Brian Johnson

Album IV — Unplugged Bonus Track

Lyrics

[Intro — opens with a sampled clip from The Breakfast Club's physics-club scene, landing on "sorta social, demented and sad, but social"] [Verse 1 — Magic Garden, sweet and sunny] Welcome, welcome to our club We share, we laugh, we hug, hug, hug Physics class is so much fun We measure things 'til we are done [Chorus — still sweet] It's sorta social Demented and sad, but social La la la, we're social Demented and sad, but social [Verse 2 — still sweet] We drop a book, we drop a chair We drop our favorite volunteer We clap and cheer, we count the bounce A gold star for "most pronounced" [Chorus — repeat, sweet] It's sorta social Demented and sad, but social La la la, we're social Demented and sad, but social [THE SLAYER SWITCH — production note: the gentle music stops cold, thrash crashes in] We talk about physics, the properties of physics, and how to apply We run our practical labs on a person — until they fucking die UNTIL YOU FUCKING DIE [Bridge — stays heavy] You think we're dorks, that's all you see Go on and ask, "who do you think you are?" Oh, what do you care? You see us how you want us there It'll come as a surprise When we measure your insides [Outro — the thrash cuts out, gentle ukulele sweetness snaps back] It's sorta social Demented and sad, but social La la la, we're social Demented and sad... but social

Inspiration

Inspired by The Breakfast Club. John Bender's needling of Brian Johnson over the physics club's yearbook caption — "sorta social, demented and sad, but social." That line is the chorus, taken completely literally.

Premise: the physics club as a club of psychopaths who murder people using the properties of physics — how much pressure before a skull gives, what height and speed it takes for a body to come apart on impact. Played entirely straight.

Production note: built on two influences the band has never reconciled — the soothing melodic sensibility of The Magic Garden, and the bone-crushing intensity of Slayer. The whole song is sweet, sunny, singsong — until the Slayer switch flips.

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