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Exploding Castro Cigars - Single Bullet Theory

from Conspiracy A​-​Go​-​Go by Turn Me On, Dead Man Recordings

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Exploding Castro Cigars present a version of the JFK assassination where John F. Kennedy is aware of what is happening to him and realizes that the bullets are coming from multiple directions. The song also envisions JFK’s father, Joe, as the mastermind behind all of the future Kennedy clan deaths and other assorted tragedies. The title “Single Bullet Theory” is a reference to the Warren Commission’s conclusion that only three shots were fired, and that all three were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald from the Texas School Book Depository. In order for this to be the case, however, the second shot would have had to have hit both Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally, who was riding in the seat in front of JFK. Though this bullet was supposed to have caused extensive injuries to both men striking bones along the way, the bullet was found in almost pristine condition on a gurney that had carried Connally in Parkland Hospital. According to songwriter Joe Marchi, "I called it 'Single Bullet Theory' because it was so implausible to think that was the case."

"Single Bullet Theory" has plenty of references to conspiracy. "Fake piggy on the side fills my coil with one more" refers to images of "Badge Man," a vague image from a photo taken by motorcade spectator Mary Moorman just as Kennedy was shot in the head. When Gary Mack, curator for the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, examined an enlargement of the photo, he claimed to see a shooter on the grassy knoll wearing a badge, as though he was dressed as a police officer. In the song JFK disputes the Warren Commission's conclusion that only three bullets were fired ("I get my head in my hands and I think there were 4 bullets or more"), which would mean there must have been more than one shooter and a larger conspiracy at play. Using Wizard of Oz imagery, "Single Bullet Theory" describes Lee Harvey Oswald as "the wizard of Ozzie", a patsy who is felled by "the Ruby". The lyrics allude to Fidel Castro, as well, but when I asked Joe if he thought Castro was involved in the assassination, he said he thought it was an "inside job" and pointed to the CIA.

"Single Bullet Theory" is the opening track on an EP of the same name released by Exploding Castro Cigars in July, 2011. The cover image is a Mad magazine cover from October, 1963, showing Castro smoking a cigar with Alfred E. Newman plugging his ears in anticipation of the explosion. Like much of Exploding Castro Cigars' material, "Single Bullet Theory" revels in Cold War intrigue and absurdity (one of the genre tags on the Bandcamp page for this EP is "MKUltra," the CIA's mind control program that began in the 1950s and continued through the 1960s). Joe Marchi cites James Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy as his inspiration for this song. He had just finished reading The Cold Six Thousand, the second book of the trilogy, when he recorded "Single Bullet Theory". Ellroy's vision of a corrupt order is certainly evident here.



Driving down the road with a bleeding hole (x3)
Driving down the road with my sore my brain has shattered whole

Fucking Castro's (w)hole

Driving down the road with a bleeding soul
Driving down the road with a bleeding sole
Driving down the road with a bleeding sore I get my head in my hands and I think there were 4 bullets or more.

Driving down the road with a broading soul
Fake piggy on the side fills my coil with one more
Driving down the road with a broading soul
I'm driving down the freeway and I'm gonna take Bobby fucking home(guilty)

Oh I feel (although I can't) that Cuba's at risk
Teddy looked at me funny but I feel his car likes the water
And I know inside Bobby is a goner
Good old Joe, I let him know, grabbed a knife and made him grow

Driving down the road and i'm feeling whole
Driving down the road the I'm feeling sore
Driving down the road and I'm feeling sick
That book repository, what a fucking act

Oh, Ozzie
You didn't do that 999
You just loved playing patsy
Here comes the wizard of Ozzie with the Ruby
Oh no, lay down down down

You didn't have a bad brain
You just enjoyed that cocaine
You now see what I can see
Now they want a piece of me

Bad Guys

Driving down the road feeling so Sirhan (x3)
I can now pass cuz this place is getting old

Marijuana would have helped me here
Where the fuck is my wife
Take my skull chunks out of her face
And then we will watch her life go to waste

credits

from Conspiracy A​-​Go​-​Go, released November 1, 2013
previously released on Single Bullet Theory (2011)
written by Joe Marchi

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