Seattle's experimental punk trio the A-Frames feature vocalist/guitarist Er… Read Full Bio ↴Seattle's experimental punk trio the A-Frames feature vocalist/guitarist Erin Sullivan, bassist Min Yee, and drummer Lars Finberg, all of whom have played together in a series of bands — including the Intelligence, the Dipers, and the Un-Natural Helpers — since the late '90s. Originally known as Bend Sinister, they became the A-Frames in 1999 and began recording themselves in early 2000. Not willing to bet on the chances that a label might sign them, the bandmembers formed their own label, Dragnet, that year, and recorded some more tracks in Sacramento, CA, with Scott Soriano.

In 2000, Dragnet released the first A-Frames single, Neutron Bomb/Radiation Generation/Test Tube Baby, and the group returned to Sacramento for more recording sessions. Soriano's label, S-S Records, released the band's next single, Plastica, in early 2001; by that fall, the A-Frames had enough material ready for their first, self-titled album, which was co-released by Dragnet and S-S in spring 2002. They recorded their second album, A-Frames 2, that fall, and released it via S-S the following spring. Later in 2003, the band recorded — and junked — initial sessions for its third full-length; the following year the A-Frames moved to Sub Pop, which released Black Forest (also recorded with Soriano) in early 2005.

Flies
A Frames Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

In the dark ages, medieval times
In the first stages of the last decline

In the ancient city, AD 79
frozen in ash; smothered in time

In the fertile crescent reading cuneiform
Past and present in my uniform

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of A Frames' song Flies invoke a sense of ancient history and decay. The first line takes us back to the time of the dark ages, where things were primitive and unknown. The mention of medieval times further reinforces this thought. The second line, "In the first stages of the last decline," refers to what could be the start of the end of civilization.

The next two lines take us to Pompeii, the ancient city which was buried under the ash of the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. It is described as frozen in ash and smothered in time, creating a sense of desolation and despair. The last line mentions the fertile crescent, an area in the Middle East where civilization first developed. The reference to reading cuneiform, one of the earliest systems of writing, seems to suggest that the singer is a scholar or an archaeologist trying to understand the past.

Overall, the lyrics paint a bleak but captivating picture of ancient history and its impact on the present, highlighting the transience of human civilization.

Line by Line Meaning

In the dark ages, medieval times
During times of great oppression and chaos, in the period of the Middle Ages

In the first stages of the last decline
During the early signs of a decline towards an inevitable end

In the ancient city, AD 79
In the old city of Pompeii during the significant year of AD 79

frozen in ash; smothered in time
Preserved under layers of ash and time, unable to escape the catastrophic event

In the fertile crescent reading cuneiform
In the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia, studying the earliest form of writing on clay tablets

Past and present in my uniform
The combination of knowledge from the past and present is reflected in my attire

Contributed by Taylor P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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