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.

http://www.krecs.com

In My Memory
Beat Happening Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Sit down and dream about
The way the sun would shine on you
The night falls
Oh, so deep and blue

Can't see the way
You used to look at me
Can't hear your voice

As it used to be
Cause it's gone out to sea
It's just a memory

Things happen so fast
And I can't keep track
When I'm by myself
I find I'm looking back
On all that's happened to me

It's gone out to sea
It's just a memory

Overall Meaning

The lyrics in Beat Happening's song In My Memory seem to be about reminiscing on the past and the sadness that comes with it. The opening lines of "Sit down and dream about the way the sun would shine on you" seem to suggest a yearning for a time that has passed, maybe a happier time with a loved one. The next line, "the night falls, oh so deep and blue" adds to the melancholic tone of the song, conjuring up images of a dark and lonely night.

The middle stanza seems to reflect on the fact that time moves on quickly and it's hard to keep up with it. "Can't see the way you used to look at me, can't hear your voice as it used to be" perhaps speaks to the idea that people change with time, and sometimes those changes mean that relationships fade away. The line "it's gone out to sea, it's just a memory" reinforces the idea that whatever the singer is remembering is now lost, likely forever.

The last stanza seems to bring the song full circle, with the singer reflecting on their current state of loneliness. "When I'm by myself, I find I'm looking back on all that's happened to me" suggests that the singer may be feeling a sense of isolation in the present moment. The final line once again highlights the idea that the memories they hold onto are just that - memories that have moved on and are now out of reach.

Overall, the lyrics of In My Memory are poignant and melancholic, exploring themes of nostalgia, loss, and the passage of time.

Line by Line Meaning

Sit down and dream about
Take some time to imagine and fantasize

The way the sun would shine on you
Remember how beautiful and warm the sunlight was on you

The night falls
The darkness of the night is setting in

Oh, so deep and blue
The darkness is profound and melancholic

Can't see the way
I am unable to envision the future

You used to look at me
The way you used to gaze at me with love and affection

Can't hear your voice
I am unable to recall the sound of your voice

As it used to be
The way your voice used to sound when you spoke to me

Cause it's gone out to sea
The memory of your voice has faded away

It's just a memory
It is now only an echo in my mind