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
The Freshmen
The Verve Pipe Lyrics
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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
The Verve Pipe's song "The Freshmen" is a melancholic and heartwrenching track that explores the guilt, regret, and desperation of two lovers who have lost their way. The song is sung from the perspective of a young man who was once naive and believed he knew everything about the world. He had fallen in love with a rebellious "punk" girl who rarely took his advice. However, things took a dark turn when they accidentally caused the death of a baby and tried to cover up their mistakes with lies and denial. The singer is now racked with guilt and despair, sobbing with his head on the floor, while his friend and former lover are also struggling with their emotions after trying to forget their past.
The lyrics describe the pain and confusion of young love, as well as the consequences of making reckless decisions. The chorus "For the life of me, I cannot remember what made us think that we were wise, and we'd never compromise" is a poignant reflection on how youth can lead to a false sense of invincibility and how mistakes can have lasting consequences. The line "We were merely freshmen" is a reminder of how young and inexperienced they were when they made these mistakes.
Overall, "The Freshmen" is a powerful and meaningful song that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the impact of our actions on those around us.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was young I knew everything
When I was young, I thought I knew everything there was to know about life and love.
And she a punk who rarely ever took advice
The girl I fell in love with was a rebellious punk who didn't take advice or listen to others.
Now I'm guilt stricken
Now I'm consumed with guilt and regret about what happened.
Sobbing with my head on the floor
I'm so overwhelmed by my emotions that I'm crying hysterically and can barely stand.
Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice, no
The situation is so awful that it feels like a knife in the heart, like stopping a baby's breath or throwing rice on a coffin.
Can't be held responsible
I don't believe that I should be blamed for what happened.
'Cause she was touching her face
The girl I loved had her own flaws and made her own choices, and it's not fair to blame me for them.
I won't be held responsible
I refuse to accept responsibility for what happened to her.
She fell in love in the first place
She made her own choices and fell in love with me on her own.
For the life of me I cannot remember
I can't recall what led us to believe we knew everything and that our love wouldn't face any challenges.
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
We felt so confident in our love that we believed we wouldn't ever have to change or compromise for each other.
For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
I'm shocked and horrified that our love could lead to such tragedy and pain.
We were merely freshmen
We were young and naive, without the knowledge or experience to understand the complexities of love and life.
My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her
My best friend was so devastated by the situation that he had to take some time away to try to forget about her.
His girl took a week's worth of Valium and slept
Her friend was so overwhelmed that she took a lot of medication and slept for a week.
And now he's guilt stricken sobbing with his head on the floor
Now my best friend also feels terrible about what happened and is sobbing uncontrollably and can barely stand.
Thinks about her now and how he never really wept he says
He thinks back on his relationship with her and wonders why he didn't cry when he had the chance to.
We tried to wash our hands of all of this
We tried to forget about the situation and move on with our lives.
We never talk of our lacking relationships
We don't discuss the fact that our romantic relationships don't meet all of our emotional needs.
And how we're guilt stricken sobbing with our heads on the floor
Despite our efforts to move on, we still feel immense guilt and regret about what happened, and it still brings us to our knees.
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip, we'd say
We tried to avoid making mistakes in our relationship, but it was like walking on thin ice and we fell through anyway.
We were only freshmen
In the end, we were just young and inexperienced, and we made mistakes that we couldn't take back.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Donald Brown, Douglas Corella, Jeffrey Dunning, Brian Vander Ark
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind