American Music Club (often abbreviated AMC) is a San Francisco-based band l… Read Full Bio ↴American Music Club (often abbreviated AMC) is a San Francisco-based band led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. They've been recording and playing in SF clubs since the mid 1980's, showing a remarkable longevity for a band that has been far more critically acclaimed than financially successful.

Although born in California, frontman Mark Eitzel spent his formative years in Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1980. After a brief stint with the punk band The Naked Skinnies he founded American Music Club in 1983 with guitarist Vudi, bassist Dan Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson, and drummer Matt Norelli. This lineup would change over the next several years but Eitzel always remained the core of the band in terms of its vocals, lyrics and thematic focus.

Their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger, offers a rough outline of their increasingly eclectic sound and firmly established Eitzel's worldview, a harrowing vision of life as seen through the bottom of a shot glass. 1987's Engine honed the formula: the addition of producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member expanded the group's sonic palette.

American Music Club earned a solid cult following on the strength of 1988's California. Their next LP, 1989's United Kingdom, appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name and consisted of leftover material and live tracks.

In 1991 American Music Club emerged with the record that is widely considered their masterpiece, Everclear. Critical acclaim attracted the attention of several major labels. Eventually AMC -- now consisting of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson, multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan, and drummer Tim Mooney -- signed with Reprise in the U.S. and Virgin throughout the rest of the world.

1993's Mercury followed and, despite positive reviews, Mercury fared poorly on the charts and earned virtually no recognition from radio or MTV. In 1994, AMC issued San Francisco, an erratic collection which balanced confessional tunes like Fearless and The Thorn in My Side Is Gone alongside slick pop constructs. Like Mercury, the record found critical acclaim yet foundered commercially and American Music Club disbanded as result.

Eitzel eventually explored a solo career, and purchased a Pro-Tools set up to record solo material, some released through Reprise and other albums through Matador. Vudi joined Swans for their last album and farewell tour, documented on Swans are Dead (Black Disc)/Swans are Dead (White Disc).

In 2003, American Music Club reunited to record a new album, Love Songs For Patriots, which was described by reviewer Mark Deming as "a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's last set, 1994's San Francisco, and while it's too early to tell if this is a new start or a last hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still yields potent results. Here's hoping Eitzel and Vudi have more where this came from."

If I Had A Hammer
American Music Club Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The love cry of the traveling man goes
No one knows who I am
But I'm as priceless as a brass ring
That's losing the heat from your hand

A quiet man sits quietly learning his lesson
The slow smooth wheel of disintegration
You don't want them to talk to you

No you don't want to take part
You say, "just get me back to the leper colony
'cause that's where you left my heart."

I feel time pass by like a joy no medicine can preserve somewhere along the line I lost my nerve
Maybe I'm almost there
Give me the keys to your theme park
Bury me under your layer of snow
And watch me ride all the rides
Around and around I go.

I don't know if I've reached the bottom yet
And I don't know if the ice has finally begun to set
I feel time pass like a joy I tried so hard to relearn
But somewhere along the line
I passed the point of no return.

Maybe I'm almost there
The love cry of the traveling man goes
No one knows who i am

But I'm as priceless as a brass ring
That lost the heat from your hand.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of If I Had A Hammer by American Music Club are quite cryptic and can be interpreted in a number of ways. The song appears to be about the struggle of a traveling man who reflects on his past, present, and future. The song starts with the love cry of the traveling man who laments that no one knows who he is even though he is as priceless as a brass ring that's losing its value. This line can be interpreted in a few ways. It could mean that the man feels like he is losing his identity as he moves along. He may feel as though he is losing the things that make him special or that he is becoming increasingly insignificant. Alternatively, it could be interpreted as a commentary on how society values people's worth. The brass ring could represent success or wealth, which society values highly. However, even though the man possesses these things, he still feels as though he is losing his worth.

The next stanza talks about a quiet man who sits "quietly learning his lesson." This man could be a representation of the traveling man reflecting on his life. He feels the "slow smooth wheel of disintegration" which could mean that he feels like his life is falling apart. He doesn't want to take part in life anymore and wants to go back to the "leper colony" because that's where he feels like he left his heart. This could mean that the traveling man feels lost and like he has lost his purpose or passion. He wants to go back to a simpler time where he felt more connected to himself.

Throughout the song, the traveling man feels like he is losing touch with himself and time is passing by without him being able to do anything about it. He is scared he has reached the bottom and the ice has finally begun to set, and he feels like he is past the point of no return. Perhaps this represents the fear of growing old and feeling like one has not achieved enough in their life.

Line by Line Meaning

The love cry of the traveling man goes
The unspoken yearning of a wanderer

No one knows who I am
The anonymity of a life on the road

But I'm as priceless as a brass ring
The infinite value of a human soul

That's losing the heat from your hand
But can still be forgotten or discarded with time

A quiet man sits quietly learning his lesson
A man reflecting on his past

The slow smooth wheel of disintegration
The gradual decay of his life

You don't want them to talk to you
His isolation and detachment from others

No you don't want to take part
His reluctance to engage with the world

You say, "just get me back to the leper colony
His desire for a place of outcasts and misfits

'cause that's where you left my heart."
Where he feels his true self belongs

I feel time pass by like a joy no medicine can preserve
The fleeting nature of happiness

Somewhere along the line I lost my nerve
His inability to enjoy life

Maybe I'm almost there
His hope for a brighter future

Give me the keys to your theme park
His plea for excitement and thrills

Bury me under your layer of snow
His desire to be covered and hidden

And watch me ride all the rides
His longing to escape through amusement

Around and around I go.
A cycle of monotony and repetition

I don't know if I've reached the bottom yet
His uncertainty of how low he's fallen

And I don't know if the ice has finally begun to set
His doubt about whether he can change

I feel time pass like a joy I tried so hard to relearn
His struggle to recapture lost happiness

But somewhere along the line
But he's crossed a point of no return

I passed the point of no return.
A realization of his inability to go back

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

John Muir

4y↑2

"The love cry of the traveling man goes
No one knows who I am
But I'm as priceless as a brass ring
That's losing the heat from your hand

A quiet man sits quietly learning his lesson
The slow smooth wheel of disintegration

You don't want them to talk to you
No you don't want to take part
You say, "just get me back to the leper colony
'cause that's where you left my heart."

I feel time pass like a joy no medicine can preserve
Somewhere along the line I lost my nerve

Maybe I'm almost there

Give me the keys to your theme park
Bury me under your layer of snow
And watch me ride all the rides
Around and around I go.

I don't know if I've reached the bottom yet
And I don't know if the ice has finally begun to set
I feel time pass like a joy I tried so hard to relearn
But somewhere along the line
I passed the point of no return.

Maybe I'm almost there

The love cry of the traveling man goes
No one knows who i am
But I'm as priceless as a brass ring
That lost the heat from your hand."