Album: The Offspring (1989)

License This Song 

• Mommy doesn't have a head any more
  Keep it underneath my bed on the floor
  Well that's alright, that's OK
  She never really used her head anyway
  
  Daddy called me a silly bore
  Bet he won't say that any more
  Because the way his body is severed too
  His vocal chords are gonna be hard to use
  
  Beheaded, watch you spurt like a garden hose
  Beheaded, bloody mess all over my clothes
  
  Watch my girl friend come to the door
  Chop off her head, she falls to the floor
  Now watching my baby's jugular flow
  Really makes my motor go
  
  Wrap a towel round the bloody stump
  Take my baby's body to the city dump
  Then wipe the mess off the bloody axe
  Scoop all the heads into my burlap sack
  
  Beheaded, watch her spurt like a garden hose
  Beheaded, bloody mess all over my clothes
  
  All my collection, adorns my room on bamboo poles
  Use to be a little, but a little got more and more
  Now I'm craving yours
  
  Night brings bad dreams, bad dreams and guillotines
  
  Off with her head
  Off with her head
  Off with her head
  Off with her head
  Off with her head
  Off with her head
  
  Find another victim for my machine
  Put him in a home-made guillotine
  Blade falls, gonna need a casket
  Watch your head plop in a wicker basket
  
  Leave the house at a quarter to four
  Come back with sixteen or more
  Cause the more I want, the more I see
  I got a funny feeling coming over me
  
  Beheaded, watch you spurt like a garden hose
  Beheaded, bloody mess all over my clothes Writer/s: BRYAN HOLLAND
  Publisher: CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 6

• Zero from The Abyss, Nj@ Joel:
  
  Some people that are IDIOTS! Lighten up, bro.
• Joel from Columbia, ScThis song is really sick. I like most of the other stuff better. I realize it's done for shock value but still somepeople might think that the songwriters are F**king sickos.
• Sarah from Salisbury, EnglandThis is what Dexter wrote on their official website:
  Now, this is really going back. Beheaded is a song off of our very first album, so that?s like 10 years ago! It?s also the only song off that record that we still play live sometimes.
  
  I still lived at home back then, and I remember that I wrote the music for that song one night when I was just sitting in my bedroom on my bed with a guitar, being bored. I guess, sometimes, being bored is a good way to make up songs. It was one of those times where I was kind of watching TV, and just kind of strumming my guitar, not really even paying attention to what I was playing, when I just kind of accidentally played some chords that I liked. Pretty soon I had all the music written, but I had to come up with some lyrics.
  
  This is where James Lilja came in. Now, James was our first drummer, and this was before we even recorded our first record. James is a great guy with a pretty warped sense of humor, and this guy was dying to get into medical school. In fact, he was so intent on getting into medical school that he didn?t really even practice with us much ? which is part of why he?s not our drummer anymore! But anyway, James and I got together one day and I told him how I was trying to write lyrics for this song.
  
  I had the idea of calling it ?Beheaded,? and having it be about this crazy guy who enjoys that sort of thing. You know, actually, this kind of song is something that a lot of old punk bands did back then. There?s tons of songs where the band talks about liking something that?s gross or sick or whatever, but of course it?s just a joke. Want some examples? Like, let?s see, the Dead Kennedys did songs like ?Stealing People?s Mail? and ?I Kill Children.? Suicidal Tendencies had ?I Saw Your Mommy and Your Mommy?s Dead,? TSOL had ?Code Blue,? (which was about necrophilia), and D.I. had a song called ?I Like Guns.? Of course, these bands didn?t really advocate these kinds of things ? it was just done for shock value, and it was kind of funny too.
  
  So we decided to make our Beheaded be in that vein, and one afternoon James and I just cracked each other up making up silly lines about beheading people. You can check out the lyrics on another part of this web site.
  
  Little did I know that day that we?d still be playing that song ten years later.
  
  And James? Yes, he got into medical school, and believe it or not, he?s now a gynecologist! I hope his patients don?t find out that he once helped write a song called ?Beheaded?!
• Preecey from Sheffield, EnglandIt was also inspired by Dexter Holland's favourite band, TSOL, and their song, 'Code Blue'. The song was re-recorded in 1999 for the film 'Idle Hands', in which they perform live.
• Pete from Sydney, AustraliaApperently Dexter wrote it with some help of his gynecologist friend
• Stephen from Calgary, CanadaThis song was, according to Dexter Holland, inspired by a Dead Kennedys song called "I Kill Children." He liked the idea of them having a really gruesome song included on their album purely for shock value.

More Songfacts:

Bad GirlsDonna Summer

Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" is about prostitutes, but it was still used in the movie Rugrats In Paris.

I Melt With YouModern English

"I'll Melt With You" by Modern English is about a couple who melt together because a nuclear bomb drops.

Tomorrow PeopleZiggy Marley & the Melody Makers

"Tomorrow People" by Ziggy Marley is the first song by a Marley to crack the US Top 40; the highest Bob got was #51 with "Roots, Rock, Reggae."

AqualungJethro Tull

Jethro Tull lead singer Ian Anderson wrote "Aqualung" after looking at pictures of homeless men that his wife took. She got a co-writing credit on the song.

A Moment Like ThisKelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson's coronation song when she won American Idol in 2002 was "A Moment Like This," which was released as her first single and went to #1. Every finalist that season recorded the song in case they won.

Highway to HellAC/DC

The "Highway To Hell" is the Canning Highway in Australia, which seems to go on forever, at least according to AC/DC.

Editor's Picks

Zakk WyldeSongwriter Interviews

When he was playing Ozzfest with Black Label Society, a kid told Zakk he was the best Ozzy guitarist - Zakk had to correct him.

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song SpoofsSong Writing

When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.

Bill Medley of The Righteous BrothersSongwriter Interviews

Medley looks back on "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - his huge hits from the '60s that were later revived in movies.