50 Foot Wave is an alternative rock band from the USA, formed in 2003. The … Read Full Bio ↴50 Foot Wave is an alternative rock band from the USA, formed in 2003. The band is fronted by Kristin Hersh, who writes the group's songs with collaborative efforts from the other group members in composing and arranging the music. The group's name is a reference to both an illustration and the term for the 50-foot sound wave of the lowest F tone audible to the human ear. The band sometimes abbreviates its name as L'~, using the Roman numeral for 50.

Kristin Hersh spent more than a decade previously playing with Throwing Muses, releasing several solo albums as well. Her solo tours in the late 1990s and early 2000s focused on acoustic guitar playing. In 2003, she launched the more electric guitar-oriented 50 Foot Wave.

The band was designed as a power trio, with a lineup including former Chalk FarM drummer Rob Ahlers and Throwing Muses bassist Bernard Georges. Hersh contributes guitar, lyrics, and vocals to this project. The band's first live performance was recorded in Burbank in October 2003 and released on a very limited basis as an official bootleg. Among other live appearances internationally in 2004, 50 Foot Wave performed a month-long residency of shows in January that year at the Silverlake Lounge, while the group was based in the Los Angeles area. The group's self-titled studio mini-album was co-released in March 2004 by the band's ThrowingMusic label and 4AD Records.

Hersh has described 50 Foot Wave's music as "having a lot of math in it," while also calling it less emotionally and musically "tangled" than some of her past Throwing Muses work. Others have described some of the new songs as having "confrontational" lyrics.

In March 2005, the group released its long-planned, full-length album, Golden Ocean, on ThrowingMusic, in partnership with 4AD.

The group toured Europe and the United States in 2005, while Hersh simultaneously continued her solo concerts in alternating parts of the year.

In December 2005, the band released a new EP called Free Music! available via free FLAC and mp3 downloads at their website and several download partner sites. The downloads reserved some rights though Creative Commons licenses.

In December 2008, the band released their new EP Power + Light as a stream. In early March 2009, the band released all their previous albums along with a selection of live tracks, an Instrumental EP and the upcoming Power+Light album for download at their website. As before the tracks were available in FLAC and mp3 format and the band reserved some rights though Creative Commons licenses.

Hot Pink Distorted
50 Foot Wave Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It'll take much more than water
To fix my hot pink, distorted face

And more than self-hypnosis
To believe it doesn't taste like gasoline
I was not invited back

Here comes the thunder

There goes the rain

You poor misguided soldier
Ugly daughters show no mercy

In the heat of battle
These brats'll feel no pain
Quick and dirty they take you down

Here comes the thunder
There goes the rain

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to 50 Foot Wave's song Hot Pink Distorted convey messages of pain and self-doubt. The first line, "It'll take much more than water to fix my hot pink, distorted face," suggests that a person is troubled and that "fixing" their problems will take more than just superficial solutions. The phrase "hot pink" could also symbolize passion, anger, or intensity, and the word "distorted" could indicate that the person has lost control of their emotions. In the second line, "More than self-hypnosis to believe it doesn't taste like gasoline," the singer suggests that they have lost their faith in their own abilities, possibly due to past mistakes or trauma.

The line "I was not invited back" could indicate that the person has been excluded by others because of their perceived flaws or issues. The following lines, "Here comes the thunder, there goes the rain," may signify a release of emotions or a catharsis. The line "You poor misguided soldier, ugly daughters show no mercy" implies that the singer may have been judged harshly by others, often unfairly. Finally, "In the heat of battle, these brats'll feel no pain, quick and dirty they take you down" suggests that the singer has experienced battles or challenges and that some people are willing to use any means to win.

Line by Line Meaning

It'll take much more than water
Water won't be enough

To fix my hot pink, distorted face
To make me look normal again

And more than self-hypnosis
I need more than just convincing myself

To believe it doesn't taste like gasoline
That what I'm eating isn't actually gasoline

I was not invited back
I wasn't welcomed back

Here comes the thunder
A storm is coming

There goes the rain
The rain is leaving

You poor misguided soldier
You're misguided and unfortunate

Ugly daughters show no mercy
Mean and unattractive women won't have mercy on you

In the heat of battle
During intense conflicts

These brats'll feel no pain
These young people won't feel pain