“Stuck On Zero” is the final track on Songs For Mara, the 2014 CD from Chicago-based psychedelia masters The Red Plastic Buddha. The band was aiming for darker themes on this effort, including “addiction, obsession and madness.” That came along with consistently inventive instrumentation, and in the case of “Stuck On Zero,” a hefty dose of gallows humor.
The song opens with a trudging arrangement that evokes images of zombies on the prowl. Lead singer-bassist Tim Ferguson opts for a yelping vocal style that’s equal parts rock star and deranged creature, spitting out quick rhymes that suggest zombie guys want pretty much the same things a lot of living guys want; an attractive mate, cool wheels, job security, and a macho image. “When I come back from the dead I ain’t messing around,” Ferguson warns at the dawn of this song. “Get on the wrong side of me I’m gonna run you down.”
He appreciates his girlfriend (“She loves me for my brains/Yeah man, she’s my world”) and doesn’t have time for the usual zombie means of getting around. “I won’t be moving slow/I’ll dig your daddy up and steal his GTO.” There’s no mention of eating people in the lyrics, but being a zombie does come across as being a full time occupation. “Won’t work no 9 to 5/My new full time gig is being un-alive.”
This particular zombie also has aspirations for achieving fame. “When I come back from the dead won’t be no room for doubt/Zombie superstar I got it all worked out.” No one can say the living dead don’t have dreams.
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