Tag Archives: feeder

#1407: Feeder – Tracing Lines

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Back in 2009 or so, I really got into the habit of adding song lyrics onto websites. Clearly, this was a 14-year-old who knew what to do with his time. One website that I used very, very regularly was letssingit.com Still got my account on there and everything. I went under the name ‘Jammerz’ and, as you can see through this archived link from September 2010, I was the moderator for Feeder’s page on there. I’m very sure the lyrics you see for ‘Tracing Lines’ everywhere now are based on those I originally typed out on LetsSingIt on August 17th 2009. The same day I added the band’s most recent album then, Silent Cry. Got one lyric wrong though. “She’s my direction, down to the south” is very clearly, “Changed my direction, turned to the south.” But the former was what I heard at the time. And that’s how I came to know the song. Writing the lyrics while simultaneously watching its music video via YouTube.

‘Tracing Lines’ took me for a bit of a surprise when I first heard it. Silent Cry, its parent album, was released in 2008. The video for its first single ‘We Are the People’ was maybe played once or twice – that I saw – on TV. I’m not sure I liked it. And the very limited coverage around the album at the time probably made me think Feeder weren’t what they used to be. But fast-forward to 2009, I find ‘Tracing Lines’, and it sounded like one of those classic Feeder songs that could have been included on their ’06 Singles compilation. It made me think why the label or whoever didn’t release this as the “comeback” single instead. Guitarist and songwriter Grant Nicholas can write really good power pop tunes whenever he wants, and ‘Tracing Lines’ comes under that group. Catchy from the get-go with the easy chord progression. Taka Hirose and Mark Richardson respectively join in with the bass guitar and drums alongside the keyboard/guitar lick. An easy-to-follow melody with a standard song structure, the chorus being the usual standout moment. It’s all there, all very nicely executed.

When it comes to what the song’s about, I’ve never stopped to think it through. Even if I did transcribe the words all them years ago, it was more so I could just sing along. But looking at them now and hearing the track, I think ‘Tracing Lines’ is generally about travelling, especially from the point of view of a man in a rock band like Grant Nicholas was and is. He had a dream/vision of being in a band when he was younger, changed his direction in life to follow that path, and now he finds himself going from here to there and back again as he tours and does the things a working musician has to do. He wishes he could take a rest, but he loves what he does and finds new ways to bring enthusiasm into it. The tracing lines part, I think, comes from a notion that we’re all kind of leaving our own footprints behind wherever we go, wherever we travel, but we don’t necessarily see them. In Nicholas’s case, his lines will usually intersect as he goes back to a place he may have been to years before and do so on much more frequent basis than your average person you see on the street. So that’s my take. I hope you enjoy the song too.

#1186: Feeder – Shatter

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At the time of the release of ‘Shatter’ in October 2005, Feeder’s most recent album had been Pushing the Senses. Looking at scores and reviews of the project, it seems that critics just weren’t very impressed with it. I’m sure a lot of Feeder fans dug it though. Though I want to say there was one take on the LP I witnessed that more or less said that the band hadn’t got over the death of their drummer Jon Lee and were just making the same old sad songs like they did on the album that came before. A bit of a morbid way to look at it. Insensitive, to say the least. I couldn’t say, really. I’ve never heard it in full. Though I do remember seeing the video for ‘Feeling a Moment’ on TV the one time, the only Feeder songs I knew as a whole were ‘Buck Rogers’ and ‘Just a Day’. So when the video for ‘Shatter’ started making the rounds on MTV2, I was kinda surprised.

This song was nothing like the two songs I was used to. ‘Shatter’ was darker, brooding, had a harder rock edge to it. Contained a sound that left me feeling that there was something unknown lurking around the corner. I think that specific thing’s more reinforced by the music video it got, which contained clips from a Russian movie called Night Watch. But I knew immediately that the song was one that I wanted to hear constantly, and if ever the video came on the TV, I had to make sure I watched the whole thing. It might even be one of the main reasons I got the band’s Singles compilation for Christmas 2006. The song had been released as a single – a double A-side format with fellow song ‘Tender’ – and I’d completely missed that. So the compilation was the only way to ensure that I could hear the track whenever I wanted and not by the judgement of whoever was managing MTV2 in those days.

In fact, the song had originally been released as the B-Side to ‘Tumble and Fall’, when that came around as the lead single for Pushing the Senses in January of 2005. It also would have been familiar to followers of the Gran Turismo series, as the track appeared in the soundtrack of Gran Turismo 4 albeit with a different mix. Word got ’round among fans regarding how good of a song ‘Shatter’ was, and so, after a successful petition, it was promoted from being a song that maybe no one would have gone on to think twice about to being one of their top, top singles. At least, in my eyes. If only I knew what the song was truly about. Think it’s generally about depression. There’s probably more to it. What I know is, it’s been in my library for almost 20 years now and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. My particular favourite bit is the instrumental break before the final chorus with the frantic chord changes underneath the spooky synth(?) solo. Gets quite intense before exploding into the song’s last moments. I like this one a lot.

#1077: Feeder – Pushing the Senses

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Feeder, Feeder, Feeder. Don’t believe I’ve ever gone through a whole studio album by the band before. Not sure whether they have a worldwide-recognised bona-fide classic. But they always seem to hit a home run when it comes to their single releases. All the Feeder songs I’ve written about before on here were commercially released as representatives of their parent albums at some point or another. That also includes today’s song ‘Pushing the Senses’, the title track from the band’s 2005 album. Or, if you’re turned off by my subtle dismissal of their studio albums, you can find the track on the fantastic Singles compilation. In my honest opinion, if you want to get to know Feeder, this is the only release you’ll need.

To be even more honest, I don’t have a great emotional investment in this track as I do for a lot of other tracks in this long, long list. That’s to say it’s not a song that I’m usually seeking out to listen to on a regular basis. Nor was there a key moment in my life that I can recall where it played a significant part. In fact, I’m very sure that it was used in a car advert a few years back, wanna say it was one for Mitsubishi for some reason, and that reminded me that the song existed and thus made me revisit it. I’d be singing along to it whenever it came on the TV though. Partly because it used to air a numerous amount of times. But mostly because the car company’s use of the chorus was a smart move. Very melodic. Very memorable.

The usual conclusion to come to when listening to this track is that in some way it’s probably about the band’s former drummer Jon Lee, also a good friend of guitarist/songwriter Grant Nicholas, who committed suicide in January 2002. Many tracks on the albums following on from that year contain lyrics alluding to Nicholas’s feelings on Lee’s passing, but it was Pushing the Senses and 2002’s Comfort in Sound that really captured them in the midst of that sad time. I’ve come to see the track as one that’s about a relationship, one in which the narrator wants to fix things with the significant other just by talking things out when things get tough. Then again, you could take that to be Nicholas wanting to talk to Lee about his own feelings and to try and find some resolve. We could go round in circles here. What matters really is the music, and the gist is that it’s a very driving, forward-looking power pop tune. Gets a thumbs up from me.

#680: Feeder – Just a Day

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‘Just a Day’ was released as a standalone single by Feeder in the last few weeks of 2001. I would have only been six at the time but from what I’ve gathered it was the cherry on top to cap off a successful year the band had, having released their third album Echo Park earlier which was supported by popular hits such as ‘Seven Days in the Sun’ and ‘Buck Rogers’.

This song was featured on Gran Turismo 3, a game I remember getting for Christmas in 2002 and not being too impressed by it. I don’t think I understood how to play it at all and I ended up getting very frustrated with it. Something that sounds awful as an excuse because it’s just a racing game. It had great music in there though. I’ll say that’s how I got to know this track in the first place.

Years down the line I would see its video (above) here and there on TV, and it’s just a compilation of fans of Feeder performing/miming/dancing/acting to the track in their rooms on amateur camera footage. It’s a simple idea, but it’s clear that everyone involved is having the time of their lives. It is widely agreed that the two Asian guys who appear at various points throughout are the main highlight of the video.

It’s about being young, having great times with friends, waking up with a hangover in the morning and having the existential crisis that usually comes along with them. It’s also about feeling useless and not wanting to let people down via your excessive behaviour when it comes to drinking and all of that. It’s quite a downer. But with its high-energy and general catchiness – the ‘do-do-do-do’ hook is memorable – you probably wouldn’t realise.

Unfortunately, it was their last single to be released with original drummer Jon Lee who took his own life in the first few days of 2002. The band kept out of the public eye for a while to grieve and come to an understanding of what happened. They came back nearing the end of the year with Comfort in Sound, a fine effort that addressed Lee’s death among other sad subjects in its lyrics. Below is the band’s last live performance with Lee on Later with Jools Holland.

#635: Feeder – Insomnia

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‘Insomnia’ was initially released on Feeder’s second album Yesterday Went Too Soon in 1999, gaining further promotion as the record’s second single in the same year. I was four at the time. It was years later, seven to be exact, when I heard the song for the first time on the band’s singles compilation – aptly named The Singles.

There’s nothing much to try and pick apart here. The song is about Grant Nicholas trying to cope with insomnia by drinking himself to sleeping and taking pills. Throughout, he lists ways in which he tries to get some sleep: reading magazines, counting sheep, daydreaming of the days when he was young and didn’t have to care about many things. It’s simple stuff. It’s very pop punk in its delivery. A lot of power chords and forceful drums to boot, but a straight up catchy melody that’s memorable and easy to the ear.

Think I made it clear once upon a time that Feeder had a lot of great singles. There are more to come in the future. On this blog, I mean. They have released some stuff recently though.