Originally, the duo consisted of Anders Hagström and Yasmine Uhlin. However, she announced her surprise departure from the band in Hamburg at the last concert of the Out Of line festival tour 2008.
Anders and Yazmine met in November 2005 and, upon discovering that they shared the same musical vision, decided to form a band. Their collaboration soon came to fruition with the release of a 9 track demo entitled "Angora Overdrive" after a very intensive month in the studio.
The second four track demo, "Parliament of Rooks", which was finished in February 2006, had a more refined sound compared to their first offering. They decided to send it to a few select labels because the reaction they got to the first demo was quite overwhelming. Having sent the demos on Monday, Ashbury Heights was contacted and contracted by German Out of Line records on Wednesday, only an hour after the label had received the CD. This probably makes Ashbury Heights one of the fastest signings in history. Several other labels expressed an interest in the band, but there was no bidding war as Out of Line moved so quickly.
Although having signed the famous German act "And One" at about the same time as Ashbury Heights, which ate a lot of the labels' resources, Out of Line wasted no time. The legendary producer John Fryer was brought on board to produce the promotional single "Cry Havoc" in April 2006, something quite unheard of in the world of the electronic underground. Very few bands in the synth-genre get to release promo-CDs (if any), and certainly no other band in modern synth-history has released a promo-CD produced by a celebrity of the likes of Fryer.
John Fryer would eventually mix their first album "Three cheers for the newlydeads". Released in october 2007, the debut album was recieved with overwhelming optimism from press and audience alike proving once and for all that Ashbury Heights truly is a force to be reckoned with.
In 2008 Ashbury Heights returned with the "Morningstar in a Black Car" EP, containing five new songs and four remixes. The EP received good reviews and helped keep up interest for the band. A video was made for the track "Spiders", a low budget affair which nevertheless managed to project some of the bands unique flair.
Ashbury Heights, with brand-new female vocalist Kari Berg, released their new album 'Take Cair paramour' on the 2nd of july 2010. In 2010, following a long running dispute between Hagström and the record label Out Of Line the band disbanded. This dispute was settled in 2011, whereupon Hagstöm and Out of Line renewed their collaboration. However, it took until 2013 for Hagström to find a new singer. The new singer is Tea F. Thimé, the first female to co-write lyrics for Ashbury Heights.
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Suicide Anthem
Ashbury Heights Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A sadder line
Was never written
The truth behind
My cold depression
Deathwish divine
We're lonely people
Without a spine
Give my regards to the next of kin
And tell them all
What a smash it has been
I'll say my prayers
I'll say I'm sorry
I'll say my everythings and
Be done with this world
I'd tell the shadows
Beyond the grave
Depression's boomin'
We're on our way
Posthumously
I'll have my day
I'll make a scene a...
Vulgar display
Give my regards to the next of kin
And tell them all
What a smash it has been
I'm six feet under
Before my time
A virgin nothing
One of a kind
It makes no difference
If I should find
Someone who loved me
I wouldn't mind
Give my regards to the next of kin
And tell them all
What a smash it has been
The lyrics to Ashbury Heights' "Suicide Anthem" are haunting and introspective, delving into the depths of depression and the desire for suicide. The opening lines, "Nobody loves me / A sadder line / Was never written," sets the tone for the rest of the song. The singer is consumed by a sense of loneliness and despair, feeling that nobody cares for them and that they are utterly worthless.
Throughout the song, the singer expresses a desire to end their life, viewing death as a form of escape from their pain. They acknowledge that their death will cause sadness for their loved ones, but they see it as a necessary sacrifice for their own sanity. The line "I'll make a scene a... Vulgar display" implies that the singer wants to make a spectacle of their death, perhaps to gain attention or to make a statement.
Despite the bleakness of the lyrics, there is a sense of resignation rather than anger or bitterness. The singer knows that they are "one of a kind" and that they will never fit in with society. Even if someone were to love them, it "makes no difference" in the face of their overwhelming depression.
Overall, "Suicide Anthem" is a powerful song about mental illness and the struggle against suicidal thoughts. It paints a devastating picture of an individual who sees death as their only escape from a cruel and uncaring world.
Line by Line Meaning
Nobody loves me
I feel unloved and neglected
A sadder line
This is one of the saddest phrases in existence
Was never written
No one has ever expressed such deep pain and sorrow in words
The truth behind
This is the reality that I face every day
My cold depression
My depression has left me feeling numb and emotionless
Deathwish divine
I secretly wish for my own death
We're lonely people
We are isolated and alone in our despair
Without a spine
We lack the strength to stand up and fight for ourselves
Give my regards to the next of kin
Say goodbye to my loved ones on my behalf
And tell them all
Inform everyone about what I've done
What a smash it has been
My suicide is a grand spectacle, a dramatic exit from this world
I'll say my prayers
I'll try to make peace with God before I go
I'll say I'm sorry
I ask for forgiveness for what I am about to do
I'll say my everythings and
I will express all the things that are dear to me before I die
Be done with this world
I'm ready to end my life and leave this world behind
I'd tell the shadows
If I could, I would speak to those who have passed on
Beyond the grave
In the afterlife, where death has no power over us
Depression's boomin'
Depression is taking root, it's growing and thriving
We're on our way
We are moving towards death, whether we like it or not
Posthumously
After my death, my memory will live on
I'll have my day
Even in death, I will have left a mark on the world
I'll make a scene a...
I will create a commotion, a dramatic event
Vulgar display
It may be shocking and distasteful, but it will be memorable
I'm six feet under
I'm dead and buried
Before my time
I died young, before I could fulfill my potential
A virgin nothing
I died without having achieved anything, without making a mark on the world
One of a kind
I was unique, different from everyone else who has died before me
It makes no difference
Even if I had found love, it wouldn't have changed my decision to die
If I should find
Even in my search for love, I never found it
Someone who loved me
A person who truly cared for me
I wouldn't mind
Even with love, death would still be preferable
Contributed by Parker V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.