Condon recorded before Beirut was established: when he was fifteen and under the name of Realpeople, he made an electronic record, fashioned after his love for The Magnetic Fields. Condon was a straight-A student until he dropped out at the age of 17 to travel Europe with his cousin in a drunken haze, cavorting and partying with the locals wherever he ended up. It was during one of these evenings that he was first exposed to Balkan music (notably including the Boban Marković Orkestar and Goran Bregović), blasting from the upstairs apartment. Condon ended up with the Serbian artists all night, going through albums country by country, note for note.
The first album under the Beirut moniker, Gulag Orkestar (2006), was the direct result of what he learned that night. While it may sound like an entire Balkan orchestra playing modern songs as mournful ballads and upbeat marches, the album was performed and recorded almost entirely by Condon alone. He did so on Pro Tools while skipping school in Albuquerque and at Sea Side Studios in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Jeremy Barnes added percussion and some violin overlays.
After recording, Condon formed a full band which at times varies in the number of members, from six to ten. Live he is accompanied by Perrin Cloutier (cello/accordion), Jason Poranski (guitar/mandolin/ukulele), Nick Petree (drums), Kristin Ferebee (violin), Paul Collins (organ/keys/tambourine/ukulele), Jon Natchez (baritone sax/mandolin/glockenspiel), and Kelly Pratt (trumpet/euphonium).
In November 2006 Condon was "briefly hospitalized for extreme exhaustion", the band's website said, and as a consequence the band cancelled the rest of the tour. They resumed performing in March 2007 and released their second album, The Flying Club Cup the same year on October 9th. Parts of the album were performed and recorded by Condon in his bedroom again, but others were recorded with the live band, which resulted in a more organic, live sound. While writing, Condon said he was inspired by French music, like Jacques Brel (whose song Le Moribond he covered on his Elephant Gun EP), and he moved to Paris for a while. During the extensive tour in support of The Flying Club Cup, Condon and the band more or less fell apart from exhaustion once again and disappeared from the radar in April 2008.
Condon took a long break and returned in 2009 with a double EP, March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland. The first was partly recorded in Mexico with the Mexican Band Jimenez and had a more South-American flavour to it than Condon's previous efforts. The second EP 'Holland' was credited to Condon's old name Realpeople and consisted of five electrotracks, once more in the vein of The Magnetic Fields.
The band's album "The Rip Tide" was released in 2011.
Albums
* Gulag Orkestar (May 9, 2006)
* The Flying Club Cup (October 9, 2007)
* The Rip Tide (August 2, 2011)
* No No No (September 11, 2015)
* Gallipoli (February 1, 2019)
* Artifacts (January 28, 2022)
EPs
* Lon Gisland EP (January 30, 2007)
* Pompeii (February 28, 2007)
* Elephant Gun (June 25, 2007)
* March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland (February 17, 2009)
* East Harlem (June 7, 2011)
* The Berlin-Albuquerque Sessions (November 22, 2022)
Official website: www.beirutband.com
The Bunker
Beirut Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But not for me
Watch now, all will end
Now all that I'm, under a tide
Now I'm, under a tide
Tall hair under it all
Much more than I once had
Over seas
The lyrics of Beirut's song The Bunker speak to a sense of isolation and separation from the world. The opening line, "Walls gone over the sea, but not for me," creates a feeling of being trapped or left behind, as though the world has moved on without the singer. This sense of disconnect is reinforced by the repetition of the phrase "under a tide," which suggests being submerged or overwhelmed by something larger and more powerful.
The reference to "tall hair" beneath everything else may be a metaphor for the hidden complexities and contradictions that underlie even seemingly simple things. This suggests that the singer is grappling with a sense of inadequacy or insecurity, and is perhaps searching for a way to connect with the world beyond the walls that seem to surround him.
Overall, The Bunker is a haunting and introspective song that speaks to the complexity of human emotion and the struggle to find one's place in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Walls gone over the sea
The walls that separated me from the rest of the world are now nonexistent.
But not for me
However, I still feel trapped and isolated.
Watch now, all will end
I feel a sense of foreboding that everything around me is coming to an end.
Now all that I'm, under a tide
I feel overwhelmed and suffocated by my thoughts and emotions.
Now I'm, under a tide
It feels like I am drowning in my own despair.
Tall hair under it all
Despite trying to hide it, I am deeply affected by the current state of affairs.
Much more than I once had
I feel like I have lost everything that once gave my life meaning and purpose.
Over seas
Even though I am physically distant from certain things, emotionally and mentally, they still affect me deeply.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ZACH CONDON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind