Beat Happening is an American indie pop and punk rock band formed in Olympi… Read Full Bio ↴Beat Happening is an American indie pop and punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, United States in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi movements, noted for their use of primitive recording techniques, disregard for the technical aspects of musicianship, and songs with subject matters of a childish or coy nature.

Though not officially broken up, the band has not performed together in public since the early 1990s. In 2005, they were invited by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse to perform at All Tomorrow's Parties but respectfully declined the invitation.

The band met while attending The Evergreen State College and began recording in 1983. The band's basic lineup was drums, guitar and vocals, though when they formed their only instruments were a pair of maracas and a Sears Silvertone guitar purchased at a thrift shop. Heather once joked in an interview that the history of the band could be told through a list of the various people they'd borrowed drums from. Heather and Calvin had been members of a previous band and approached Bret, who had no musical experience at the time, saying they ought to start a band and go to Japan. Indeed, it was on a trip to Tokyo that the band members recorded Three Tea Breakfast, an EP that established the band's reputation.

Calvin Johnson was one of the founders of seminal indie rock label K Records. The label achieved modest success and continues to hold its independent integrity, claiming to have been "exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre since 1982."

Beat Happening (1985), their full length debut, was critically acclaimed, as was Jamboree (1988). By the release of Dreamy in 1991, Beat Happening was one of the most popular bands in the indie rock community, leading to their pivotal role in the International Pop Underground Festival, which brought anti-corporate rock its earliest mainstream acceptance. Their last full-length album was 1992's You Turn Me On, which represented the band breaking many of their established conventions from earlier albums, most notably on Godsend, which runs 9 minutes in length and features blatant use of multitrack recording. The album was described by allmusic.com as "A masterpiece." Though never announcing a break-up and claiming at one point to still practice once a month, the members of Beat Happening have moved on to various other projects. In 2000 they released the Angel Gone single, their first new release in eight years.

A Beat Happening box set, Crashing Through, which collects all of the band's officially released music except for two of their tracks from a live cassette split with The Vaselines, was released in 2002. The box set included a booklet containing a lengthy essay on the history and impact of the band by Lois Maffeo, as well as rare photos of members Calvin, Heather and Bret.

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Gravedigger Blues
Beat Happening Lyrics

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Saw the head off a scarecrow,
Burn its eyes with lead.
Make a crown of barbed wire,
Leave it under your bed.

I'll come running with a heart on fire...
I'll come running with a heart on fire...
I'll come running with a heart on fire...

And baby, you can dig my grave.
Baby, you can dig my grave.

Take a beet and a pole beam,
Rotting, wrapped in hay.
Spit into the middle,
Cover it with clay.

I'll come running with a heart on fire...
I'll come running with a heart on fire...
I'll come running with a heart on fire...
I wonder what made you stay.
I wonder what made me stray.

Baby's got a jar of cider,
Used for making hearts melt.
Baby knows chicken wire,
Don't make no chastity belt.

Drive a stake into the river,
Cap it with a bone.
Hear that blackbird calling,
Be my tombstone.

Now I'm running with a heart on fire...
Now I'm running with a heart on fire...
I'm running with a heart on fire...
And baby, you can lick the flames.
Baby, you can lick the flames.

Baby's got my heart's desire,
Swinging from her trophy belt.
Baby knows a funeral pyre,
Don't get put out with no beaver pelt.

Dig a sack of potatoes,
Throw it in my grave.
Fill it full of buckshot,
Just count the days...

I'll come running with a heart on fire...
I'll come running with a heart on fire...
I'll come running with a heart on fire...
And baby, you'll make me pay.
Baby, you'll make me pay.

And baby, you'll be digging my grave...
Baby, I'm just counting the days.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of the song Gravedigger Blues by Beat Happening are quite cryptic and open to interpretation. The song talks about a desire to die and be buried by a loved one. The first verse talks about making a crown of barbed wires and leaving it under your bed, indicating that the singer is going to commit suicide. The second verse talks about covering a beet and a pole beam with clay and spitting into the middle, implying some kind of dark ritual. The third verse talks about driving a stake into the river and hearing a blackbird calling, indicating some kind of funeral arrangement.

The chorus of the song talks about the singer coming running with a heart on fire towards the person who's going to dig their grave. The use of fire and flames in the lyrics can be interpreted as passion or intense love. The last verse of the song talks about the singer's heart's desire swinging from the baby's trophy belt, implying that the singer's heart belongs to the baby. The song ends with the singer acknowledging that the baby will be digging their grave and they're just counting the days.

Overall, the lyrics of the song Gravedigger Blues by Beat Happening paint a dark picture of someone who is ready to die and be buried by someone they love. The ambiguity of the lyrics leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and it's up to the listener to decipher the meaning behind the words.

Line by Line Meaning

Saw the head off a scarecrow, Burn its eyes with lead. Make a crown of barbed wire, Leave it under your bed.
Mutilate a scarecrow by removing the head and then use lead to burn and damage its eyes. A crown made from barbed wire should be constructed, purposely saved under the bed.

I'll come running with a heart on fire... I'll come running with a heart on fire... I'll come running with a heart on fire... And baby, you can dig my grave. Baby, you can dig my grave.
I will go anywhere for my partner with my heart beating rapidly. And if the need arises, my lover can dig my grave.

Take a beet and a pole beam, Rotting, wrapped in hay. Spit into the middle, Cover it with clay.
Use beet and pole beam that are decaying and wrapped with hay, spit on it, and cover it with clay.

I'll come running with a heart on fire... I'll come running with a heart on fire... I'll come running with a heart on fire... I wonder what made you stay. I wonder what made me stray.
My heart is burning, and I'm going to come running. I am wondering why my partner stayed while I strayed away.

Baby's got a jar of cider, Used for making hearts melt. Baby knows chicken wire, Don't make no chastity belt.
My partner has a jar of cider for making hearts melt. Furthermore, my partner knows that chicken wire is not an effective way to make a chastity belt.

Drive a stake into the river, Cap it with a bone. Hear that blackbird calling, Be my tombstone.
Drive a stake into a river and cap it with a bone. As you hear the sound of the blackbird calling, it will serve as my tombstone.

Now I'm running with a heart on fire... Now I'm running with a heart on fire... I'm running with a heart on fire... And baby, you can lick the flames. Baby, you can lick the flames.
I am now running with a heart on fire, and you can lick the flames as I come to you.

Baby's got my heart's desire, Swinging from her trophy belt. Baby knows a funeral pyre, Don't get put out with no beaver pelt.
My partner has my heart's desire, which is swinging from their trophy belt. My partner also knows that a funeral pyre should not be put out using a beaver pelt.

Dig a sack of potatoes, Throw it in my grave. Fill it full of buckshot, Just count the days...
Dig a sack of potatoes and throw it into my grave. Fill the sack full of buckshot and start counting the days.

I'll come running with a heart on fire... I'll come running with a heart on fire... I'll come running with a heart on fire... And baby, you'll make me pay. Baby, you'll make me pay.
I will come running with a heart on fire, and you will make me pay for something.

And baby, you'll be digging my grave... Baby, I'm just counting the days.
You will be digging my grave, my love, and I am merely counting the days.

Contributed by Caleb W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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