Athenaeum was an alternative pop rock four-piece band from Greensboro, Nort… Read Full Bio ↴Athenaeum was an alternative pop rock four-piece band from Greensboro, North Carolina, USA formed in 1990 at an eighth grade dance by Nic Brown and Mark Kano.

After several personnel changes, Kano and Brown recorded an eight song EP in 1995 with bassist Alex McKinney and lead guitarist Grey Brewster. The "Green Album," as it is widely known, sold about 10,000 copies.

In 1996 the band was signed by Atlantic Records. They released their major label debut, Radiance, in 1998. The first single, "What I Didn't Know," was a minor hit. During the recording phase for their next album, Brown left the band to attend college. He was replaced by Jeremy Vogt, who performed with the likes of Tonic and The Connells. Brewster also dissolved his membership with the group and was replaced by Mike Garrigan, the lead singer and songwriter of Collapsis.

This new line up played their first show on March 31, 2001, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The new set included Garrigan's Collapsis anthem, "October". [correction they actually played their first show with this lineup in Boone, NC]

Athenaeum's sophomore album Athenaeum was released on September 18, 2001. However, it received little promotion in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

Athenaeum was eventually dropped by Atlantic Records. They toured for an additional three years and released their final record, Hourglass, a collection of rare outtakes and demos, before performing their last show at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on December 28, 2004.

Kano and Garrigan subsequently formed the band mg4 (with Alex McKinney, the original bassist for Athenaeum and Jeremy Vogt), who released an EP in the summer of 2004 titled Gravity Affects Me. "mg4" continues touring to date and information on shows can be found at Mike Garrigan's official website.

Discography and stand-out tracks :
- Radiance (1998): "What I Didnt know", "Flat Tire", "Radiance"
- Athenaeum (2001) : "Comfort", "Frozen in time", "Suddenly"
- Hourglass (2002) : "On Her Way", "Family Tree", "One Day at a time"

Waiting for You
Athenaeum Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I wanna hear the words
That you never speak
I wanna close my eyes
And wake to your lips upon my cheek
I wanna know
Would you still walk away
We've suffered enough this time
And these things will never go our way

Hold on tight cause i don't wanna say goodbye
Anymore than you do
And all i see is you just wanna make believe
And i don't have the words up my sleeve
I'm waiitng for you

I wanna change
But these things will never die

I wanna hear you say
That nothing is stronger than you and i

Overall Meaning

In the opening lines of Athenaeum's song "Waiting for You," the singer expresses a deep desire to hear words from their partner that they have never spoken before. The singer yearns for a deeper level of intimacy and connection with their significant other. They hope that by hearing the words they've been waiting for, it will bring them closer together. The next line reveals the singer's physical longing to be with their partner. They want to wake up to their lover's lips on their cheek. The imagery creates a sense of warmth and comfort, conveying how much the singer wants to be near their partner.

The singer then confronts a fear that their partner may walk away from the relationship. They have already experienced enough suffering and difficulties, and the singer is concerned that their problems will never go away. However, despite their trepidation, they still hold on tight because they don't want to say goodbye. The singer has hope that they can overcome their issues and problems to stay together. The chorus of the song repeats that the singer is waiting for their partner, indicating that they are committed to the relationship and want to make it work.

Overall, Athenaeum's "Waiting for You" is a song filled with yearning and hope for a deeper level of intimacy and connection between two people. The singer is willing to overcome any difficulties in their path to make the relationship work. The song has a resonating message of hope and perseverance in love.

Line by Line Meaning

I wanna hear the words
I desire to hear the words that you never speak to me.

That you never speak
I yearn to hear the words that you have never spoken to me.

I wanna close my eyes
I wish to shut my eyes.

And wake to your lips upon my cheek
I wish to rise with your soft touch on my cheek.

I wanna know
I yearn to discover.

Would you still walk away
Will you continue to leave me if the same thing happens again?

We've suffered enough this time
We have endured so much this time.

And these things will never go our way
These things will never happen as we desire.

Hold on tight cause i don't wanna say goodbye
Please hold me tight as I do not want to say goodbye.

Anymore than you do
I do not want to say goodbye more than you do.

And all i see is you just wanna make believe
All I can see is that you merely want to pretend.