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.

The Fuchsia Wall
50 Foot Wave Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm still uncorrupted but pissed
Red poppies
And you against the fuchsia wall
Heart racing

So the future's n-not rosy, duh
My money's on grim and muddy, duh
Then suddenly everything I see's a love letter

An offer, oblivion forever

Up against the fuchsia wall
Star fucker
Hey that's not pillow talk
Your mother

Frantic pawing's not un-beautiful
But drowning in your rain's invisible

Then suddenly everything I see's a love letter
An offer, oblivion forever

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of 50 Foot Wave's song "The Fuchsia Wall" set the tone for the rest of the track: a mixture of anger and vulnerability. The singer establishes that she is still "uncorrupted," but also "pissed," suggesting that there is something that she is angry about that has not yet tainted her view of the world. The imagery of "red poppies" and being "against the fuchsia wall" suggests a scene of either intense beauty or intense conflict, or perhaps both. The singer's heart is racing, suggesting that this situation is causing her to feel anxious or excited.

The following lines describe the singer's pessimistic view of the future, as she says that her "money's on grim and muddy." However, she then says that "suddenly everything I see's a love letter / An offer, oblivion forever." This juxtaposition of grimness with love and acceptance suggests that the singer is experiencing a powerful emotional transformation. The second verse continues to explore the theme of conflicting emotions, as the singer describes the physical act of sex ("frantic pawing") as both beautiful and potentially dangerous ("drowning in your rain's invisible").

Overall, "The Fuchsia Wall" is a complex exploration of emotions and experiences, blending images of beauty with images of conflict and danger. The song's title refers to a literal fuchsia-colored wall, but it also suggests a barrier or obstacle that the singer must face, perhaps something that is both beautiful and dangerous.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm still uncorrupted but pissed
Although I have not lost my morals, I am still angry and frustrated

Red poppies
Flowers that symbolize death or remembrance of the dead

And you against the fuchsia wall
You standing against the bright pink wall

Heart racing
My heart is beating rapidly

So the future's n-not rosy, duh
Obviously, the future looks grim and unpleasant

My money's on grim and muddy, duh
I believe that the future will be dark and unappealing

Then suddenly everything I see's a love letter
All that I observe appears to be a message of love or adoration

An offer, oblivion forever
A proposal to experience infinite nothingness or forgetfulness

Up against the fuchsia wall
Pressed against the bright pink wall

Star fucker
Someone who seeks intimate relationships with celebrities

Hey that's not pillow talk
That is not a topic suitable for intimate conversation