Wormwood Liner Notes
The Bible The word Bible means "book." In about 100 C.E., Christian scholars collected writings about the prophet, Jesus of Nazareth. Selecting certain texts, eliminating others, they canonized what is now the New Testament. This they combined with the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, to give a historical and philosophical context for their new teaching. While the Old Testament introduces us to the Israelite God, YHWH, as a dark figure bringing death whenever he appears, Jesus revolutionized the concept of God as a father figure. All Bibles are translations of translations of no longer existing original writings and, unavoidably, reflect the politics and religious prejudices of the organization paying the cost of the translation. Today, many narrow-minded people wield the Bible as some sort of razor with which to slash their enemies. Allowing those people to decide what is important in the Bible is dangerous to the freedom of individual thought. Though some of the Bible is abysmal and boring, much of it is entertaining and important reading. The Residents have tackled this book in all its complexity without the responsibility of the scholar. Though many months have gone into research, the intent of the music and lyrics remain within the realm of the inspired poet. The stories and ideas represented here are definitely in the Bible. The desire is to neither vilify nor sanctify the book, but to allow it to be humanized. For the Bible to be looked upon as spiritually uplifting is good and useful, but that view overlooks the Bible's abundant images of plague, torture, and cruelty. It is this dichotomy that gives balance and substance to the book. Without both, the dark and the light, there is no measure of either, only the bland reassurances that pass for organized religion today. -- Uncle Willie
The third angel blew his trumpet; and a great star shot from the sky flaming like a torch; and it fell on a third of the rivers and springs. The name of the star was Wormwood. Revelation 8: 10
1. In the Beginning
The Israelite God, YHWH, does not create the earth. It already exists, though without form. He creates man and woman, then makes another woman from the male's rib. The man is Adam, Hebrew for man, and the new woman is Eve, whose name may mean life. Against 's wishes, Adam and Eve eat some fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There is a second tree, the tree of life, and He is afraid they will also eat its fruit and become immortal. To protect his realm He asks them to leave the Garden. Look it up. Genesis 1-3
2. Fire Fall
Sung by Lot, nephew of Abraham
Lot, his wife, and his two daughters escape the Israelite God's destruction of Sodom, a town that has a reputation of being wild. YHWH kills the wife by turning her into a pillar of salt because she looked back at the city's destruction. Then the two daughters get their Dad drunk and have sex with him. The Bible paints Lot as innocent in this orgy (he was drunk, after all) but maybe Lot and family actually were just good citizens of Sodom. Look it up. Genesis 19
3. They are the Meat
Sung by Ezekiel, son of Buzi
YHWH humiliates Ezekiel by ordering him to eat only bread baked using human dung fuel and to lie on his left side for thirteen months. Ezekiel has some strange visions. Look it up. Ezekiel 4:4-151, 8-11
4. Melancholy Clumps
Sung by the ark passengers: Noah, son of Lamech, and his family
The sons of the gods become sexually excited by earth women and keep impregnating them. YHWH blames the earth people for the problem and decides to kill everyone. Almost everyone. He tells Noah and family to build a boat and to gather up seven pairs of each "clean" animal and one pair of each "unclean" animal to put in the boat. Noah ignores the seven pair order. After forty days of rain and seven months of floating on an endless sea, Noah releases one raven and it flies back and forth until the land is dry. As soon as Noah and family get off the boat, Noah builds an altar and sacrifices one of each pair of the "clean" animals. YHWH thinks it smells so good that he decides he won't kill all living creatures ever again, no matter how evil they may be. Look it up. Genesis 6-8
5. How to Get a Head
Sung by the daughter of Herodias
King Herod marries his brother's wife, Herodias. John the Baptist tells Herodias it is wrong. She doesn't like being told she is wrong. At Herod's birthday banquet, Herodias' young daughter spins into the room and dances so sensually that the tipsy king can't resist her. He swears to give her anything she wants. The girl, drunk with the first feelings of her sexual power, has no idea what to wish for so she asks her mom. Mom sarcastically suggests the head of John. That sounds like an outrageous request so she says, "I want the head of John the Baptist on a dish." The king is distressed, but he gave his oath in front of all his guests. So John's head is cut off, placed on a dish and given to the girl. Though the Bible never gives the name of the young lady who dances, other sources say her name is Salome and that she does this thing with seven veils that is dynamite. Look it up. Mark 6:17-29
6. Cain and Abel
Sung by Cain, son of Adam
Cain and Abel are brothers, two of the many children of Adam and Eve. Cain is a farmer and Abel is a herdsman. When they make their sacrifices to YHWH, He only accepts Abel's meat offering, rejecting the grain of Cain. Well, Cain makes a meat offering by then killing Abel. Cain is upset about it but YHWH is so impressed that He puts a mark on Cain to protect him from anyone who might try to avenge Abel's death. Cain goes off, gets married, and becomes a successful businessman. Look it up. Genesis 4
7. Mr. Misery
Sung by Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah
Jeremiah is the most unhappy man in the Bible. He spends a couple of books of the Bible being a complete downer. Look it up if you need dreary reading. Jeremiah, Lamentations
8. Tent Peg in the Temple
Sung by Jael, wife of Heber
YHWH has sold the Israelites to Jabin, the Canaanite king. The commander of his forces is Sisera, who oppressed the Israelites for twenty years with his large army. YHWH feels it is time for the Israelites to be victorious so they attack Sisera and his army. Sisera jumps off his chariot and seeks to hide in the house of Jael, whom he believes to be neutral in the battle. Jael invites him in and covers him with a rug. When he falls asleep, she takes a tent peg and a hammer and drives the peg into his skull. King Jabin is defeated and grants the Israelites peace for forty years. Predictably enough, then gets angry again and delivers them to the Midianites. Look it up. Judges 4-5
9. God's Magic Finger
Sung by King Belshazzar, son of King Nebuchadnezzar
King Belshazzar is throwing a bash for his closest thousand friends, and thinks he can impress the guys by drinking from the gold cups that were stolen from the sanctuary at Jerusalem by his father, King Nebuchadnezzar. This turns out to be a bad idea because a human finger suddenly appears and writes on the plaster of the wall, "Mene mene tekel u-pharsin." Daniel is called in to interpret the mysterious words. He tells the king that his father was crazy and that the message means the reign of his bloodline is over. That night Belshazzar dies. Look it up. Daniel 5
10. Spilling the Seed
Sung by Onan, son of Judah
Tamar is married to Judah's oldest son, but he dies without giving her a male child to inherit the estate. Law requires that Judah's second-oldest son, Onan, try to give her a son. Since Onan is next in line to inherit the estate, you can understand why he doesn't want to impregnate Tamar, even if she is pretty hot. So, at the first feeling of orgasm, Onan pulls his penis out of her and ejaculates on the ground. YHWH kills Onan. Tamar later disguises herself as a prostitute and seduces Judah, the father. She has twin sons and takes over everything. Look it up. Genesis 38
11. Dinah and the Unclean Skin
Sung by Dinah, daughter of Jacob
Jacob's daughter, Dinah, gets raped by the prince of the city of Shechem. Maybe it wasn't really rape because the couple sticks together and decides to be married. But Jacob's sons insist that the prince can't marry their sister unless he and every man in the town is circumcised, not something the sane men would ever agree to do. The prince forces everyone to be circumcised anyway and while he and his citizens are recovering from the unpleasant experience, Jacob's sons sneak into town and kill them all, including the prince. Then they steal all the town's goods and enslave all the women. Dinah ends up with no husband and a bad reputation. Death would be preferred. Look it up. Genesis 34
12. Bathsheba Bathes
Sung by David, son of Jesse
King David sees Bathsheba bathing and decides that he must have her. No problem. Her husband is in David's army and is fighting far away. David thinks it improper to be dallying with a married woman so he plots to make the husband's position in the army so vulnerable that he is unlikely to survive. Then it is in YHWH's hands. YHWH buys in and kills the husband but tempers his action by killing the first born of David and Bathsheba. Look it up. 2 Samuel 11
13. Bridegroom of Blood
Sung by Moses and his wife, Zipporah
YHWH orders a stuttering Moses to go to Egypt to free the Israelites. Along the way, as Moses sleeps next to his wife and baby son, suddenly YHWH attacks Moses and tries to kill him. The Bible does not explain why. His wife thinks quickly and decides that the best thing to do is to take a sharp piece of flint and cut off the tip of the baby's penis and wipe the blood on the legs of YHWH or Moses (the Bible isn't very clear on this point.) Then she calmly states, "Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me." YHWH leaves. Look it up. Exodus 4:24-26
14. Hanging by his Hair
Sung by Absalom, son of David
King David is driven out of Jerusalem by his son, Absalom. As a show of his power (and maybe a touch of exhibitionism) Absalom goes up on the roof of the palace and has elaborate sexual intercourse with his father's numerous concubines in sight of all of Israel. When a battle brews with his father, Absalom makes the mistake of riding his mule under an oak tree and gets his head stuck in the tree branch. He is hanging in mid air by his hair when David's men find, torture, and kill him. Look it up. 2 Samuel 13:20-30, 16:20-22, 18:9-15
15. The Seven Ugly Cows
Sung by Joseph, son of Jacob
Joseph, sold into slavery, is made the personal servant of the Egyptian Pharaoh. His striking good looks are noticed by the Pharaoh's wife and she makes sexual advances. Joseph knows not to screw up his easy life at the palace, so he rejects her. This doesn't sit very well with her, so she cries to her husband that Joseph tried to rape her. Joseph gets tossed in jail where he meets two eunuchs and successfully interprets their dreams. The eunuchs tell the Pharaoh that Joseph can interpret dreams and the Pharaoh asks Joseph to interpret a wild one about seven ugly cows and evil ears of corn. Joseph interprets and is rewarded by becoming the second most powerful man in Egypt. There is no mention of what happened to the Pharaoh's wife. Look it up. Genesis 39-41
16. Burn Baby Burn
Sung by the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite
Jephthah is a general who depends upon the favor of YHWH to win. He vows to the Hebrew God that if He will let him win this war, he will sacrifice the first creature that comes out of his house to greet his return. Since Jephthah lives just with his only child, a daughter, it isn't much of a surprise that it is she who greets him that day. He blames her for being the first creature he saw. She takes the news rather well and heads off for the country with her friends for two months before coming home to be slaughtered by her daddy. Look it up. Judges 11:31-40
17. KILL HIM!
Sung by Abraham, son of Terah
YHWH says to Abraham, "kill me a son." Abraham seems undisturbed by the fact that YHWH wants his only child dead. Though he argued mightily to save Lot from the destruction of Sodom, he now accepts that God has spoken while leading young Isaac to the designated sacrificial spot. By the way, at the last moment, YHWH says, "just kidding," and father and son ritually slaughter a ram caught in a nearby bush before going home. Look it up. Genesis 22
18. I Hate Heaven
Sung by The Dark Bride
Also known as The Song of Songs, this short book of the Bible is one terrific erotic love poem. What could be more curious in a book that denounces sexuality so strongly? Look it up. The Song of Solomon
19. Judas Saves
Sung by Judas Iscariot
According to the New Testament, God has sent Jesus to earth to spread word of the power of love. Unfortunately for Jesus, he also has to die for the sins of man. Though not stated, the implication is that God not only needs Jesus, the teacher, but also Judas, the hit man. Judas hears the calling and realizes the request is too important to refuse. He must betray Jesus for the salvation of mankind. Jesus is fully aware of the entire plan God has laid out and, perhaps, feels sympathy for Judas. Judas betrays Jesus by kissing him -- one final intimate moment in recognition of their love and pact to save mankind. Look it up. Mark 14:17-46
20. Revelation
Revelation seems to end the Bible mainly because it would be rather anticlimactic without a big finale. The Seven Seals, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Final Judgment, the war in heaven, the battle of Armageddon, it's all here. For questions about the end of the world, note that only 144,000 people are "saved" and they are all Hebrew men who have not had sex with women. Actually, everybody dies and no one goes to heaven. They are resurrected at some point in time and the saved ones stay on the earth in a place named New Jerusalem. The others end up in the sulfur lake. Don't worry if it doesn't make much sense. Revelation is the writing of a maniac: deranged, surreal, and potentially dangerous. Look it up. Revelation of John 4-22