The Verve Pipe
The Verve Pipe is an American post-grunge band from East Lansing, Michigan. It was formed in 1991 by Brian Vander Ark, Brad Vander Ark, Donny Brown and Brian Stout, releasing their first album, I've Suffered a Head Injury later that year. They released a second album Pop Smear helping to gain a devoted following in their native state of Michigan, which led to signing with RCA Records in 1995.
Despite the similarity in name to the British band The Verve, there is no relation between the two. Read Full BioThe Verve Pipe is an American post-grunge band from East Lansing, Michigan. It was formed in 1991 by Brian Vander Ark, Brad Vander Ark, Donny Brown and Brian Stout, releasing their first album, I've Suffered a Head Injury later that year. They released a second album Pop Smear helping to gain a devoted following in their native state of Michigan, which led to signing with RCA Records in 1995.
Despite the similarity in name to the British band The Verve, there is no relation between the two.
In 1992, working with producer/engineer Jon Frazer, they released their first album, I've Suffered a Head Injury, which featured an acoustic version of the band's calling-card hit, "The Freshmen." The original 10-song version of the CD is no longer available. A 7-song version, without the original recording of "The Freshmen" and two songs written by Stout, was later released as an EP.
The band, known for its energetic live performances, built strong followings during its early years, especially in the college towns of Kalamazoo and East Lansing.
In the fall of 1993, the band released a second album, Pop Smear again working with Frazer that helped them gain a devoted following in their native state of Michigan and their eventual signing with RCA Records in 1995. AJ Dunning replaced Stout on guitar for the recording of Pop Smear and remained in the band for their three RCA records. This album featured the popular tracks "Spoonful of Sugar" and "Victoria" among others. While Doug Corolla played on Pop Smear, he was not a full member of the band until 1994.
Their first major label release was 1996's Villains, which was a minor hit and launched two respectably-selling singles, first Photograph then the #1 hit The Freshmen. They came back with The Verve Pipe in 1999, with such tracks as "Supergig," "Generations" and "She Has Faces." The album, however, failed to contain the commercial appeal of its predecessor.
The band's final release for RCA Records was 2001's Underneath. The song "Colorful," from Underneath, was featured on the soundtrack of Rock Star. Underneath's release unfortunately coincided with the September 11th terroist attacks which contributed to the album's poor sales which led to the band being dropped from RCA.
On September 15, 2009, Brian Vander Ark announced on his Web site that the band would be releasing a new album called A Family Album in October, 2009. The band had been approached to contribute a song for an album called "Calling All Kids" which led to them creating an entire album of family friendly songs.
Lead singer Brian Vander Ark has also released four solo albums: 2003's Resurrection, 2006's Angel, Put Your Face On, 2008's self-titled release Brian Vander Ark and 2011's Magazine.
Since the release of Underneath, the band's line up has changed frequently with former members including Joel Ferguson, Dan Matheny and John Conners. The current line up is as follows:
* Brian Vander Ark – lead vocals, guitars
* Donny Brown – drums, background vocals
* Andy Reed – bass, background vocals
* Randy Sly – keyboards, background vocals
* Lou Musa - guitars, background vocals
* Craig Griffith - harmonica, background vocals
Despite the similarity in name to the British band The Verve, there is no relation between the two. Read Full BioThe Verve Pipe is an American post-grunge band from East Lansing, Michigan. It was formed in 1991 by Brian Vander Ark, Brad Vander Ark, Donny Brown and Brian Stout, releasing their first album, I've Suffered a Head Injury later that year. They released a second album Pop Smear helping to gain a devoted following in their native state of Michigan, which led to signing with RCA Records in 1995.
Despite the similarity in name to the British band The Verve, there is no relation between the two.
In 1992, working with producer/engineer Jon Frazer, they released their first album, I've Suffered a Head Injury, which featured an acoustic version of the band's calling-card hit, "The Freshmen." The original 10-song version of the CD is no longer available. A 7-song version, without the original recording of "The Freshmen" and two songs written by Stout, was later released as an EP.
The band, known for its energetic live performances, built strong followings during its early years, especially in the college towns of Kalamazoo and East Lansing.
In the fall of 1993, the band released a second album, Pop Smear again working with Frazer that helped them gain a devoted following in their native state of Michigan and their eventual signing with RCA Records in 1995. AJ Dunning replaced Stout on guitar for the recording of Pop Smear and remained in the band for their three RCA records. This album featured the popular tracks "Spoonful of Sugar" and "Victoria" among others. While Doug Corolla played on Pop Smear, he was not a full member of the band until 1994.
Their first major label release was 1996's Villains, which was a minor hit and launched two respectably-selling singles, first Photograph then the #1 hit The Freshmen. They came back with The Verve Pipe in 1999, with such tracks as "Supergig," "Generations" and "She Has Faces." The album, however, failed to contain the commercial appeal of its predecessor.
The band's final release for RCA Records was 2001's Underneath. The song "Colorful," from Underneath, was featured on the soundtrack of Rock Star. Underneath's release unfortunately coincided with the September 11th terroist attacks which contributed to the album's poor sales which led to the band being dropped from RCA.
On September 15, 2009, Brian Vander Ark announced on his Web site that the band would be releasing a new album called A Family Album in October, 2009. The band had been approached to contribute a song for an album called "Calling All Kids" which led to them creating an entire album of family friendly songs.
Lead singer Brian Vander Ark has also released four solo albums: 2003's Resurrection, 2006's Angel, Put Your Face On, 2008's self-titled release Brian Vander Ark and 2011's Magazine.
Since the release of Underneath, the band's line up has changed frequently with former members including Joel Ferguson, Dan Matheny and John Conners. The current line up is as follows:
* Brian Vander Ark – lead vocals, guitars
* Donny Brown – drums, background vocals
* Andy Reed – bass, background vocals
* Randy Sly – keyboards, background vocals
* Lou Musa - guitars, background vocals
* Craig Griffith - harmonica, background vocals
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
The Freshmen
The Verve Pipe Lyrics
When I was young I knew everything
And she a punk who rarely ever took advice
Now I'm guilt stricken
Sobbing with my head on the floor
Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice, no
Can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
My best friend took a week's
Vacation to forget her
His girl took a week's worth oh
Valium and slept
And now he's guilt stricken sobbing with his
Head on the floor
Think's about her now and how he never really
Wept he says
Can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
Hey, yeah
Hey, yeah
Hey, yeah
We tried to wash our hands of all of this
We never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt stricken sobbing with our
Heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to
Slip, we'd say
Can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
And I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
We were merely freshmen
We were only freshmen
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Donald Brown, Douglas Corella, Jeffrey Dunning, Brian Vander Ark
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
Amber Hess
[*Lyrics*]
When I was young I knew everything
And she a punk who rarely ever took advice
Now I'm guilt stricken,
Sobbing with my head on the floor
Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice, no
I can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
My best friend took a week's
Vacation to forget her
His girl took a week's worth a
Valium and slept
Now he's guilt stricken sobbing with his
Head on the floor
Think about her now and how he never really
Wept he says
I can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
We've tried to wash our hands of all of this
We never talk of our lack in relationships
And how we're guilt stricken sobbing with our
Heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to
Slip, we'd say
I can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
And I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
We were merely freshmen
We were only freshmen
Feniks Phoenix
In 2001, Brian Vander Ark explained what the song means to him:
"When I was young I knew everything" - We all think we know everything at a young age. I thought I did. I realize I didn't know sh*t until I was 36.
"And she, a Punk who rarely took advice" - How many people do we know like that?
"Now I'm guilt-stricken, sobbing, with my head on the floor" - Something happened that caused this reaction, but I wouldn't want to give that away this early in the song, so let's throw in an some ambiguity:
"Stop a baby's breath, and a shoe full of rice, no" - First of all, forget the NO. Stop a baby's breath is just that. Abort the baby. A shoe full of rice is a result of a wedding. So - stop a baby's breath AND then you stop a wedding. She's pregnant, get her to abort, and then there's no wedding. And you know what?
"I can't be held responsible, cause she was touching her face" - When I wrote this song, The Divinyls had a song out called 'I Touch Myself.' The TV was on, she was touching her face in the video. Very sexy. So, I can't be held responsible because she was trying to be sexy, trying to seduce me, etc.
"I won't be held responsible, she fell in love in the first place" - I didn't tell her to fall in love.
"For the life of me, I cannot remember what made us think that we were wise, and we'd never compromise" - What was I thinking back then? Who am I to put a girl though that? Why was I unable to compromise? Guilty feelings.
"For the life of me, I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins, we were merely freshmen" - We were just kids, let it go, we all make mistakes, etc.
"My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her" - He needed to get away because of what happened.
"His girl took a week's worth of Valium and slept" - This is why this song is not that strong literally - it's confusing. HIS girl is MY girl. The same girl that had the abortion has now killed herself.
"Now he's guilt-stricken, sobbing with his head on the floor, thinks about her now and how he never really wept he says" - He has the same guilty feelings that I do about the abortion and death.
"We tried to wash our hands of all of this, we never talk of our lacking relationships" - We rarely spoke after the incident - we just tried to forget it. We never spoke of her or the fact that we can't have a decent relationship with anyone since then.
"We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip" - No matter how careful you might be, there are other perils out there.
The girl is real, the abortion is real. The death is not. It's poetic license to make the story more interesting.
Mike B
In the 90's we couldnt wait to grow up... now we are older and in our 30's and 40's we just want those times back.
Glenn Garner
Yea for real i miss it good times and great times great memories
Mike B
@Twintaurean 520 We all have purpose (:
Twintaurean 520
@Mike B definitely recovering. I’m gonna be ok. Almost ready to get released back to work. Bout a week longer and I’ll be good 🥰 super blessed for sure I still have purpose
Mike B
@Twintaurean 520 Nooo! I hope you are recovering!! How are you feeling now?
Twintaurean 520
@Mike B don’t I know it. I had a heart attack a few weeks ago… at 39… smh. I fully understand the value of my youth. And now I also realize how valuable our health is as well. Now if I could just instill both into my kids at the same time I will have raised ones smarter than we were
Rob C
Sitting here at work, 40 years old. reminiscing about my teens and early 20's. I personally think coming of age in the 90's was an experience unlike any other decade, and Im so glad i had the chance to live in a time when you could just disconnect and truly relax. 80's babies RULE!!!!!
mayflower551
Born in 82. So thankful to have seen the world before technology took over and before 9\11
mayflower551
@Jonathan Boswell ABSOLUTELY
mayflower551
@Foxy Boop Yasssss me too💖