Formed in 2006, the band derived its name from the Wilco song, “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” and is led by band founder and lead vocalist/ guitarist BJ Barham. A new lineup was announced in April 2017 with new faces joining the ranks: Crooks drummer Joey Bybee, Damn Quails bass player Ben Hussey and guitarist Shane Boeker – all from Texas – along with Nashville pedal-steel player Adam Kurtz, who also fronts Music City's experimental Buck Owens tribute Buck N' Stuff. Bybee left in August 2018 and was replaced by Nashville-based drummer Matty Alger, who in turn left in February 2019. Kurtz left the band after the Mile Zero fest in January 2019, and Hussey left in July 2019.
Their first album, Antique Hearts, was released in 2006, followed by The Bible and the Bottle in 2008.
In 2012, American Aquarium released two albums: Live in Raleigh and Burn. Flicker. Die.
The band released their sixth original album, Wolves, in February 2015.[7] The band's fans helped raise $24,000 through a Kickstarter project to help fund the album's production, and the album was recorded in Asheville, North Carolina at Echo Mountain.
On November 25, 2016 "Live at Terminal West" was released by the band from a live show recording in November 2015 at Terminal West in Atlanta, Georgia.
Things Change was released on New West Records in 2018, followed by
Lamentations (on New West Records) in 2020.
Bones
American Aquarium Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ever since you've been gone
Cold wind blowing through my bones
It's a pain that I can't take
It's a shiver I can't shake
Cold wind blowing through my bones
That the doctor's just can't fix
Got old habits I can't kick
It's a pain that I can't take
It's a shiver I can't shake
Cold wind blowing through my bones
It goes
Ooooooooo
Ooooooooh
And what are we fighting for
I don't think I love you anymore
Every time I close my eyes
I only see your face
A memory I just can't erase
She still thinks I love you
God I hope she never knows
Just how hard that cold wind blows
'Cause it goes
It goes
Ooooooooo
Ooooooooh
And what are we fighting for?
I don't think I love you anymore
There's a cold wind blowing
Ever since you've been gone
Cold wind blowing through my bones
It's a pain that I can't take
It's a shiver I can't shake
Cold wind blowing through my bones
American Aquarium's song "Bones" is a heart-wrenching narrative about the aftermath of a failed relationship. The lyrics express a sense of loss, emptiness, and regret, that one feels when they lose someone they loved. The song opens with the singer admitting that ever since their lover has gone, a cold wind has been blowing through their bones. The lyrics use the cold wind as a symbol of the singer's feelings of loneliness and emotional numbness. The pain that the singer feels is so intense that it's as if the cold wind is blowing through their bones, a metaphor for the deep sense of aching and longing that they feel in the absence of their lover.
The lyrics then describe the singer's attempts at healing their broken heart. They describe how they have tried everything to fix their brokenness, from seeing a doctor to giving up old habits. But nothing seems to work. The pain is still there, and the cold wind continues to blow. The lyrics then turn to the question of what they are fighting for. The singer realizes that they don't love their lover anymore, and this realization makes their feelings of emptiness more profound. The lyrics end with a lament about the memories that the singer cannot erase and the fear of how hard the cold wind blows.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a cold wind blowing
The absence of the person he loved has made him feel a cold, harsh emptiness.
Ever since you've been gone
This cold wind has persisted since the person he loved left him.
Cold wind blowing through my bones
The emptiness he feels is profound and causing him physical discomfort.
It's a pain that I can't take
The discomfort he feels is unbearable and too difficult for him to endure.
It's a shiver I can't shake
The cold emotional emptiness he feels is impossible for him to shake off.
Got this sickness
He feels that he is sick with emotional pain and turmoil.
That the doctor's just can't fix
He has sought help, but cannot find any relief from his emotional pain.
Got old habits I can't kick
He has harmful coping mechanisms that he cannot stop using.
And what are we fighting for
He is questioning the worth and purpose of the conflict in the relationship.
I don't think I love you anymore
He has come to the realization that he no longer loves the person he is addressing.
Every time I close my eyes
He is haunted by thoughts of the person he lost and cannot escape them.
I only see your face
The memory of their face is deeply ingrained in his mind and continues to affect him.
A memory I just can't erase
The memory of their face is too powerful for him to forget or overcome.
She still thinks I love you
Another person still thinks he is in love with the person he lost.
God I hope she never knows
He hopes this person never realizes his true feelings because it would be too painful for him to confess.
Just how hard that cold wind blows
He doesn't want anyone to know how deeply and profoundly the absence of the person he loved has affected him.
Cause it goes
The cold, empty void he feels is persistent and unchanging.
Ooooooooo
An expression of emotional pain and sorrow.
Ooooooooh
An expression of lingering emotional pain or anguish.
Contributed by Grayson O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.