1997 (Tonight We’re Gonna Party Like It’s…) – SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (often abbreviated to SGM) was an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fused classical, industrial, and art-rock themes throughout their music. They were known to perform elaborate routines on stage and discuss possibly fictitious stories of dada artists and mathematicians. According to the extensive liner notes for Grand Opening and Closing, the name “Sleepytime Gorilla Museum” comes from a small group of Dadaists, Futurists, and artists named the Sleepytime Gorilla Press. The group owned and operated what they called a “museum of the future” which was “anti-artifact, non-historical and closed.”

The “museum” opened on June 22, 1916 (the same day as the band’s first concert, 83 years later). The exhibit consisted of a fire which caused widespread chaos and confusion. The following day, the museum was closed (hence the name of the first album). The name itself apparently comes from a poem called “Of the Future Hides the Past,” written by Museum members Lala Rolo and Ikk Ygg. The band’s interviews are the only source of information regarding the Sleepytime Gorilla Press, Lala Rolo, or Ikk Ygg.

Get in the pick-up truck, we’re goin’ for a ride Come on man, it’s a downhill slide Remember the dead boys Crawl in the back, we’re goin’ downtown Come on bro, we can both fall down Remember the dead boys Got a big old cheap plastic bottle of gin Nasty, but it’ll do you in Got to keep on talkin’ so you don’t come to What the hell, what the fuck is wrong with you? Midnight ride 1997, One two three Motherfucker you’re going down tonight We’re takin’ you in We’re takin’ you out Midnight ride, one two three, come on Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1997 I know you’re tearin’ shit up and you drunk yourself wild I been drinkin’ since I was a child Remember the dead boys I know you outweigh me by fifty pounds That won’t matter in a couple of rounds If the cops get here first, you’re a dead man You know I’m doin’ all I can Sing along, bro’, with the Dead Boys and the New York Dolls You know we like that noise

[In memory of Sean]