The band is best known for their heavy yet anthemic music and their tendency to destroy their equipment at the end of their performances (a rock and roll tradition usually associated with The Who). According to the band's website, the name "...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead" is taken from both an ancient Mayan ritual chant and an Egyptian burial text. Band members have also claimed that they made it up because it sounded cool and discovered the association after the fact.
The chief creative element of the band consists of Jason Reece and Conrad Keely. The two switch between drumming and lead vocals and guitar, both on their records and during their shows. (On some songs, [former] bass player Neil Busch sings lead vocals). Keely and Reece have been friends since their youth, meeting originally in Hawaii. They each formed their first band in 1993 soon after moving to Olympia, Washington. Keely started a band called Benedict Gehlen that only lasted a year. Nancyville was Keely's next project, though it also was short lived. Reece started with Honeybucket and then formed Mukilteo Fairies while living in Olympia. Dissatisfied with the northwest, the two ventured south to Austin, Texas and started playing as a duo under the moniker, "You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead". The band expanded to include guitarist Kevin Allen and bassist Neil Busch. They then officially changed their name to "...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead" (adding the conjunction and then the ellipsis for effect). The band is also known by the shorter name "Trail of Dead".
By 1998 they had issued their first release (a live cassette on local Golden Hour Records), followed by a self-titled full-length on Trance Syndicate. In early 2002, Trail of Dead released Source Tags & Codes to immediate critical acclaim, and made numerous critics' year-end top 10 lists.
In 2003, an EP named The Secret of Elena's Tomb followed up, which included amongst others "Mach Schau", which was the first recording of a song the band had written in their early days, as well as "Intelligence", a song with dominant electronic sounds, which was pulled from Jason Reece's electro side-project called A Roman Scandal.
In 2004, Neil Busch left the band due to health issues and was replaced by Danny Wood of The Rise. Together with additional drummer Doni Schroader (ex-Forget Cassettes) and keyboarder David Longoria (The Black), a revamped Trail of Dead embarked on an extensive worldwide tour in 2004-2005, which covered USA and Canada, and cities throughout Europe to promote their album Worlds Apart, which was finally released in January 2005 after some annoying issues with the label's corporate policies.
After the tepid critical and commercial reception of Worlds Apart, Conrad Keely became very frustrated and considered quitting the band altogether. Luckily, the band regrouped to record an EP, but the group's creativity blossomed, resulting in enough material for an album. Their latest full-length album, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories, was released on January 20th, 2020.
Sunken Dreams
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shadowless and cold
Where heaven looks down
On this empty hole
Levers here to taste the ruins
Dark and obscene
But all I want is you
In my sunken dreams
I remember all the places
I remember when we met
You alone and graceless
Me covered in sweat
We hid among the empty isle
Shuddered 'neath the scene
And your lips reached out
In my sunken dreams
The above lyrics are from "...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's" song "Sunken Dreams" which is about a painful memory of a faded love. The singer is remembering a time where they were in a dark and desolate place, possibly metaphorical, that seemed devoid of life and light. This place is now a shadowless, cold desert where heaven looks down on a hole filled with ruins. The ruins are dark and obscene, probably from being scarred by something that has happened in the past. Despite this, the singer only wants to be with the person that they loved in their dreams while in that place, suggesting that even in the darkness, hope exists.
In the second verse, the singer takes us further down memory lane, remembering the place where they met their lover, who was probably alone and uncomfortable. The person they loved was gracious, reflecting a sense of how much they cared for each other. The singer was sweating, possibly suggesting they were anxious or nervous during their first meeting. They hid amongst empty isles, possibly on their own or isolated in the chaos, trying to find each other. As the singer remembers, their lips reach out in the sunken dreams, again implying that all they have now is their memories of their love.
Line by Line Meaning
I remember dessert places
I have vivid memories of places we visited where we indulged in sweet treats.
Shadowless and cold
These places were devoid of any light or warmth, creating an eerie sense of emptiness.
Where heaven looks down
Despite the bleak atmosphere, it felt as if something divine was watching over us.
On this empty hole
Referring to the dessert places as vacant, hollow spaces that lacked true substance or meaning.
Levers here to taste the ruins
We came to these places with the express purpose of relishing in their decadent and destructive qualities.
Dark and obscene
These places seemed to showcase the most perverse and depraved aspects of human desire.
But all I want is you
Despite being surrounded by all of these indulgences, the singer only desires their companion's company above all else.
In my sunken dreams
The artist's deepest desires and longings are only accessible to them in their subconscious state of slumber.
Contributed by Samantha D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.