Bitterflies on motorbikes
Major Parkinson (2008)
This is the band's eponymous debut studio album, released in 2008 and recorded in California with producer Sylvia Massy. The collaboration began after Massy discovered the band on Myspace and contacted them with the message: “You are my new favorite band!!!! When can we make an awesome record?”
The album introduces Major Parkinson’s theatrical rock sound, their dark humor and strong sense of storytelling – a high-octane kick-off for the band's expansive musical journey. In 2024, it made its way into Uncut Magazine's list of the top 500 albums of the 2000s.
In the summer of 2006, Major Parkinson travelled from Bergen to Weed, California, to record their debut album at RadioStar Studios with producer Sylvia Massy and co-producer/engineer Kale Holmes. The sessions took place during six intense weeks in July and August, during an extreme heatwave with temperatures reaching 52 degrees Celsius.
The band lived in the apartment above the studio throughout the recording. As good Norwegians, on the first day, an attempt to let in some fresh mountain air resulted in the air-conditioning unit falling from a bedroom window and crashing into the backyard below. Whoever did that got to enjoy the heatwave throughout the stay.
Only minutes after arriving at the studio, the band discovered an old Optigan standing in a corner. And so the intro of Bicycle came to be the very first piece of music recorded for the album.
During the same period, other artists were also working at RadioStar Studios, including Pay Money To My Pain from Japan and Tripdavon from California. This resulted in Weed's first international shuffleboard tournament on the local bar Pappas plays, which Norway of course won.
RadioStar Studios consisted of three separate buildings, the main studio housed in a former cinema. Another building had once been a butcher shop, and legend has it that producer Sylvia Massy locked Jon Ivar in the basement, the very room where bodies were once kept, to spark lyrical inspiration. Whether true or not, we will never know.
On a rare Sunday off, the band walked the winding road up Mount Shasta, rising 4,322 meters above sea level, to watch the sunset. It was 2006 – the band had no mobile phones, no flashlights, and no plan for the way back down. When the sun disappeared, darkness fell suddenly and completely. On the descent, branches cracked in the surrounding forest, where bears and mountain lions were known to roam. This could easily have been the end of the album.
But fortunately, they survived to tell the tale. And to finish their now legendary debut album.
Meat Me in the Disco was originally called the Working Song. The female vocals belong to producer Sylvia Massy — a playful nod to her early days working on a sex phone when she first arrived in Los Angeles - "She's in the corner with a stick".
Bicycle!
They tried to put me on the bicycle
They tried to hook me to the white electric chair
And I was groovy
Papa’s writing in a book, he’s got a master plan
He stole the phrases from "The mad delirium crush”
And I was groovy
Sing a song when you cry
In spite of all these currencies of suffering
Honey we were nothing but a love affair
You were nothing but a love affair to me
You gave me nothing, nothing, none
A woman is a crime, she’s the rhythm of a rhyme
An expression of a code, I can solve it anytime
There’s a guy sneaking behind her shoulders
She’s a girl, and he’s a boy
And I know the game they're playing cause they’re dumb,
transparent, incapable of stopping me
A bitch slap on the sideburn
She was drinking – too tall
Out of proportions, she promised to be small
I only wanted a real good time
I only wanted to make her go
Be careful with the gun
Out of my forehead
I think you’d better run
A bomb in the apartment, treacherous security
A blast in the commercial testing results
Dangerous pollution floating on the avenue
Body renovation Macintosh.
Mommy filled me up with sardonical precautions
Sent me off to drugs and progressive rock
Where’s my Tsarina? My Mezarina?
A radical sensation: My body is on the air
My face is pretty ugly, I see it everywhere
My mind is separated for better and for worse
It’s living in my stomach. I’m a lipstick in a purse
God I'm afraid.
I feel like somebody's watching me or you or him
It's a song when you cry
In spite of all these currencies of suffering
So come down from the ceiling and cry:
They tried to put me on the bicycle!
Bazooka Mirror
Night time is catching up like a broken buttercup
In my ethical assisted violence, days are running out of order
Why won't you talk to me?
Yesterday you talked so sweet
over thirty little cups of cappuccino
And a toast when we said goodbye
Talk to me!
I miss the sense of isolation every day of the week
What are you doing in my room?
Talk to me!
Maybe we can have a conversation
Like we did on TV when there was nothing else to see
Tell me are you having fun?
Even though what said is done
When the camera was rolling backwards
and the video director slept
Look what they have done to me
I'm looking like a broken Christmas tree
In the radio transistor silence
where the lights are playing out of tune
Meat me in the disco
Girl! Meet me in the disco
We can trim our branches
And dangle from the gallows of cellophane bricks
Laughing in the smog walk
Looking at the traumatized ballistic Primadonna
in the corner with a stick
Girl! Be careful what you wish for
You don’t know what you give until it’s gone
And when it’s gone you’ll never get it back again
Just because you’re faithful
doesn’t make you square or righteous
It’s just a matter of perception
The man is looking at me with a degenerated facial presence
Shoulders wide, looking for a ride
He is sliding through the crowd with a cynical laughter
Automobiles and scattered heels.
Hands upon the wheel Miss Daisy!
Everybody looks so good!
A moaning Casanova in the backseat of a choking convertible
A rolling dice between two thighs
A naked couple riding a caramel
The war! The war! It has begun
I feel like dancing, jumping, having some fun
We are the overnight collectables
and now it's time to feed the prey
Look at my girl! She's a star, She plays piano
Dead to the bone, she's alone and got no places to go
If that's me in five years, I'll blow my head off
but I'm not like her at all, I've still got places to go
Girl! Meet me in the disco
We can trim our branches
and dangle from the gallows of cellophane bricks
Standing in the smog walk
looking at the traumatized ballistic Primadonna
in the corner with a stick
She's in the corner with a stick
Silicon hips
Goddamn those silicon hips smell bad
Yet it feels like they're real in every way
Cause ever since I took this job in June
I've been a sucker for girls
I watch them run, I watch them spin
Once upon a time, when the world was a dirty scene
I had a redneck, spandex, vagabond eating disorder
I said I don't wanna die like my mother used to do
It was a perfect holiday
Now I’m feeling so alone
I want attention!
I was alone because I lost my only friend
He's the latest fashion to be seen
A boulevard of rusty limousines
Yes, out in the back it blew my brain
Now the years are crashing by
Still I'm looking for some purity
A perfect house, a quiet life with Judy Garland
But one day I trapped myself in common sense
and barricaded my door with all these flashy trends
Cause somehow over the rainbow life is so unfair
Is it me I’m looking for?
Well I don’t care
Will you take this ring?
Sorry to inform you I could never love you like you do
You'll never make me bleed
the way you chew those rotten puzzle crackers
when your mind is a blindfold
Pick me up, hang me like a sucker in a leash
I can tell you anything you wanna hear
Save me from the cash register brutality
Coming from your Stairmasturbator vanity
You see, everything left is a cup of sanity
And all the parasites in your domestic personality
Goddamn those silicon hips smell bad
Yet it feels like they're real in every way,
But one day they'll fry under the sun
On the tip of a gun. I guess that's how it's done
But when I'm sturdy will I love myself?
start a riot, start a fight, start a revolution?
Will I be different in this world
if I threw away this superficial life?
Cause, that is what you do to me!
Yes, that is what you do to me!
Cause I'm feeling, so alone and I want to ..
Casanova
I’m on the front page of a dirty magazine
Mr. January pumping kerosene
Can't you see my face, it's a lie?
Close the curtains, flip the switch
Make me happy, baby you're a bitch
Turn me on, turn me on, tonight
Casanova, do you love her?
Now do you really think that you would find that bitter self-esteem
to push between her legs and make her happy like you used to do?
In the time when everything was simple
She was seventeen and you where twenty-two
And it was summer
It was the summer when you ran away
For the traffic noise of screaming rubber ducks
and grieving wives on channel 45
Where no one talks about the weather anymore
Casanova, you're getting older
Now the world is not for you to blame
It's just a movie rolling backwards randomly
Objecting choices that we call in vain
And the violence that you try to justify
is not a language that I still contain
But in the summer I will wrap you up in cellophane
and bury you under the pouring rain
Because no one talks about the weather anymore
It’s a job
But hey, what could I do?
I was eating more than I could chew
Now those cavities are swelling
They’re bursting in a bubble of champagne
But I have painted the house,
I have organized the furniture in alphabetical order
ANd my carpet's made of cashmere.
It's so clean
Hey, what can I say?
I just hate those barber cues in May
Cause when the summer dress is waving
it makes me all remember who I am
Still my porch is symmetrical
My teeth are white,
The lawn is green,
My kids believe in God and my pool is full of chlorine
Clean
Boom!! Out of the blue the past comes sneaking out on you
Dogs are lurking in the alley
Cause somebody caught you digging in the dirt
And you can’t figure out where to get the cleaning products for this job
It’s a job – but there will always be a last stain of blood
In a rush you are burning down your house
You change your name a thousand times
But they will recognize your face and appearance
And your parents they will give you to the cops
Yes, no one says a murder is easy but murder is a job
it’s a job, but there will always be a last stain of blood
Tell me, tell me now, tell me, tell me, tell me
What will you do when the murder gets to you?
Tell me now, tell me, tell me, tell me.
What will you do when the murderer gets to you?
Did you do that? Did you put him in the trunk of the Chevy?
Is he heavy to carry? Do you have equipment in the bag?
Yes, as a matter of fact I brought everything you need for:
Rococo chopping, body wrapping, ankle strapping, body cracking,
higher learning, lawyer burning, cold suspicion, inquisition,
body heat acceleration, heart attack or simulation, papers for the preparation
Daddy’s got a plan!
Dig a little deeper, dig a little deeper, dig a little deeper.
Deeper! Deeper! Deeper!
Tell me, tell me now ...
I feel abused and disabled and my mind is never stable
In the twist, I’m a tango or a TV pay fandango
And the words that I trust is a require for request
If a man’s making money he is better than the rest
I’m a whore! I’m a whore! It is what I do best.
And the two-headed hammer on the dead man’s chest
is economy, pure and simple interests,
And we’re all together in it
If you’re out then you have to pay the price
Tell me, tell me now ...
Sanity fair
Snowflakes falling from the ground
Baby can I have another dance, another dance with you?
Cause I just don’t know what to do
When I see your eyes walking around
So if you need me I’ll be here
Lets sing a song.
Why won’t you walk away?
Why want you walk away from me!
Just take a look at us now, the sanitarium joy
I got your lipstick on my white sleeve and they are talking to me
I’m dancing on the carousel, babies pumping gasoline
Waiting “Forties cookie queen jam”
I’m on the carousel waving with a samurai sword in epileptic sodomy
But when did this obscene insanity
become such a sophisticated topic to discuss for us?
When all that I wanted from the dirty Cinderella to uncover my expenses for the purple bus.
Oh, we had a few drinks, we had a few laughs
We had a few kicks and then bang!
I’m a toy boy stereotype
And a plastic celluloid Jesus for the dashboard
in your car, smoking tar, breaking bottles with my teeth
Off-white and capitol blue, just tell me what to do!
I’m dancing on the carousel ..
Hey little girl, I got your lipstick on my sleeve
We got so lost on Christmas eve
Now I’m stuck in bed with leprechauns and reindeer in my head
You give me shivers down my spine when you tell me you are mine
Now life is smiling back to me again
I never promised to be good, I never promised to be faithful
Just smash your head against the wall when you’re feeling disappointed
I’m dancing on the carousel ..
Dizzy, floating a million miles away
Death in the Candystore
Love me, love me, I am just a lonely boy
Give me soda pop and toys
Love me, love me, please a little candy girl
Take those chocolates from the boys
The sight of angry children
And the way they’re drawing obsession in their moves
It’s all about the nature, hate is everywhere in that tiny store
And when Molly gets her kicks, gives out candy for the tricks
Yeah, those kids always eat too fast
Still they’re dying for a bag or a multicolored drag
And when they cry, they say:
Love me, love me, I’m just a lonely boy
Give me soda pop and toys
Love me, love me, please a little candy girl
Take those chocolates from the boys
I say: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. The number is the worst
It’s the devil of the game
And then, when your babies seems like puppets on a string
You will know there is a catch cause your joining in the ring
Mrs. Hopalong melodramatic gets the panic
Do kids ever get enough?
When it's time to close the store
They will always ask for more, but that is life
Love me, love me ...
They’re eating way too fast
This is for the devil in the picture that you couldn’t believe
It’s the truth of the agony you couldn’t achieve
So where's your daddy sleeping over? Why did he never tell?
Where's your mom? Where's her lover? Where is Nanny Estelle?
Are they going for the pressure? Are they always too high?
Are you bad for the future? Are you going to die?
Love me, love me, I’m just a lonely boy
Soda pop and toys
197
My daddy’s in the movie. Section 45
He’s got to figure out a way to put Marilyn behind the yellow curtain
Sleepless, weepless
As he keeps on banging his head upon the screen
He didn't mean to me rude,
he didn't mean to be nude
in front of all the pretty girls
He did a masochistic twist with a razor,
played a little song for the duck taped girl
A simple operation, practically impossible to blow
There are 197 numbers on the table, sketches, a ticket to the show
She’s a 24 Madonna, a voluptuous girl, a ballerina Suprema
She’s the German at the back of the commercial delay
I called the manager
Monkey see monkey do, for the Monday show!
A body on detention, all the boys are peppering the kid
Mr. Epileptic only 17 this summer, blue in the eyes, blue in the face
and the testicles breaking on the bench
Hey, don’t you worry too much
I am the doctor with the beautiful touch
I’m only here to make you fell a little better today
A little better in the usual way
So don’t you cry, I’ll fix you up and put a smile on you face
Put you together, read the medical news
that you never had the chance to understand on your own
It’s so easy to throw away everything else when you’re all alone
She tasted good like gingerous pie
But then the old man forced me to cry
She drank me up two bottles of bliss
And when she stopped she gave me a kiss
I want to have a piece of you trust
Wrap it up in your teenage lust
Take a ride with Citizen Kane
until the world is going insane
I Am Erica
I met a little girl on the marketplace
Born without a proper face
Made to fill that magical sensation
A lovely voice like a radio talking in a lavatory disarray
Yacuzzi conversation flow
It was the summer of 187
She played piano, stiff to the bone
Blue in the eyes under a veil of leather
We dressed her in red, but she took off her hip
and now she’s gone for good
Dance, dance, dance, I'm Erica
Look at me, lucky me, I'm all you got
Yes, I've been in love with you baby
ever since I was a high school boy
but I never said it's gonna be easy
Hello, hello, we’re putting up a show
The Germans in the attic baking chains of little Joes
It’s such a beautiful day, they’re crying on display
where bitterflies on motorbikes
and nasty conversations are the best
Dance, dance, dance, I'm Erica.
Look at me, look at me, I'm all you got.
Yes I had a crush on you baby ever since I was an orphanage girl
You promised me a place in your world
Baby, baby, baby, can I kiss you?
Can I kiss you on the lip?
Can I put you in a jelly belly jar and take a sip?
Baby, baby can I touch you?
Can I touch you on the thigh?
Can I touch you where my shoulder needs to cry?
They watch, they touch, they promised way too much
The greasy hands are ripping of her pants
And all her friends they say:
Hello, hello, look at her now
Just hanging from the chandelier, she’s such a ballerina
Oh God, you must have seen her when she was doing the fandango
Now roll the curtains down
Here comes the queen of the play:
The Japanese girl with the rusty tambourine
Dance, dance, dance, America!
Look at me, Look at me, I’m all you got
Yes I've been loving you baby ever since I was an orphanage girl
Awkward as a drunk
Oh, tell me why I'm to blame for this eager
to touch every inch of your body
Oh, tell me why I was laughing when you fucked up my mind
When you followed me down in the drain
I love you like the humming of pouring scotch
I’m a puppy with a bone when I’m drinking too much
But I’m ready for the day when the ship goes down
when they play the violin
And my mommy and my daddy will be proud of me
when I’m hanging from the brink of sanity
patching me up when I break my teeth
from the worth I cannot chew
Ever since elementary school I was dating different girls
But none of them could dress up like a bottle
So when I lost all my empathy in a bowl of brown Mackay
the traffic lights in your distorted bedroom sustained
Now my brain is hurting like a rusty chain
So tell me why I’m to blame for this eager
to crush every inch of your body and soul
Even though I was laughing when you fucked up my mind
Drew the line to the hole in my head
Greatest love
The greatest love that you’ll ever read
is in a book of fairytales and mystery
Where all the troubles are black and white
And all you see is heaven from the open sight
When you are crying, crying too slow
They say that everyone’s happy there
By the untamed rivers, floating with the breeze
The sweet affection of thousand tears
A better wish for silence, the flowers and the trees
What’s the greatest love that you’ll ever be
A face in the mirror?
What’s the greatest love that you’ll ever be
If I could never read?
When your heart is a lonely place
And your mind is plain at the back of the race
And when your money becomes a bribe
And all the people you hate seems like the friends of your life
And you’re dying
Dying too slow
Don’t take the irony seriously
Cause all the faces you know they are all versions of you
So don’t be selfish and cynical
Cause all the problems you have are all created by you
So don’t you hate me
Cause I’m the greatest love that you’ll ever be:
A face in the mirror.
Yes, I’m the greatest love that you’ll ever be
But when you turn off the lights..
Stuck in the back, I’m your reason to be sorry
I’m the devil, I’m your crack
I’m the maker of your worries
'Till the break of your neck, I’m your pain until you die
In bitterness, in better days, the cheater of a lie
I’m your president, hypocrisy for beggars and the blind
I’m the sick manipulator of the beauties that you find
On the biggest contradiction for the pain you love the most
I am your life, I am your hope
yes I am Jesus, I’m your satisfaction!
I’m the greatest love that you’ll ever be, a face in the mirror
I’m the greatest love that you’ll ever be, but life is just misery
Cause when the greatest love is a cup of tea and a road to suicide
Then the greatest love is just what you need
So come on!