Abandoned Pools is the performing name for singer-songwriter and musician T… Read Full Bio ↴Abandoned Pools is the performing name for singer-songwriter and musician Tommy Walter, as well as the name of the band in which he plays. He began playing music at a young age, first with the bass guitar and then the French horn. He attended University of Southern California, followed by the Pacific University. Teaching classical music theory, Walter began working with various Los Angeles-area musicians.

Walter soon began working with a singer-songwriter who went by E and drummer Butch Norton as The Eels. After a promising debut, Walter left the band due to differences with E. He formed a short-lived band, Tely, who released a CD that was distributed on the internet. He was also in the touring band for the Ken Andrews solo project ON, though in the end the band saw little touring. Later he went on to form Abandoned Pools and recorded a solo album, Humanistic, in 2001. Humanistic actually features a couple of songs that were once performed by Tely, like "Start Over."

In 2002 they performed the theme song for the short-lived MTV animated series Clone High. Many of their songs can be heard in the background during the show.

Walter teamed up with drummer Bryan Head and guitarist Sean Woolstenhulme in 2004 to record "Armed to the Teeth," the follow up to Humanistic. In June of 2005, they released an EP, consisting of a few songs from the new album along with b-sides and demos, called The Reverb EP. This was followed by the full album in September 2005.

In January of 2006, Walter wrote in his blog that Universal Records had stopped promoting the album. However, he has included several song snippets on his MySpace and has said he is writing songs for a new album.

In March of 2010, Walter announced via Twitter that he would enter the studio to work on a third Abandoned Pools album after five years of hiatus.

In mid-May 2011, via the Abandoned Pools' MySpace page, two new songs, "Marigold" and "In Silence" from the upcoming album, "Sublime Currency" were made available for streaming and download, or iTunes, as well as a full length demo of the first album, "Humanistic." The third studio album was expected to be released in late 2011, but is now due out sometime in 2012. On Friday, January 27, 2012, the Abandoned Pools' Facebook page posted: "Announcement coming on Monday." (January 30th)

L.V.B.D.
Abandoned Pools Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Welcome to the world
My little virgin baby doll
Can you save me?
I set you off
With the tip of my tongue
Spinning
Never coming back

I want to dig for gold
Wear the crown of forever lost souls

I'll be nothing
Forever

Jill went up the hill
And gave herself the will
To kill her fear
Now she's unstoppable
Indestructible
The incorruptible
Forever lost soul

Just a mercy kiss
Born of emptiness

I'm so sick of this
And your fakin'

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of Abandoned Pools' "L.V.B.D." open with a cryptic greeting to a newborn: "Welcome to the world, my little virgin baby doll / Can you save me?" The artist, Tommy Walter, is addressing someone new to the world, perhaps his own child, entering into this life with all its promise and also with its challenges. The phrase "can you save me" may be Walter's way of expressing his hope that this new life can bring about change for him or for the world at large. But the next line takes a darker turn: "I set you off with the tip of my tongue, spinning / Never coming back." Here, Walter seems to be admitting the destructive potential of his own words, and the danger of bringing someone new into a world that he sees as perpetually in motion, spinning out of control.

As the song progresses, Walter continues to express a sense of being stuck, of wanting to escape his own limitations. He expresses the desire to "dig for gold," but this isn't a hopeful statement--it's a reference to the idea of a gold miner going deeper and deeper into the earth, perhaps never to return. He also references "forever lost souls," suggesting a sense of aimlessness and frustration with his own place in the world. The mention of Jill going up the hill and overcoming her own fear may be a glimmer of hope in the song's final verses, with Walter expressing a desire to break free of the "emptiness" that's wearing him down.

Line by Line Meaning

Welcome to the world
Invitation to the world

My little virgin baby doll
Naive person

Can you save me?
Request for help

I set you off
Abandonment

With the tip of my tongue
Easily done

Spinning
Confused or lost

Never coming back
No return

I want to dig for gold
Desire for something precious

Wear the crown of forever lost souls
Identification with a group of lost beings

I'll be nothing
Lack of self-worth

Forever
Eternally