Barnes & Barnes formed in 1970. Robert Haimer (died 2023) and Bill Mumy were childhood friends who occasionally jammed together on their musical instruments. Around 1968, they would shoot short films with a Super 8 motion picture camera, dubbed "Art Films". The two began calling each other "Art", and thus, their alter egos were born. Their surname, "Barnes" was taken from a Bill Cosby comedy routine called "Revenge", in which a character called Junior Barnes throws a snowball at Cosby as a child. Originally, both Haimer and Mumy were named "Art Barnes", but Haimer's alter ego was publicly renamed "Artie" in 1979 to differentiate between them. To each other, however, they both still remain "Art". They first received airplay on The Dr. Demento Show in 1978 with their songs "Boogie Woogie Amputee" and "Fish Heads." The latter tune was released as a single on their own Lumania Records in 1979 and remains their best-known song, and the most requested song in the history of The Dr. Demento Show. The song was often mis-attributed to The Chipmunks for its processed high-pitched chorus:
Fish heads, fish heads
Rolly-polly fish heads
Fish heads, fish heads
Eat them up, yum!
Barnes and Barnes have produced two albums for Wild Man Fischer, and one album for Crispin Hellion Glover.
Sewey Hole
Barnes & Barnes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
since you left me baby
yeah yeah yeah yeah
You broke my heart, now I'm going crazy
Let me come home I'm all alone
Sewey hole ain't no place to be
Yeah.
The lyrics of Barnes & Barnes's song Sewey Hole depict the emotions of a person who has been abandoned by their lover and has resorted to sleeping in a sewer to cope with the heartbreak. The lyrics evoke a sense of depression and helplessness, as the singer expresses a desire to be reunited with their lover but feels trapped in their current situation. The reference to the "sewey hole" as "ain't no place to be" emphasizes the direness of the singer's circumstances.
Throughout the song, the singer's mental state deteriorates as they become increasingly delusional and desperate for their lover's return. The repetitive use of "yeah yeah yeah yeah" emphasizes the singer's desperation and a sense of being trapped in their own thoughts. The overall tone of the song is dark and melancholic, reflecting the singer's spiraling mental state.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been sleeping in the sewey hole
Ever since you left me, I've been feeling lower than low and I've been staying in a dark, damp place resembling a sewer.
since you left me baby
This happened after the person the singer addresses in the song left them.
yeah yeah yeah yeah
The singer accentuates their despair, emphasizing how bad they feel with anguished repetitions.
You broke my heart, now I'm going crazy
The other person involved in this relationship did something to hurt the singer emotionally, leaving them broken-hearted and driving them to madness.
Let me come home I'm all alone
The singer now finds themselves terribly lonely and wishes to be home with the person they lost.
Sewey hole ain't no place to be
The place where the singer currently stays is an awful one, and they want out of it as soon as possible.
Yeah.
The singer ends the song with a note of finality and resignation.
Contributed by Claire O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.