Happy Valentine’s Day or not, however you take your cupid arrow…with or without poison. I actually like Valentine’s Day because I get chocolate whether I am single or not. For this Valentine’s Day here is the other stuff I got besides chocolate: I received fab pink roses from my man muse Martin (say that 3 times fast), fuchsia Betsey Johnson heart shoes, a Gryffindor t-shirt (which I promptly dyed pink) and 2 bottles of pink sugar perfume (I’m smelly OK, I need BOTH bottles) Most of these Valentine’s Gifts were given to me by my mum and my band, sad, but at least my band loves me. My band loves you too so to celebrate the Valentine’s Day we gave you a song for V-day, “Valentine’s Day Massacre.” You can hear it by logging on to our website http://www.switchbladekittens.com// or our myspace at www.myspace.com/switchbladekittens.

(Shinny Betsey Jonson Heart Shoes)

The non-ancient Roman version of Valentine's Day is a saint’s day commemorating Saint Valentine on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their fondness for one another by sending Valentine's cards, gifting, and going out to eat at romantic restaurant. Our song “Valentine’s Day Massacre” is about both Harry Potter’s disastrous Valentine’s Day date with Cho Chang AND the actual Valentine’s Day Massacre. On February 14, 1929 St. Valentine's Day, in Chicago, six members of 'Bugs' Moran's Irish gang were lined up against the wall of a garage and shot execution style by order of the Italian crime lord, Al Capone. This was called the Valentine’s Day Massacre. This was a turning point in history because this kind of cold blooded killing had never happened in an American neighborhood. This incident left Chicagoans with a feeling of insecurity and bewilderment.

On August 6th we are playing at Terminus in Chicago, the 3 stage all day music festival of Wizard Rock. At Terminus, there will be a meeting of Harry Potter and Chicago so this song takes on extra significance for Switchblade Kittens. In the song the beat is accented with kisses and gunshots, kisses for Harry and gunshots for the actual Massacre. As many would agree, kisses and gunshots can cause the same amount of pain and death. In the 2nd verse one lyric line is “Bloody pink confetti rain.” For Harry it was the actual pink confetti raining on him from the golden cherubs at Madame Puddifoot’s Tea Shoppe, every hit reminding him that he was there to be romantic, yet only emphasizing the point that he had no idea how to accomplish this. I believe he would have described it as “bloody” (bloody being a Scottish curse word meaning “annoying”). This can also refer to the rain of bullets in the massacre, so many that the blood spilt was gratuitous like confetti.

Another lyric line is “Betrayed with the tip of your hand.” In an attempt to show his feelings for Cho, Harry tried to hold her hand, but due to the mixings and accruement of drinking coffee he only managed to graze the tip of her hand. A popular poker expression for when one shows their winning cards is, “tip your hand.” In the territorial battle between the Italian crime syndicate and the Irish crime syndicate, Al Capone tipped his hand by shooting Bugs Moran’s entire gang. Capone showed that he would do the unthinkable to win the territorial scuffle.

After Valentine’s Day neither Harry nor America would ever be the same. For both, it was a Valentine’s Day Massacre. So enjoy the song and come to Terminus to hear the Valentine’s Day Massacre played live in Chicago. It will be fun AND ironical. See ya there and Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope your Valentine’s Day is NOT a massacre!

~taste the rainbow~