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."

Love Is
American Music Club Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Love is only
A light in the sky
The shadow of a star
Flying by
Were so small compared to our hearts
Were so small compared to - a lullaby
I didn't mean to makes you cry
I'm sorry that that I made you cry

Did I make you throw away
All the lives you had
And the songs all the moons
All the lovers in your bed

Were so small compared to our hearts
Were so small compared to - a lullaby
I didn't mean to make you cry
I'm sorry I made you cry

Did I take what
You couldn't really give
And it drained your soul
Through your eyes
I'm sorry

I didn't mean to make you cry
I'm sorry I made you cry

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to American Music Club's song Love Is convey a deep sense of regret and guilt. The singer acknowledges the smallness of humans in comparison to the vastness of the universe, comparing love to a fleeting light in the sky and acknowledge the enormity of their hearts in contrast. The singer expresses remorse for making their partner cry and possibly throwing away everything that they had in life, including the songs, the moons, and the lovers in their bed. Additionally, the singer laments taking things from their partner that they couldn't give and draining their soul through their eyes.

The lyrics seem to suggest that love, though beautiful and all-encompassing, can also be a source of pain and regret. Despite the grandness of human emotion, we are ultimately small and insignificant in comparison to the vastness of the universe. The singer conveys a sense of humility and sadness in acknowledging this fact.

Line by Line Meaning

Love is only
Love is not a tangible thing, it is only a feeling

A light in the sky
Love is fleeting, like a shooting star

The shadow of a star
Love is a small reflection of something greater

Flying by
Love comes and goes quickly

Were so small compared to our hearts
Our capacity for feeling love is much greater than our physical size

Were so small compared to - a lullaby
Our size and significance in the world is small, like a lullaby sung to a child

I didn't mean to makes you cry
I did not intend to hurt you with my actions or words

I'm sorry that that I made you cry
I regret causing you pain and apologize for it

Did I make you throw away
Did I cause you to give up or let go of things that were important to you

All the lives you had
Did I cause you to abandon parts of your past or present

And the songs all the moons
Did I take away the music and joy that was once a part of your life