Band of Susans is a rock music band formed in New York in 1986 by Robert Po… Read Full Bio ↴Band of Susans is a rock music band formed in New York in 1986 by Robert Poss (guitar/vocals), Susan Stenger (bass/vocals) and Ron Spitzer (drums) with Susan Lyall (guitar), Susan Tallman (guitar) and Alva Rogers (vocals).

Taking their name from the number of Susans in the line up, Band of Susans released one EP - Blessing and Curse - on Poss's own Trace Elements label before being signed to Mute Records's Blast First imprint for their first album Hope Against Hope. After the release, Rogers, Lyall and Tallman quit to be replaced by Karen Haglof (guitar) and Page Hamilton (guitar). After a second album - Love Agenda - and a Peel Sessions EP the two new members quit (Hamilton to form Helmet) and were replaced by Anne Husick (guitar) and Mark Lonergan (guitar), forming the line up which made three more albums and one EP. On the band's final U.S. and European tours a young Jay Braun filled in for Mark Lonergan. The band's final production was a version of Wire's Ahead for a collection of Wire cover versions called Whore, released in 1996.

Musically, BoS organised their three guitarists into providing an overwhelming wail of feedback and guitar noise layered under more conventional song structures (Poss had worked with guitar enemble composer Rhys Chatham and was a big fan of The Rolling Stones - the latter resulting in covers of Child of the Moon and Paint it Black). Although pretty much unconnected with it, Band of Susans are generally included in the New York No Wave scene that produced Sonic Youth and Glenn Branca.

After the dissolution of the band, Poss and Stenger performed with Bruce Gilbert of Wire as GilbertPossStenger. Poss then concentrated on production and solo work whilst Stenger played live with The Creatures for a period. An open-ended promise to reform under a new name has yet to happen.

Not In This Life
Band Of Susans Lyrics

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Radio waves from outer space
Past the rings of Saturn
Sending out strange sounds and voices
I hear them in my dreams

Looking through the prison bar
The factory smoke is rising
At night he snow it looks so blue

There's a certain kind of deadly quiet

The messages that I receive from the dead who choose to speak to me
Are pushing me toward something
But not in this life
They say not in this life

You won't now you seem so far away
A thousand miles
A different time
A different life
A different world

Radio waves from outer space
Past the rings of Saturn
Sending out strange sounds and voices
I hear them in my dreams

Not in this life you won't

Overall Meaning

In "Not In This Life," Band Of Susans presents a song filled with vivid imagery and a foreboding sense of mystery. The song begins with the reference to radio waves from outer space, past the rings of Saturn, sending out strange sounds and voices. This line sets a unique and intriguing tone, immediately suggesting that something out of the ordinary and strange is happening. The singer then speaks of hearing these sounds and voices in their dreams, adding an other-worldly and surreal element to the story.

The verse seems to shift to a different setting, one in which the singer is looking through prison bars at the rising factory smoke. The snow adds a blue tint to the scene and there is an eerie silence. The messages the singer receives from the dead who choose to speak to them pushes them towards something, though not in this life. This line suggests that the messages the singer has received are warning them of something, but that it cannot be remedied in this life. The chorus then repeats the opening lines, emphasizing the haunting and enigmatic nature of the song.

Line by Line Meaning

Radio waves from outer space
Messages from places beyond Earth

Past the rings of Saturn
Traveling beyond the planet of Saturn

Sending out strange sounds and voices
Transmitting bizarre and unfamiliar noises

I hear them in my dreams
Receiving these sounds while asleep

Looking through the prison bar
Viewing the world from confinement

The factory smoke is rising
The presence of pollution in the environment

At night the snow it looks so blue
The surreal color of snow at night

There's a certain kind of deadly quiet
A silence that evokes death and danger

The messages that I receive from the dead who choose to speak to me
Communications from deceased individuals

Are pushing me toward something
There is an urging or compulsion from these messages

But not in this life
Not achievable in this current existence