Formed in Cincinnati in 1986, Greg Dulli (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick McCollum (lead guitar), John Curley (bass), and Steve Earle (drums -- not to be confused with country musician Steve Earle) .
In 1988, they released their debut album Big Top Halloween on their own Ultrasuede label. The album caught the attention and imagination of the independent music community and the band soon signed to Sub Pop of Seattle in 1989. Sub Pop's signing of the Afghan Whigs created quite a stir at the time as they were the first non-Northwestern U.S. band to record for the label.
In 1990, their first Sub Pop release Up in It was released; the blistering pace and yowling, effects-heavy guitars on tracks like "White Trash Party" gave no hint of the stylistic about-face to come. It was followed by a limited edition single released by No.6 Records under the name The Ornament.
With the critically acclaimed 1992 album Congregation and a limited covers EP, Uptown Avondale, the band adopted what would become their signature soul-influenced sound.
Soon the Afghan Whigs signed to a major label, Elektra Records, and in 1993 released another critically acclaimed album, Gentlemen. Although the singles “Debonair” and “Gentlemen” were fairly popular, the album failed to launch the band into the mainstream.
Beside regular appearances on MTV's playlists, their track "Fountain and Fairfax" also appeared on the television series My So-Called Life in 1994.
Despite personnel problems interfering with recording and touring, 1996 saw the band release the noir-influenced Black Love (the album featured Paul Buchignani on drums in place of Steve Earle). Although the main subject matter in previous releases were liquor-drenched obsession, secrets and misery, Black Love was a step into a more dark, even seedier and complex side of Dulli’s persona.
In 1996, Greg Dulli served as executive producer for the soundtrack for the Ted Demme film Beautiful Girls. the Afghan Whigs appeared in the film as a bar band and contributed two songs to the soundtrack (Frederick Knight’s "Be For Real" and Barry White's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe").
In 1998, the Afghan Whigs released their 6th album, 1965, on Columbia Records (Michael Horrigan, former Love Cowboys bassist replaced Buchignani). The album saw the band on inspired form. Sadly, it was the band's last full-length album of original material.
Despite reports that the band had started work on their 7th album, the Afghan Whigs announced their split in 2001, citing the strain of geographic distance between members as the reason.
In 2006, the Afghan Whigs temporarily reunited. The ‘1965’ lineup (Dulli, McCollum, Curley, Horrigan) recorded two new tracks ("I’m A Soldier" and "Magazine") which are featured on their retrospective titled Unbreakable (A Retrospective) which was released in June 2007.
In December 2011, the band announced that it would be appearing at All Tomorrow's Parties' renowned I'll Be Your Mirror festival on May 25-27, 2012 in London, England. As well, Dulli will serve as the curator, and the Whigs the headliner, for ATP's stateside edition on September 22nd, 2012 in Asbury Park, New Jersey; further dates continue to be announced, including major summer-festival headlining spots at Spain's Primavera, among others. Drummer Cully Symington (Okkervil River, Gutter Twins) and multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson (Polyphonic Spree, Twilight Singers) will join Curley, Dulli, and McCollum for all shows, which will feature songs from the entire span of the Afghan Whigs repertoire, along with a few new surprises and songs never before played live.
These developments provided both surprise and relief for the group's members. "The pressure is really nonexistent, because we're playing songs that we've already completed - that we already know," Dulli says. "Those songs still resonate with me; in fact, they have always resonated with me. I imagine there will be people who never saw the band before, too, and that's exciting." "It will be nice to experience the Whigs again as a grown-up," jokes Curley. "In my mind, the Whigs were a live band above anything else. Playing shows always was our favorite part about being in the band, and the times when we felt the most freedom and release. I missed playing at that level; I missed playing the songs that we wrote, that meant so much to people - and to us." (from www.theafghanwhigs.com History). In 2014 they released "Do to the Beast" and performed in Ireland, Israel, and the U.S.
My World Is Empty Without You
Afghan Whigs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My world is empty without you, babe
And as I go my way alone
I find it hard for me to carry on
I need your strength
I need your tender touch
I need the love, my dear, I miss so much
My world is empty without you, babe
From this old world I try to hide my face
But from this loneliness there's no hiding place
Inside this cold and empty house I dwell
In darkness with memories I know so well
I need your love more than before
I can hardly carry on anymore
My world is empty without you, babe
Without you babe,without you babe
My mind and soul have felt like this
Since love between us no more exist
And each time that darkness falls
If finds me alone with these four walls
My world is empty without you, babe
My world is empty without you, babe
The lyrics of Afghan Whigs' "My World is Empty without You" express the feelings of a person whose life has been turned upside down since their love interest left. The person feels lost and alone in the world without the presence of their beloved. The refrain, "My world is empty without you, babe," reinforces the depth of their sadness and despair.
The lyrics communicate a sense of desperation as the singer struggles to cope with their loneliness. They long for their lover's strength, tenderness, and touch. The loneliness and emptiness they experience are so intense that they cannot carry on without their lover's love. The lyrics suggest that the singer is trying to hide from the world and the loneliness that surrounds them, but there is no escape from it. They are trapped inside a "cold and empty house" dwelling in the darkness of memories of their past love.
The chorus repeats the same phrase to emphasize the agonizing emptiness the singer feels without their lover. The lyrics express the melancholy and bleakness of the character's emotions as they face the harsh reality of living in a world without the love of their partner.
Line by Line Meaning
My world is empty without you, babe
The absence of your love has made my life feel lonely and meaningless.
And as I go my way alone
Despite being alone, I have to keep moving forward.
I find it hard for me to carry on
The weight of my emotions is too much to bear.
I need your strength
I wish to find your love to give me the strength to carry on with life.
I need your tender touch
I crave your affectionate touch to ease my heart and soul.
I need the love, my dear, I miss so much
I long for the love we once shared that has now vanished from my life.
From this old world I try to hide my face
I attempt to distance myself from the pains of this world.
But from this loneliness there's no hiding place
Despite my best efforts, I cannot escape the feeling of loneliness.
Inside this cold and empty house I dwell
My heart and mind feel like a hollow, empty place.
In darkness with memories I know so well
My thoughts are overrun with memories of lost love and perceived failure.
I need your love more than before
The lack of your love has made me feel completely lost and longing for your love even more than before.
I can hardly carry on anymore
The pain of my loneliness is becoming too much to bear and is wearing me out.
Without you babe,without you babe
My life is less. I miss you so much.
My mind and soul have felt like this
The emotional pain and blackness in my life has affected even the core of my being.
Since love between us no more exist
Since the love that we once had is gone.
And each time that darkness falls
When the nightfall brings absolute darkness.
If finds me alone with these four walls
I'm left alone with my troubled mind and heart.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, Edward Jr. Holland
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Gregory Londos
Can't get enough of this. Thanks for sharing