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.
Pneuma
50 Foot Wave Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To lemon scent the sky?
Sulphur
Yellow sulphur
Yellow sky
I tongue a socket
You're like a warped godmother with your baffling love
I know what's in the air
I know what's in the air
I know what's in the air
You know what?
You know what?
You know what?
Shut the fuck up!
Oh oh oh
A spoonful of sugar
A labor of love
Pneuma and pollution
Don't confuse me any
I know what's in the air
I know what's in the air
I know what's in the air
You know what?
You know what?
You know what?
Shut the fuck up!
Oh oh oh
Aquamarine
And video green
Hot water and pink soap
Our teeth full of holes
And our guts full of holes
And our thighs stick to hot vinyl
Cringing through life wedgies
I strain to hear you
Over the brainless chattering null set
The lyrics of 50 Foot Wave's song Pneuma bring to mind a surrealistic scene where someone is attempting to control the essence of existence itself. The first lines seem to express disbelief and maybe even contempt for the idea of attempting to change the sky's natural scent, as if it were even possible. The use of the word "lemon" in this context makes it even more ridiculous, implying that the person is trying to make something sour into something sweet. The next lines evoke the image of a jolt of electricity that seems to pass between two people, although it's unclear if it's a good or bad thing, given the description of one of them as a "warped godmother with your baffling love."
The repetition of the phrase "I know what's in the air" reinforces the idea that something important is happening. It's as if the person singing is aware of some kind of change taking place, and is trying to communicate it to someone who might not be paying attention. The phrase "shut the fuck up" is repeated several times, maybe indicating some kind of frustration or anger with the other person's lack of understanding. The rest of the lyrics are a surreal collage of disconnected images: "aquamarine and video green", "hot water and pink soap", "our teeth full of holes and our guts full of holes." It's as if the singer is trying to depict a world where everything is falling apart, yet there's still a desperate attempt to hold on to something, anything.
Line by Line Meaning
Did I just hear you try
Questioning whether the other person attempted something
To lemon scent the sky?
Asking if they tried to make the sky smell like lemons
Sulphur
Referring to the chemical element that smells bad
Yellow sulphur
Further describing the type of sulphur
Yellow sky
Describing the color of the sky
I tongue a socket
Putting one's tongue in a socket, which can result in an electric shock
You feel the jolt
The other person feels the electric shock
You're like a warped godmother with your baffling love
Comparing the person to a twisted version of a fairy godmother, who gives confusing love
I know what's in the air
Aware of something in the atmosphere
You know what?
Asking if the other person knows something
Shut the fuck up!
Angrily telling the other person to be quiet
Oh oh oh
Repeating sound effect
A spoonful of sugar
Reference to the phrase 'a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down'
A labor of love
Something done out of love, despite the effort required
Pneuma and pollution
Referring to both the breath of life and environmental pollution
Don't confuse me any
Asking not to be further perplexed by something
Aquamarine
A blue-green color
And video green
Referring to the color of old computer screens
Hot water and pink soap
Describing the substances in a particular environment
Our teeth full of holes
Suggesting decaying teeth due to lack of care
And our guts full of holes
Metaphorically expressing holes in one's insides - alluding to illness or vulnerability
And our thighs stick to hot vinyl
Painting a picture of a hot and uncomfortable environment
Cringing through life wedgies
Feeling embarrassed or awkward throughout one's life
I strain to hear you
Putting in effort to hear what the person is saying
Over the brainless chattering null set
Trying to listen to someone speaking nonsense or irrelevant things
Contributed by Isabella N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ojosdeweber
Kristin Hersh totally rocks
@linus7106
this is NOT just pretty cool. this is AWESOME!
@catbox
Always amazing! New 50 ft Wave over at the Cash site.
@anny_x
クソかっこいいなー。
@Pantherboy2
I love that brief flash of here eyes @ 1:42
@sheepkillindog
Her hair at :56 is where it’s at
@alamaj
oooh yeees, she rocks till eighties
@qarybennett5801
like it a lot
@faewrie
is there a vid for long painting? i love that song!!!
@cranioboy
Bad fucking ass!!!