1991 - 2000
Brian, Paul, Dom and Damien Rice form Juniper, having met in school. They go to college, play some weddings, 21st's and Bar Mitzvahs... and for a while have a Sunday night residency in the Kildrought Lounge and Bar, Celbridge. They meet Dave, who weans them off the Neil Diamond and Roxette covers. Band move into house in country, release EP, Manna, and two singles in Ireland. Damien leaves band, the others read about Chuck Yeager and his Right Stuff. They call the new band Bell X1. Bell X1 support Elliott Smith and Bon Jovi in the same 1 week period, leading to severe identity crisis, making small music with big hair. They make their first album, Neither Am I, in the summer/autumn of 1999 with Nick Seymour of Crowded House and release it in Ireland a year later, after much touring and a couple of old singles.
2001
Band take some time to indulge musical differences. Paul records and tours as drummer with Tipperary siren Gemma Hayes, Brian's away with Offaly hearthrob Mundy, and Dave and Dom join Richie Mullen of Lino Richie Carpets, Finglas, in touring cabaret show. Bell X1 regroup in late summer and write songs for what would become Music in Mouth in a house by the sea in Wexford.
2002
Second album recording starts in Ridge Farm studios in Surrey, with producer Jamie Cullum. After 4 weeks they move to the Fallout Shelter, London. The studio has no teapot!! Some moaning. The band take turns to make dinner. Some of it is shit. The world Cup happens. Mixing finishes in July and everyone goes away for a while. Come back and mix it all again. Borrow a friend's house in Kilkenny, record some more songs, play hurling, are laughed at by locals. Music in Mouth finally finished in December, a few days after the birth of Jamie's daughter Ellie, who was both conceived and born during the making of the record.
2003, 2004
The album Music in Mouth is released on July 21st 2003, to tremendous applause, and the band play with all sorts to try to flog it. Tom McRae, Keane, Starsailor, Aqualung and Snow Patrol show them the highways and byways of the UK and continental Europe. Songs from the record appear in many TV series, from Teachers to The OC, and at home the album goes double platinum, with four top 40 singles. In July 2004, the band gather in yet another house in Wexford to write a new record.
2005
Flock is recorded in Dublin and mixed in London, with Roger Becherian producing and Phil Hayes knob twiddling. A shrine to Daniel O' Donnell (Irish singing deity, ref Cliff Richard without ever having had a brush with cool) is created in the green room, Dave creates Pistachio Nut Shell Installation and mustaches are grown. The band take a break from recording and sell out a mini tour in the USA, where they record a live session for Nic Harcourt’s essential show on KCRW in L.A.
Flock is released in Ireland and hits the heights of #1 in the album charts. The band leaves Island Records and sets up its own record label called BellyUp records. A live album called Tour De Flock is released - it is a 2-disc compilation featuring 16 tracks from their sold-out gig at The Point Theatre, Dublin on December 1, 2006.
In 2008, Flock is released in the USA and the band appears on the St. Patrick's Day edition of the Late Show with David Letterman.
On 2nd October, Brian Crosby quits saying "It's been an extraordinary privilege to be in a band with your mates for more than 15 years. I'm really grateful for everything I got to do with Bell X1, for all the adventures we had and for the great support of our fans. It's been particularly wonderful to have connected with so many people and to have got to meet people all over the world doing what I love. I look forward to continue making those connections. At the same time I'll be applauding the boys continued success."
As well as promoting Flock in the USA, the band gets busy recording a new album Blue Lights On The Runway. It finally sees the light of day in 2009, with lead single The Great Defector becoming their biggest hit to date (no. 3 in the Irish charts).
2011
The band will release its newest album Bloodless Coup in stores and online on April 1 in Ireland, April 4 in the UK, April 8 in Germany and Benelux, April 12 in the USA and Canada, and April 26 in France. The album's lead single is “Velcro,” which the band performed on The Rachael Ray Show on St. Patrick's Day.
Face
Bell X1 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Go bow end send mend bend pretend
Shut your face again
Bleed seed need read breath on my knees
How I choose to breath
Lie cry learn grow slow false start
How I build my wall
Hate wait bait kiss or taste the place
How I choose bruise loose win sin bin tease please
Better have her on her knees
Play pray say rock feel kneel dream
How I choose to scream
Shout wake sleep need to touch her deep
Change
Rearrange
Fate wait weight kiss or taste the place
And make weather in my face
I wanna be the only one that you know
Happily your placebo
I wanna be the only one that you know
Cos I adore you
I wanna be the only one that you know
Don't believe your placebo
I wanna be the only one that you know
Cos I adore you
The lyrics to "Face" by Bell X1 can be interpreted as a reflection on the fleeting nature of human connection and the difficulty of maintaining it amidst the distractions of everyday life. The song provides vivid imagery to the listener as the singer, possibly in a supermarket "condiment aisle," obsesses over his worries about Israeli basil and new world wine. Meanwhile, the object of his affection symbolized by her Disprin and cigarette crumbs, captures his attention. The singer yearns for a time when he was less preoccupied with posing, a time when he was wrapped in someone's arms.
As the song progresses, the singer realizes the futility of his current interactions, particularly with the object of his affection. The moment he catches her smiling in the light, his fixation dissolves. He recognizes that her smile is a fleeting moment, and so it goes, just like all other human connections. This reflection follows regarding the nature of their interaction and the underlying lack of substance. The song ends on the same somber note - the words on the page continue to swim, and the cycle of searching for meaningful human connections begins again.
Line by Line Meaning
The dog-eared Disprin, in your handbag
You carry around an old and worn-out pack of disprin tablets in your purse.
A gathering of crumbs and, twenty fags
Your purse is also filled with food crumbs, and you have around twenty cigarettes in it.
I'd steal some chewing gum, a few stray coins
I would take some of your chewing gum and a few coins from your purse, which you may have noticed but didn't seem to mind.
And so it goes
This is how things usually happen or continue without any major changes.
Here I am, in the condiment aisle
I am currently in the aisle where condiments are sold in a store.
I'm worried about my basil from Israel and new world wine
I am concerned about the freshness and quality of my basil from Israel and the new world wine that I am planning to buy.
I need to lose these poses, reset my charms
I realize that I need to shed my pretenses and fake personality to regain my natural charisma and charm.
To when I left the factory in your arms
I need to go back to the time when I felt loved and secure in your embrace, without any worries surrounding me.
But the words on the page start to swim
The words from the book or page I'm reading start to blur and become difficult to make sense of.
As light catches your face you're smiling
As light shines on your face, I see that you're smiling, which is a beautiful and captivating sight.
This must be what all the fuss is about
I suddenly understand why so many people talk about and cherish the joy of being in love, based on the emotions that seeing you smile brings out in me.
You're trying to talk to me, all grateful and smiles
You are attempting to talk to me while expressing gratitude and smiling warmly, but I am too distracted by something else to give a meaningful reply.
I'm glued to the TV giving one word replies
I am completely absorbed in watching TV and only responding to your attempts to talk with one-word answers.
It's small and shameful it's a poor show
My actions are insignificant and shameful, and I am not showing any real love or care for you, which is unacceptable.
Beat myself up on the way home and go crying to my girl
I feel guilty about my behavior, and end up berating myself on the way back home, likely leading to tears when I confront my significant other.
Yeah so it goes
This is just how things happen, the usual cycle of events.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lauraellenkelly
cheers fputting up the video, love the song it has been in my song all day :D
@TheNickSweat
Good lord, this is horrible compared to Damien Rice's live versions. I'd kill to get my hands on that "studio" version of his that was on that EmBrace compilation.
@devinrobertson5251
Ew. Damien Rice does it better.