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.
When We Two Parted
Afghan Whigs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Didn't I do a good job of pretending?
You're saying that the victim doesn't want it to end
Good
I get to dress up and play the assassin again
It's my favorite
It's got personality
Every night I spent in that bed with you facing the wall
If I could have only once heard you scream
To feel you were alive
Instead of watching you abandoning yourself
Baby you can open your eyes now
And please allow me to present you with a clue
If I inflict the pain
Then baby only I can comfort you
Out of the night we come
And into the night we go
If it starts to hurt you
Then you have to say so
The first two lines paint a picture of someone, presumably the singer's lover, who has inflicted harm upon themselves again. The singer then questions whether they've done a good job of pretending, implying that this has happened before, and that it's possible they were aware of what was going on, but chose to ignore it. The next line “You're saying that the victim doesn't want it to end“, suggests that the person who is suffering doesn't want to get better, which could be a sign of mental health problems.
In the second stanza, the singer talks about how they enjoy playing the role of the "assassin", implying that they enjoy having control over this person's life. The line "Every night I spent in that bed with you facing the wall" suggests that there was a problem with the intimacy in the relationship, and that the singer was aware of it but chose not to do anything about it. The line "If I could have only once heard you scream" could be interpreted in different ways, but it is likely the singer is saying they wanted the person to react to their behavior, rather than just accepting it.
The final stanza suggests that the singer is aware that what they're doing is wrong, but they believe they're the only one who can offer this person any comfort. However, they urge the person to speak up if they're feeling hurt, and it seems that the singer is aware that they're causing the other person pain.
Overall, the song is an exploration of a toxic relationship in which one person takes control over the other, leading to self-harm and a lack of intimacy. The singer is aware of the damage they're causing but continues to act in this way.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby, I see you've made yourself all sick again
I notice that you've intentionally made yourself ill to seek attention
Didn't I do a good job of pretending?
I was able to conceal my true feelings and deceive you
You're saying that the victim doesn't want it to end. Good.
You claim that the person being hurt doesn't want the abuse to stop, which pleases me
I get to dress up and play the assassin again. It's my favorite. It's got personality.
I'm excited to don the role of the attacker once more because it's unique and thrilling for me
I should have seen this shit coming down the hall
I should have known that this relationship was doomed before it even started
Every night I spent in that bed with you facing the wall
Every night we shared a bed, you turned your back to me and shut me out
If I could have only once heard you scream
If only I could have seen genuine emotion from you, even pain, I would have felt closer to you
To feel you were alive
I craved to see that you were human and capable of feeling
Instead of watching you abandoning yourself
Rather than witnessing you withdraw from me and the relationship
Baby you can open your eyes now
I want you to recognize the reality of our situation
And please allow me to present you with a clue
Let me offer you some insight
If I inflict the pain
If it's me who's causing the hurt
Then baby only I can comfort you
Then you'll come to me for solace and I'll feel powerful
Out of the night we come
Our relationship starts in the darkness
And into the night we go
Our relationship ends in the darkness
If it starts to hurt you
If you begin to experience pain
Then you have to say so
You need to speak up and let me know
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: GREG DULLI, RICHARD MCCOLLUM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@musicsoups
I don't know how I got here but am stunned into beautiful silence at the sound of this band... why oh why have I never heard of them ... totally blown away...x
@conjured_up_skeletons6178
Same here. I'm Fkg enchanted!
@Brewnoe
Can I present you with an ooo ;)
@joec2132
Cincinnati represents
@ohsoloco5113
I "discovered" this band in the early 90's from watching late night MTV (120 minutes). They're still the GOAT!
@marcwiers4555
One of the more iconic, underrated songs of the 90's.
@pathduck
"Good, I get to dress up and play the assassin again. It's my favorite, it's got personality."... Such powerful lyrics.
@conjured_up_skeletons6178
"If I inflict the pain babe only I can comfort you"... one of his grown-up songwriting moments.
@kalyred
No one has ever allowed me to explore the dark side on my world until Dulli. His lyrics take me there. To those moments. Those memories. Raw. Real. There.
@jasonpeterson4364
agreed