Mindless Self Indulgence, or MSI, is described as an electropunk band from New York City. The band got their start in the late 90s, and right off the bat, they flaunted some pretty strange things proudly. Some of these qualities were their unique yet almost unpleasant synth sound, disgusting lyricism that usually revolved around sexual topics or children, and downright disrespectful band members. The band members in question go by the stage names of Jimmy Urine, Lyn-Z, Kitty, and Steve, Righ?.
However, it would appear that these flaws were only displayed with pride after their start in 1997. Before that, front man Jimmy Urine, legal name James Euringer, made songs that can be viewed as highly personal. These songs were likely made in relation to his many allegations, controversies, and crimes, such as indecent exposure, pedophilia, grooming, and sexual abuse. The songs themselves range from prideful to remorseful. But, if these songs were unreleased, how do we know about them? Give it up for PINK, a compilation album released in 2015 that consists of 19 special tracks written between 1990 and 1997. On CD, the album comes with a disclaimer inside the sleeve from Urine himself saying that some of the songs don’t match his current views. Despite the singers beliefs now, I will be breaking down each of these tracks in this very extensive article to get an understanding of what makes PINK so noteworthy in comparison to everything else Mindless Self Indulgence has put out and is known for.
The album opens with a cover of Depeche Mode’s 1990 hit “Personal Jesus”. Urine recorded his version in 1997. MSI is no stranger to covers, but what is strange is the fact that in each cover song they produce, their version is much more fast paced and loud. This is especially unfitting given that the original “Personal Jesus” is a very mellow song. This mellowness is replaced by flashy sounds, loud vocals, and far too many pauses in all the wrong places, not to mention that the instrumental is nothing like the original. Rather than being a song about offering people help the same way a religious figure would, MSI’s version comes off as a personal worship song, trying to rope listeners into liking them. Being blunt, it’s absurd and unrecognizable, just like every other cover the band makes.
The next track is “This Hurts,” a song with a spooky instrumental and lyrics about inflicting abuse on someone viewed as “insecure” and “meaningless,” but getting nothing out of causing their pain. The song itself is a very vain one, told from the perspective of an abuser, that person possibly being a dramatized version of Urine himself. It features self centered lyrics such as “Oh God, I’m beautiful, Oh God, I’m wonderful” and “Controlling you makes me better.” These lyrics of power seem to be all for naught, as it is later said in regards to the inflicted abuse, “So why doesn’t that make me feel better?” The theme of feeling nothing follows into a tiny bit of guilt, represented through the line, “This hurts me more than it will ever hurt you.” This weird song adds to the long list of excessive and crude Mindless Self Indulgence tracks.
“Be Like Superman” is the third track, and a pretty confusing one. It’s a super fast and hyper song with jumbled lyrics that convey the likely message of Urine feeling pressured into following people’s expectations. This takeaway can be made from the very repetitive lyric cluster used multiple times throughout the song, dramatically sang as, “Like you know I should, like you know I would, like you know I might, ’cause you know I’m right, like you know I will, ’cause you know I’m ill, like you know I can, ’cause I’m Superman.” Following the presumed message said before, I believe the expectations the figures in the song would have around Urine revolve around what they know of his behavior towards the work he puts out. Urine could be speaking against this in the line, “I don’t need to play another show, I don’t give a —- about the money.”
Fourth track, “Memory Of Heaven,” is a simple one lyrics-wise. The song has very little substance, as it consists mostly of the looped and remixed phrase, “This will seem like a memory of heaven.” Many people believe this phrase describes having a recollection of an easy past, perhaps childhood, in a difficult world, but I see it as an introduction to a surreal adventure. An element of the song that could relate to the message of converting from a simple childhood to a strenuous adulthood is the repeated lines about childish figures not existing, said to be based off the line “No Santa Claus, no Tooth Fairy, and no Uncle Mikey!” from the 1983 film “Rock & Rule.” MSI’s rendition is incredibly similar, as they say “There’s no Santa Claus, no Tooth Fairy, and no Easter Bunny,” as well as “There’s no Superman, no unicorns, and no Easter Bunny.” In short, the track is simple and upbeat with no proper lyrics, likely made to be played during parties or raves.
Afterwards comes the track “Vanity,” which has the exact message you’d expect it to. The instrumental and singing style in this track is pretty strange, maybe even a little inconsistent. The vocals come off as a bit annoying, as well as the lyrics. The lyrics tell the story of someone who is hated because of their beauty, but only adored by “vanity.” This is directly sang as “It’s not my fault I’m beautiful, hate me ’cause I’m beautiful” and “Vanity loves me, vanity needs me, vanity wants me.” These egotistical lyrics take a turn when “I’m the one who hates me so much, and I want me all just for myself” is sang towards the end.
The sixth track is the straightforward and spooky “Married Alive.” While there aren’t too many lyrics in this song, the few it consists of are quite blunt, conveying the singer’s detest for marriage, possibly an arranged one, as said as “Marriage is my institution” and “Oh please, don’t make me go! …Through with this.” I believe this hatred for marriage could be caused by a fear of commitment or lack of planning for the future. In the case that it may be about the a stressful arranged marriage, the hate could be caused by a disliking of the person they’ve been arranged with or being forced to marry altogether. An actual element of marriage, specifically weddings, brought into the song is the remixed phrase “You may kiss the bride.” This part was likely added to poke fun at marriage and the fear of it, despite the topic being a pretty decent issue.
PINK features another cover track, a cover of Duran Duran’s classic “Girls on Film.” Being realistic, this is quite a strange song for MSI to cover, as they are known for objectifying women, the opposite of the original song’s message. It’s not like anyone could focus on the lyrics anyway with the terrible instrumental that lacks the distinctiveness and natural sound of the original in the way. Another noticeable difference in the MSI cover is the added line “The voices in your body come through on the radio,” said right before the verse in which “—- coming out on a wire” is said instead of “heat twisting out on a wire”.
After this comes the eighth track, “5TR82HE11.” In this guilt-free admission of a track, Urine confesses the way he thinks about somebody, which he believes will make him go to Hell. Despite this, he feels no remorse. This is all explained in just the beginning lines, “I’m going straight to Hell for what I want to do, I’m going straight to Hell for how I think of you.” The theme of almost enjoying paying for his actions continues through the rest of the song, going as far as singing “Going, going, going, gone”.
The following track is “Envy.” a song that absolutely contradicts the previous one. The song is also known as “Yvne” based on how it’s an entirely backwards track. One version of the song played backwards was uploaded by a YouTube user who currently uses the username “Gallows” titled “ENVY: (REVERSED LYRICS).” When listening to this version of the track, you learn that it’s one of a terribly upset Urine desperately begging for forgiveness and expressing how he feels in some scenario, likely revolving an unspecified crime that may just be the same one sang about in “5TR82HE11.” It appears to be that his actions were so bad, he wishes to be someone else, practically anyone, saying “Oh, I envy you the most, what you must be feeling” and “Oh, I envy you the most, once you stop breathing.” Another addition of guilt plays at the 2:11 minute mark of the song, where you can faintly hear Urine crying as he begs “Please forgive me.”
Shifting from a somber note to a meaningless one, a track called “Device” comes next. This track has a very unique intro, one of Urine crudely venting his frustrations with composing the song to either himself or another person in the room. The suspected other person could be James Galus, a writer credited for composing some of MSI’s disgustingly infamous songs. Something else to note about this intro is a brief bit of a forward-played “Please forgive me” from Envy that can be heard in the background at one point. Moving on, the song isn’t too important, as it is simply about various things that rhyme with “device” and what they do to Urine.
Then comes the song “Out Of My Minds,” which is sang a different way than one would think. In this song’s case, it means to no longer think or be bothered by something. This is explained in the line “But now I have put that all out of my mind” which is used more than once.
Following this is “Darling Young Boyz,” and I’m sure you can guess what it’s about. If you could not, it’s a repetitive song about young men and what Urine thinks of them, which is that they are perfect for him. It starts with the blunt and creepy message front and center, as the first lines are “Darling young boys, all over my mind.” A lyric that is most direct towards the message of pedophilia is “I never got past this scene” which I take as a way of saying he never grew out of the one time in life where you should be attracted to young people: when you are at that age yourself.
There are a few songs on PINK that have the topic religion, and the thirteenth track, “For The Love Of God” is one of them. It is also one of few with a lot of lyrics that aren’t too repetitive, the lyrics in question mock and stand against religion. The intro and chorus are the most teasing, as the intro is “I was doing just fine ’til the son of god had saved me, now, I sin all of the time, living life begging forgiveness” and the chorus is “Sweet religion, blood is spilling, blood is spilling, sweet religion, prosecute the weak and willing.” Given all the pretty shocking lyrics, it is easy to understand why people believe this song has to do with some suspected religious trauma.
Next comes “Slim,” another track about complicated and uncomfortable relationships. The song tells a tale of someone who desires the capability of feeling love for someone, but instead has the desire to abuse them. This is explained obviously in the line “It’s my own fault that I tied the noose, ’cause I cannot love what I want to abuse.”
The fifteenth track, “Do Unto Others,” is also one stabbing at religion, but instead has Urine explaining that he wants to be God. He sings this directly in the very beginning, saying “Every day, I ask why you were picked to be Jesus Christ, it could’ve been me, it should’ve been me, up on the cross, telling you all, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto yourself’.” It is well known that many MSI songs have the theme of wanting power, but this track is obviously on a much higher level.
We’ve come to a theme of straight to the point tracks, and “Bed Of Roses” is no different. Once again with the explanation at the start, Urine sings about how he doesn’t want people to pity him for the bad parts of his life, saying “Hey, it’s alright, my life has never been a bed of roses, this way’s better for me.”
The next song, “Unsociable,” doesn’t have much to it. The title explains the theme, which is about not fitting in. This is told through the reoccurring lyric, “One of these shapes is not like the others” which is then followed up by Urine saying, “I’m socially unacceptable, unexceptional, unsociable.” While the song is the most blunt and has some of the least substance, it does go on for around three minutes.
By far the most intolerable track on PINK is the unnecessary “Do Unto Others, Pt. 2.”Obviously, this track is a sequel, more so a poor remix of the previous “Do Unto Others.” The instrumental strives too hard to be heavy, which does not work at all. The lyrics are also drawn out, occasionally whispered, which I can’t stand, and do not flow into each other. All of these components mixed together make a chaotic and unenjoyable song. The kicker of the song is that it only gives more proof that MSI cannot make a good rendition of a song, even if it’s their own that they redo.
Lastly, we have the track “Angry Boy” which is a semi confusing angry rant from a 22 year old Jimmy Urine. The rant is about how people view him based on how he presents himself and who he wants to be. He believes people don’t know that he actually wants to be the way he is, which people tend to view as different or weird (and he is, but not in a good way). He claims “they give me this attitude like… Like I don’t know what the —- I’m doing.” He then explains that the way he behaves is his way of “trying to stay a step ahead of people, even if it’s a step ahead in a direction that no one’s going to go.” This type of talk goes on for a bit before a noteworthy comment regarding the gross style of his lyricism is made. After talking a bit about his inconsistent musical style, Urine says he will always have a “definite complain-able sense of humor. Definitely different, I’ll give you that.”
Overall, PINK is an inconsistent blend of contradicting songs that all share the same reason for existing: as a response to criticism. These songs all lie on a spectrum that ranges from prideful to remorseful, though, at the end of the day, we all know that pride came out on top as Jimmy Urine’s project Mindless Self Indulgence gained more fame. Though it contains a pretty irrelevant message, it does give a much needed glimpse into Urine’s life. And said just like him in Angry Boy,
“So, that’s the end of that.”
