A t… Read Full Bio ↴Bad Books, simply put, is Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra.
A true accident if there ever was one; Bad Books was never an intended nor calculated side project of Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull. Though the two musicians have collaborated and performed together on tour and within the Favorite Gentlemen community of artists for years now, the genesis of Bad Books came from a simple idea to fill space and time off the road by collaborating on a small batch of songs together at the top of the year. With no agenda and no expectations, what was birthed just one week later was Bad Books, a fully realized album encompassing five compositions each from both Devine and Hull, with the members of Manchester Orchestra filling out the sound and the band. The self-titled debut will be released October 19th, 2010 via Favorite Gentlemen Recordings, the record label that was founded and has been run by Manchester Orchestra since 2007.
As songwriters go, Hull and Devine could not be further apart in terms of creative approach. The methodical wordsmith Devine, an English major from Fordham, is known to pine away for great lengths of time just to accurately pin-point one word within a lyric. “I was doing a take of ‘You’re A Mirror I Cannot Avoid’ and stopped myself for fifteen minutes because I was having trouble justifying ending two lines in the same chorus with the word ‘back.’ Just sitting there, staring at the screen, writing different word choices. I asked Andy if he thought it mattered, and he said, ‘Of course it doesn’t.’ Somewhere in that exchange is I think what differentiates us as songwriters. I think Andy trusts his instincts to lead him to the right place in a song, and sometimes I want to outthink my instincts because I’m scared of repeating myself, of resting on my laurels. And I think together, those two approaches meshed really, really well,” Devine said.
Hull echoes that sentiment: “Kevin is very meticulous, where I came in with a few ideas and fleshed them out literally as we were recording. Kevin’s songs were awesome and he was cool enough for me to throw in some ideas to change a part or add a bridge here or there.”
In contrast to previous outputs from Manchester Orchestra and Devine, Bad Books cradles a much more noticeable pop aesthetic and energy than either artist has probably ever showcased before. Nowhere is this more evident than in songs like “You Wouldn’t Have To Ask” and “Holding Down the Laughter”.
Engineered by Robert McDowell (of Manchester Orchestra) with help from drummer Ben Homola, and mixed by Chris Bracco (of Devine’s ‘Goddamn Band’), Bad Books progressed in the most organic and natural way possible. Free from any boundaries or restrictions, Devine and Hull were able to craft a beautiful body of melodies, highlighting arcs of high and low throughout, and utilizing the stark imagery and storytelling for which both of them are known. “There was no governing framework,” Devine says: “No, ‘let’s write these kind of songs and say these kind of things’. We just wrote, arranged and played each song to its end, followed where it led, and I think it brought us both to some pretty unexpected places.”
For Devine, Hull, and the rest of Manchester Orchestra, choosing the direction of the road less travelled resulted in sonic harmonies and woven textures that meshed what these best friends do best. Some accidents were just meant to be.
42
Bad Books Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Do you adapt to the walls?
Do you adapt to the walls?
I found the newspaper thumbin' my hands through
Doing another dance, doing what I could
With it don't, you gotta leave me alone
And I wondered if you still lived at home
Yeah, I wondered if you still lived at home
What do you think you'd have done
Without a colder beer
A fresh pack of zigs and zags
Lighting another fag
I was hungover and you would come hang over
I was hungover and you would come hang over
And stop a biblical fire
You and your dad, what a tragic mishap
When a man loves drink more than blood
And I pace my room for an hour or two every day since 2001
And I think that I talk too much
The lyrics of Bad Books's song 42 tell a story of a man who is struggling to come to terms with his feelings about a woman he has been involved with. The tone of the song is melancholic and regretful, with the man asking himself questions like "When you're with another man inside another home, do you adapt to the walls?" and wondering if the woman he is thinking about still lives at home. The song suggests that the man has made some mistakes in his past, with references to drinking and smoking, and he appears to be haunted by his own hangovers.
At the heart of the song is a sense of a missed opportunity or a failed relationship. The line "You and your dad, what a tragic mishap, when a man loves drink more than blood" is particularly poignant, hinting at the idea that the woman's relationship with her father may have been damaged by alcoholism. The line suggests that this could have been the root cause of the man's own problems with drinking, and the regret he feels about the past.
Overall, the lyrics of 42 are complex and open to interpretation, but they paint a compelling picture of someone grappling with their own failings and missed chances.
Line by Line Meaning
When you're with another man inside another home
Have you ever adapted to a new environment?
Do you adapt to the walls?
Have you ever felt like you blended into your surroundings?
I found the newspaper thumbin' my hands through
I was flipping through a newspaper I found.
Doing another dance, doing what I could
Trying my best to do what needed to be done.
With it don't, you gotta leave me alone
Please leave me be.
And I wondered if you still lived at home
I was curious if you still resided with your parents.
Yeah, I wondered if you still lived at home
I was curious if you were still living at home.
What do you think you'd have done
What do you imagine you would do?
Without a colder beer
If you didn't have a cold beer,
A fresh pack of zigs and zags
A new pack of rolling papers and cigarettes,
Lighting another fag
Lighting another cigarette,
I was hungover and you would come hang over
I was recovering from a hangover, and you would show up.
I was hungover and you would come hang over
I was still recovering from a hangover, and you kept visiting me.
And stop a biblical fire
And bring an end to a conflict or argument.
You and your dad, what a tragic mishap
You and your father's situation is a misfortune.
When a man loves drink more than blood
When a man prioritizes alcohol over family.
And I pace my room for an hour or two every day since 2001
I have been pacing my room every day for 1-2 hours since 2001.
And I think that I talk too much
I believe that I ramble on too much in conversation.
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Nonso.forever
Last comment is 2 years ago. This song is too beautiful
@MitchellJonesMusic
Stop writing so many such good songs so seamlessly. Its not human.
@rakgtr
beauty in its most condensed form
@deathpresent101
I imagine seeing the stars on a midnight in summer when I listen to this.
@whyalfie
This has always been the song that described what happened to Dallas. So well. I don't wish I was with her now, I just wish she hadn't done it. I never went to her funeral and I don't feel guilty for that - she was terrible to me and I did my best for her - but maybe it would have helped. I don't see her face anywhere anymore, and it doesn't bother me not to. I don't know. Its nobody's fault who they are or who they become, you just work with what you have and who you are before you start working on being someone. I don't know why I still listen to this, its painful. But I am glad it exists. Its valuable, somehow, to interact with something that feels the way those memories feel.
My company just cut commissions out of my contract, then offered me a very slightly higher salary - I accepted and suggestion moving from part time to full time at a different site. They agreed, then a month later called and said they remembered that they don't offer that rate for that position. The position is more work than the old one but now I am back to the same rate without commissions and the worst part is that they seem to be flabbergasted that I am not accepting it casually. I am not freaking out, but I have attempted to make a case for myself and it has been met with total confusion.
Low times always feel just like it did when I left her with him and she left us all. I guess the mood is the same so its like smelling something familiar. This song is like facing that its all real, like when I first heard it and that fact was as unavoidable as knowing none of my stupid texts were going to get answered. We humans have the capacity to make this world a better place, theoretically, but there's so many millennia of baggage in our system. We're mired in our planet's histories far more than our individual ones. Its painful to see that potential, not wasted but, inaccessible. Maybe someday something I cannot dream of will make it possible. I guess I feel a little better now, but I can't really say why. You are all doing your best, and if you hate yourself hate others just try to know that there simply isn't anyone else you can be. You were born you, and you didn't chose what experiences you would have. You interacted with them and made decision based on what you already had packaged within and learned from during your short time.
@eddisjian
I just discovered bad books a few months ago and I must say, I am in love.
@kenzie3146
do you still like em
@reeseorta3052
The lyrics kill me every time
@thatonebitchnycki
This is absolutely fabulous .-.
@kennypatton420
melts me Everytime .