Guy Lombardo X

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Guy Lombardo is a song by American grindcore band Anal Cunt. Composer credit for the song would most likely be attributed to Seth Putnam, Mike Mahan and Tim Morse. It has been released in several different versions by the band and has remained a regular part of their live sets and releases since their formation.

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[edit] Released and recorded versions

The earliest released version by the band appeared as the final untitled song on their "88 Song EP", released in 1989. The next two released versions of the song are acoustic renditions recorded for their Unplugged EP, released in 1991. Side A of "Unplugged EP" features an impromptu performance of the song, while side B features a more proper acoustic studio version. The next version to be released is a live performance on their "Live EP", also released in 1991. This version, however, is very sloppy and not very easily distinguishable from the other songs on the record. The fifth and probably most common version of the song was released in 1993 on "Morbid Florist", and is the first instance in which the song is listed separately from other songs and referred to as "Guy Lombardo". The sixth released version of the song appears as the fifty-eighth track on Anal Cunt's "Everyone Should Be Killed" album, released in 1994. The seventh version of the song to be released is another live version, this time a radio performance recorded on WNYU's New Afternoon Show and featured on the subsequent album "Live In N.Y.C.", released in 1999. The eighth and final version of the song to be released is a rehearsal recording (and thus far, the earliest known recording of the song to date) featured on the CD "Very Rare Rehearsal From February 1989", which was released in 2002.

[edit] Song structure

The song itself has always featured a cabaret-type ride cymbal intro and Seth Putnam wailing a falsetto "Guy Lombardo--!" at the song's start, followed by about twenty or thirty seconds of random screaming, blast beat drums and shapeless blur guitar, with the endings varying from performance to performance. The most popular version of the song, from "Morbid Florist", ends with Putnam moaning "oh..." and two power chords (A major and G major). The versions on "Everyone Should Be Killed" and "Live In N.Y.C." both end with Putnam exclaiming "thank you, good night" followed by the same A major and G major power chords. The version on the original pressing of "88 Song EP" does not come to a natural ending like the other versions do. It instead cuts off rather abruptly and ends with someone saying, sarcastically, "yeah, yeah, yeah..." The re-released version of "88 Song EP", featured on the CD "The Early Years: 1988 - 1991", leaves the natural ending of this recording intact, but even in this unedited version it still comes to somewhat of a sudden breakdown. The versions on "Live EP" and "Very Rare Rehearsal From February 1989", as well as the two versions from the "Unplugged EP" have no proper ending and instead just sort of trail off.

[edit] Role and function in the albums and live shows of Anal Cunt

While any sort of specific or implied meaning behind "Guy Lombardo" is not apparent, its role in the repertoire of Anal Cunt has always been the "last song". It is almost always the last song on the albums that feature renditions of it and this is probably why most performances of the song feature the line "thank you, good night" at the end. In the rare instances in which it is not the last song on the albums that contain it, it is at least one of the last songs and is somewhere very close to the end. "Guy Lombardo" is also one of the first Anal Cunt songs to feature its own unique title as well as one of the first Anal Cunt songs to be rehearsed as opposed to being improvised on the spot.

[edit] Possible meanings and interpretations

Besides the obvious reference to Guy Lombardo, the legendary big band leader of the early 20th century, the term "Guy Lombardo" is also slang for someone's stomach, as mentioned in the liner notes for the CD re-reissue of "Morbid Florist". Seth Putnam has also noted in interviews that he enjoys an extremely wide variety of music and, although he has never cited any of Lombardo's music specifically in interviews, the song could possibly be Putnam's homage and respects to the legendary band leader. The song could, on the other hand, have absolutely nothing to do with Guy Lombardo or someone's stomach and simply be a bit random non-sense on the part of Anal Cunt.

[edit] Other instances of "Guy Lombardo" in Anal Cunt's music

Two other songs by Anal Cunt have made use of the term "Guy Lombardo". The first one is the track "Schnauf", from the "Stayin' Alive (Oi! Version)" single, which is an acappella reworking of the song "Shout", originally recorded by the band Tears For Fears. This track, which is thirty-two seconds in length, features the lyrics "schnauf, schnauf / let it all out / let your Guy Lombardo and your sandwich hang out / come on / I'm talking to you / come on". The second is the song "Dumb, Fat And Gross", from the album "40 More Reasons To Hate Us". This song is twenty seconds in length and features the lyrics "Rebekah is dumb / she's fat and she's gross / with a bagel, sandwich / Ramirez, Guy Lombardo".

[edit] Trivia

"Guy Lombardo" was covered live by the band Bestial Desecration and released on their live album "Live In Purgatory".

[edit] References