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 Flying Club Cup
Beirut Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My father was released a day's walk from San Denise
We buried him beneath the bone-white sands of San Denise
Silence of an airborne night
Push high above the roof
Daughters of the Red lights blind
The icy works of art
Go once upon the Lord
You and I will lie beside the fire sparked from boards
It's yours
The Flying Club Cup by Beirut is a lyrical masterpiece, with a variety of meanings and interpretations. The song begins by describing the singer's humble origins, having built their house out of reeds in a marsh called Elise. They reveal that their father had been released from prison, a day's walk from San Denise, where he would eventually be buried. This sets the tone for a song that is full of contrast and beauty, with themes of love and loss, memory and nostalgia, hope and despair.
The second verse goes on to paint a vivid picture of a night sky, with silence and stars above the singer's house of reeds. They describe in great detail the sight of the city lights below and the icy works of art surrounding them. The line "Daughters of the Red lights blind" could be interpreted in a number of ways, but it could suggest that the singer is drawn to the beauty of the city and the people living there, despite their flaws and imperfections. The final two lines of the verse bring the listener back to a sense of warmth and comfort, with the singer inviting someone to lie beside them by the fire.
Overall, The Flying Club Cup is a song that captures the imagination and evokes different emotions in each listener. It blends a variety of literary techniques, including imagery, metaphor, and symbolism, to create a complex and nuanced piece of art.
Line by Line Meaning
I built my house of reeds upon a marsh in Elise
I constructed my home out of fragile materials on an unstable foundation in the town of Elise.
My father was released a day's walk from San Denise
My father was freed from imprisonment, but had a long journey ahead of him on foot.
We buried him beneath the bone-white sands of San Denise
We laid my father to rest in the pale sand of San Denise.
Silence of an airborne night
The stillness of the sky at night, devoid of any sounds or movements.
Push high above the roof
Rising higher into the sky, above the rooftops of buildings.
Daughters of the Red lights blind
Prostitutes who work in the red-light district, where they attract customers and obscure their vision.
The icy works of art
The beautiful, yet cold and distant, creations of art.
The city lights and restless nights
The bright and bustling lights of the city and the sleepless nights that accompany them.
Go once upon the Lord
An expression of uncertainty or disbelief, seeking reassurance through religion.
You and I will lie beside the fire sparked from boards
We will share a moment of warmth and comfort together, gathered around a fire lit from scraps of wood.
It's yours
This is your experience, your journey, your life to live and make your own.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ZACH CONDON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
CSGOProdigy
tecboy209 LOL yeah it's french, allen was making a funny
it's
Oh non je t'en prie, nous ne sommes pas chez nous.
Oh je t'assure que ce n'est pas grave.
Non laisse moi!
Mais qu'est-ce que tu as aujourd'hui?
J'ai que les hommes me dégoûtent. Vous ne pensez qu'à ça.
translated it is
Oh, no, please, we're not at home
I assure you, it doesn't matter
No, leave me
What's wrong with you today?
I only just know that men disgust me, you're always thinking about that
edgarme90
I bought this LP in order to hear it the first time I invited my girlfriend to cook dinner at my place. By that time we hadn't even kissed for the first time, but we planned this dinner together and we cooked pasta and listened to beirut and had candles and flowers at the table. We kissed for the first time hearing Forks and Knives. We aren't together anymore, but that was one beautiful night and this album will always be an important part of my heart.
Megan Rust
beautiful
Gregory Bertrand
My girlfriend and I love this band and album so much. I think out of all the albums we have, we've heard this the most. She said she wants the song Cherbourg plaid at our wedding one day.
Megan Rust
+Gregory Bertrand Gregory Bertrand yes...i used to want to get married to Scenic World...the slow version. Well i guess i still would like to. It has strong emotional associations for me too since I listened to it a lot while me and my ex were together, the only guy who ever made me want to get married
Bill Malin
fantastic......
Kristian Stanley
2 things:
Forks and Knives might just be my favorite on the album
it was playing when i read your comment.
thanks for the smile, whoever you are
Jim Zucker
This album reminds me of one of the happiest periods of my life. Even if it's long gone, now at times i listen to it again trying to remember as, even if my mind forgot much, it still touches me deep, like faded emotions stored somewhere in my body.
mexa_t
this album is just...magical. There's no other way to describe it.
Carine Dupont
Yet the greatest hits from Zach Condor!!!! Beethoven .... Bach... Mozart
Natasha
I can not express my love for this band enough- their music is otherworldly, like nothing else I've ever heard. All the different cultural influences mixed in one. Uplifting and yet, at times, pure melancholia, nostalgia. Gifted musicians and songwriters.