again 

As her doomed prey struggles in vain! 

 

But remember , it's the female 

That hangs in her web so high 

Her bite can make you very sick 

And in rare cases makes you DIE!!! 

 

But she has a real special bite 

For when it's time for her to mate 

When the situation is right 

Her mate suffers a terrible fate! 

 

She kills the male after the deed 

And then tears him apart to feed! 

She finds it all amenable 

To turn into a cannibal! 

 

 BEWARE!!! BEWARE!!! OF THE FEMALE!

 CHOOSE WISELY! YOU MAY END UP

 LIKE A MALE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER!!!

The Widow Makers - Take No Prisoners

Our resident heavy metal band, The Widow Makers, sent us their latest from across the pond. Seems they're getting more popular in their locality and we're glad to spread their work in the U.S. Most of us here at Big And Tall Records are no what you'd call the biggest of heavy metal fans, but we like to be open minded and give our listeners a good mix of music options.  Like we mentioned in a previous post about this group, their lyrics are dark, and their language is rough (and some of it incomprehensible to many of us old timers!) but there's a definite fan base for this music. We'll continue to keep our ears open for different musicians and music. It's what we do!

 

We don’t take no fuckin’ arse freaks 

We don’t take no poofy darlin’s 

We don’t take the weak or the meek 

We ain’t takin’ any Merlins 

 

Why are we The Widow Makers 

Cuz we don’t give ya no quarter 

Ya follow us, you’ll find out why 

We always make yer women cry! 

 

We don’t take no he man arse holes 

We don’t take no purple Percys 

We don’t take them playin’ game roles 

We ain’t showin’ any mercy! 

 

Ya wanna rock hard, we’ll take ya!

 Wanna fuck things up, we do too 

Cause havoc, anarchy as well 

Do stuff that’s right out a the blue? 

 

We don’t take no dainty doilies 

We don’t like any macho men 

Don’t want disguntled employees 

Ain’t sure, then we’ll tell ya again 

 

We’re fans of ambiguity 

We sure as fuck will not deny 

We’ll rock ya so god dam hard

 You’ll fall over, and ya will die! 

 

Yer woman will see ya sprawled there 

With yer cold dead eyes as they stare 

She’ll run her fingers through yer hair 

Find out half yer skull isn’t there…! 

She’ll start to scream and cry out NO! 

Why ya could not taken it slow! 

It is such a terrible blow 

Yo! Yo! Yo! Yo! 

Are you up there, or down below?

 

The Widow Makers - We're The Widow Makers

One of our associates travels to Great Britain across the pond once a year on vacation, and one night he had a chance to see a local band in the town he was in. He went, he liked them, the band had a file of one of their songs so he sent it along to us.  This associate is a big fan of Hard Rock music, and we'll have to take his word for it, as we don't really know the exacty genre it is. But it's pretty loud and has a pounding beat. This is the first recording of this type of band for us here at Big And Tall Records, so we decided what the hell, let's give it a shot! The band's name is The Widow Makers, and our associate sent along pictures of them, but he assured us they're decent lads, just like to listen to and play 'kick ass music' (no doubt a technical term!) It's early yet, but there's been some definate interest in the recording. So we may be adding more artists to our catalog!

We're the band the widow makers 

We're for real we ain't no fakers 

Come join us or we'll just take yas 

We don't want no fuckin' wankers! 

 

Been 'round a few times, yeah! 

Never ones for playing games no! 

Kick yer teeth dawn ya bloody throat 

Smash all yer face watch the blood flow

 

 We're the band the widow makers 

We're for real we ain't no fakers 

Come join us or we'll just take yas 

We don't want no fuckin' wankers! 

 

 We bust our nuts makin' music 

We treat our women just like whores 

We come from bloody Great Britain 

Sure ain't no goddam fuckin' bores! 

 

We're the band the widow makers 

We're for real we ain't no fakers 

Come join us or we'll just take yas 

We don't want no fuckin' wankers!! 

 

We'll steal yer fuckin' women, yeah! 

Then shove them back when we're all through 

But they won't want you anymore 

After us, they'll throw rocks at you! 

 

We're the band the widow makers 

We're for real we ain't no fakers 

Come join us or we'll just take yas 

We don't want no fuckin' wankers!