The Art Bears' music was often deeply political in content, reflecting the bands' socialist leanings, and frequently experimental. Art Bears were more "song oriented" than Henry Cow, although much of the material that comprised their debut album release was actually written with the intention of being performed by Henry Cow.
Art Bears were formed during the recording of Henry Cow's last album after disagreements arose over the album's content. Frith and Cutler favoured song-oriented material, while others in the band wanted instrumental compositions. As a compromise, Frith, Cutler and Krause agreed, early in 1978, to release the songs already created on their own album, Hopes and Fears, under the name Art Bears, with the rest of Henry Cow credited as guests. The instrumental material appeared later on the final Henry Cow album, Western Culture (1979).
Hopes and Fears (1978) thus consisted of Henry Cow songs plus new Art Bears material recorded later by Frith, Cutler and Krause to complete the album. Towards the end of 1978, Art Bears returned to the studio to record their first "true" album, Winter Songs (1979). It comprised fourteen short songs composed by Frith around texts by Cutler that were based on carvings on the stylobate of the Amiens Cathedral in France.
In December 1978, Art Bears joined Rock in Opposition (RIO), and toured Europe in April and May 1979. For the tour, they added Peter Blegvad (ex-Slapp Happy, guitar, bass guitar, voice) and Marc Hollander (Aksak Maboul, keyboards, clarinet) to their line-up, and rehearsed at the Cold Storage Recording Studios in Brixton, London before leaving for Italy in late April. They performed in Italy, France, Belgium and Czechoslovakia, including an RIO festival on the 1st of May in Milan. Some of the songs recorded during the tour were later added to the album release of Hopes and Fears and The Art Box (2003), a box set of Art Bears material.
The band returned to the studio in 1980 to make one final album, The World as It Is Today (1981), before splitting up. In October 1983 Frith, Cutler and Krause reunited again, this time with Heiner Goebbels and Alfred Harth from Cassiber, Tom Cora and from Skeleton Crew, and George Lewis from the ICP Orchestra under the name "Duck and Cover". The ensemble was initially commissioned for the 1983 Moers Festival at the request of festival director Burkhard Hennen to Alfred Harth, but the group only materialised later that year after another commission by the Berlin Jazz Festival. "Duck and Cover" performed a 40-minute musical piece entitled "Berlin Programme" at the Berlin Jazz Festival in October 1983 in West Berlin, and again at the Festival des Politischen Liedes (Festival of Political Song) in East Berlin in February 1984. The second performance was recorded by Rundfunk der DDR (East German Radio) and broadcast nationally. An edited version of the broadcast was released in September 1985 on one side of the "Rē Records Quarterly Vol.1 No.2" LP record. In 1993 Frith, Cutler and Krause worked together again on a song project, "Domestic Stories" (1993) by Chris Cutler and Lutz Glandien, with saxophonist Alfred Harth. While similar to Art Bears, the addition of Glandien's electronic music made "Domestic Stories" a distinctly different album.
An Art Bears "review" took place in May 2008 at the world premiere of the Art Bears Songbook at the 25th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada. It was performed by Cutler (drums), Frith (guitar, bass guitar, violin, piano), Jewlia Eisenberg (voice), Carla Kihlstedt (violin, voice), Zeena Parkins (keyboards, accordion), Kristin Slipp (voice) and The Norman Conquest (sound manipulation). Krause had been unable to participate and Frith and Cutler decided to rework the trio's repertoire for an expanded group, with the voices of Eisenberg, Slipp and Kihlstedt replacing Krause's "eccentric and idiomatic delivery". The project was so-named because Frith and Cutler did not want it to be seen as an Art Bears reunion. According to All About Jazz the Art Bears Songbook was "not just a highlight, but the highlight of the [five day] festival."
Truth
Art Bears Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I saw
Long queues –
But little
Food.
Then I got
talking
Would not
Let me
Stay
Then I got reading
And I learned
PROSPERITY
Had come –
And this was
EDEN
Worms appeared then
– TRUTH
Brushed them
Away.
The lyrics of the song "Truth" by Art Bears are quite cryptic and can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. It begins with the singer going for a walk and noticing long queues, which implies that there may be a shortage of food. This can be interpreted as a commentary on poverty and inequality. The next verse talks about soldiers not allowing the singer to stay, which perhaps suggests that there is a sense of oppression or lack of freedom in the society that the singer is in.
The third and final verse is the most enigmatic of them all. The singer talks about reading and learning that prosperity had come and that this was Eden. This line can be interpreted as the society that the singer is in having reached a state of utopia, where everyone is equal and happy. However, the line that follows contradicts this interpretation, as worms appear, and truth brushes them away. This could be interpreted as the singer realizing that there is more to the story than what they have been told, and the truth is not as perfect as it was made out to be.
Overall, the song "Truth" is a commentary on societal issues like poverty, inequality, oppression, and the manipulation of truth. It is up to the listener to interpret the lyrics and find the meaning that resonates with them the most.
Line by Line Meaning
Then I went walking
I decided to take a walk
And I saw
During my walk, I observed
Long queues –
Many people waiting in line
But little
However, there was a scarce amount of
Food.
Food available
Then I got talking
I started a conversation with someone
But the soldiers
However, the soldiers present
Would not
Refused to
Let me
Allow me to
Stay
Remain in the area
Then I got reading
I began reading some literature
And I learned
I discovered
PROSPERITY
The state of being successful and wealthy
Had come –
Had arrived
And this was
This situation created a sense of
EDEN
An ideal, harmonious place
Worms appeared then
Suddenly, worms came into view
– TRUTH
This event represents the truth
Brushed them
Quickly, they were pushed aside
Away.
Out of sight
Contributed by Carson J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.