Belle and Sebastian released their first two albums in 1996: Tigermilk, recorded over three days, and If You're Feeling Sinister, recorded in a week, at the peak of the chamber pop movement. At first, some critics in Britain's music weeklies tied the band into the subgenre, yet the group was too pretty, too delicate, to bear that label. Through their first two years of public existence, the band shielded their personalities, submitting publicity photos featuring a girl, who was a friend of the band and reluctantly posing for photo shoots. Furthermore, they performed in odd venues, playing not only the standard coffeehouses and cafes, but also homes, church halls, and libraries.
Prior to the formation of Belle and Sebastian, Murdoch suffered from a protracted battle with chronic fatigue syndrome, which forced him to drop out of school and spend seven years living in his parents' home crippled by his condition.Whilst in his parents home, Murdoch wrote a short story about a boy named Sebastian and a girl named Isabelle based on the names from Madame Cecile Aubery's children's book Belle et Sebastian. On New Year's Day 1996, Stuart attended a party at which he met a young singer and cellist named Isobel Campbell. In a letter to his brother Fraser, Murdoch explained how he was making a single for Stow college at the end of February. Murdoch opted to use the name Belle&Sebastian for the project because it was occupying him at the time. Murdoch took to songwriting as an escapism from the four walls surrounding him in his room and eventually recorded demos with bassist Stuart David whom he met at a government training programme called Beatbox. Murdoch quickly met a series of other musicians through social and musical circles in his hometown Glasgow and they agreed to help with the Stow project. The members he found for this initial lineup were Stevie Jackson (guitar), Mick Cooke (trumpet), Chris Geddes (keyboards), Stuart David (bass), Richard Colburn (drums), and Isobel Campbell (cello). The Stow College record was to be issued by Electric Honey, but it turned into a full album. The course instructor Alan Rankine determined that Murdoch had enough good material to record a full LP and could do so if they could get it all done in three days, studio time allotted for the single. Murdoch and his musicians rose to the challenge and recorded ten tracks putting the songs in order as they would appear on the record and mostly completing them in just a few takes.
In May of 1996, Belle and Sebastian self-released their debut album, Tigermilk, on Electric Honey Records. Only 1,000 copies of the album, which was only pressed on vinyl, were released, but it unexpectedly became a sensation, earning terrific word of mouth throughout the UK. As a result, the band became slightly more than a school project — it became an actual band. If You're Feeling Sinister, released on the independent Jeepster label, followed in November of 1996. By the time the album was released in America on the EMI subsidiary The Enclave, it had earned considerable critical acclaim in the U.K. — not only from music weeklies, but from newspapers like The Sunday Times and magazines like The Face — and a large cult following; by some accounts, Tigermilk was being sold for as much as 75 pounds. Over the course of 1997, word of mouth continued to grow in America, even as the band pulled out of an American tour because The Enclave went bankrupt and closed.
As the band cult continued to build in 1997, Belle and Sebastian released three EPs — Dog on Wheels (May), Lazy Line Painter Jane (July), and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (October). Each subsequent EP placed higher on the indie charts and received great critical acclaim. Later in the year, violinist Sarah Martin became a member of the band. By the end of the year, the group finalized an American deal with Matador Records, issuing The Boy With the Arab Strap in September 1998. The following year saw the eagerly anticipated wide re-release of Tigermilk, the album that started it all. It was the biggest selling album but is unpopular with the group themselves. Following completion of 2000's Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, Stuart David left Belle and Sebastian to focus full-time on his solo project, Looper, being replaced by Bobby Kildea of V-Twin. In 2001, the group released two EPs — Jonathan David and I'm Waking Up to Us — and recorded the soundtrack for Todd Solondz's film Storytelling. Just before the soundtrack's release in spring 2002, Belle and Sebastian embarked on a comprehensive tour of the United States and Canada before returning to Europe for the summer festival season. Midway through the tour, Isobel Campbell left the band, citing the usual differences.
Another major change that soon took place was the band leaving Jeepster and Matador to sign with Rough Trade, with their next record, late 2003's Dear Catastrophe Waitress, produced by the inimitable Trevor Horn (who also produced Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Yes, and scores of others). The record spawned the brilliant "Step into My Office, Baby" and "I'm a Cuckoo" singles, the latter of which was the group's biggest U.K. hit, reaching number 14 in early 2004. After a long worldwide tour that found Belle and Sebastian reaching new levels of success, they retired to Scotland and began preparing for the recording of their seventh full length album, The Life Pursuit, released in 2006.
In 2010, they released their eighth full length album, Write About Love.
Official website: www.belleandsebastian.com
A Century of Fakers
Belle and Sebastian Lyrics
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They've got nothing on their plates
And you're filling your fat face
With every different kind of cake
If you ever go lardy, or go lame
I will drop you straight away
Oh that's the chance you're gonna take
There are people going lonely, and they'll stay
Lonely far into the year
Cause you're making blinkers fashionable
And fashionably you'll say,
"All is equal in love and war"
And I'm sorry, but I've got some things to do
And you pretend to read a book
You'll never finish till the day
That the author dedicated
To a century of fakers
They took your mold and they burned it
On the fire in history today
Yeah the author dedicated
To a century of fakers
He was an anarchist
He tried his best but it wasn't good enough
La la la la la
Did I say I would see you soon? Well I'm sorry
But I just came off my bike
And my face is scarred
And chance has barred me seeing you tonight
I was over the other side of the city
And if the truth be known I'd say
That you look great from there
Before you shaved your golden hair today
Everybody's trying to make us
Another century of fakers
They took you mold and burned it
On the fire of history today
Everybody's trying to make us
Another cool decade of fakers
And everybody's trying to make us
Another century of fakers
Everybody's trying to make us
Another century of fakers
The lyrics of "A Century of Fakers" by Belle and Sebastian are a commentary on modern society and the prevalence of superficiality, injustice, and inequality. The opening lines describe the contrast between those who have nothing to eat and those who indulge in all types of food without concern for others. The second verse points to the loneliness and isolation experienced by many, while others are blinded by their own narrow-mindedness and biases.
The chorus, "All is equal in love and war," is a common phrase, but here it is used ironically. The singer acknowledges that there are serious problems in the world that cannot be solved by such simplistic, superficial thinking. The lines about pretending to read a book suggest that many people engage in activities just to seem intelligent, cultured, or interesting, without really engaging with the material or the world around them.
The final verse is a wistful reflection on missed opportunities and the difficulty of connecting with others in a world that values image over substance. The repetition of the phrase "century of fakers" underscores the idea that society is not living up to its potential, and that we must aim for something better.
Line by Line Meaning
There are people going hungry far away
People are starving in other parts of the world
They've got nothing on their plates
They don't have any food to eat
And you're filling your fat face
You are indulging in eating excessively
With every different kind of cake
You are eating various types of cake
If you ever go lardy, or go lame
If you become lazy or unfit
I will drop you straight away
I will end the relationship immediately
Oh that's the chance you're gonna take
You take the risk of losing me
For every stupid thing you say
For everything foolish you say
There are people going lonely, and they'll stay
Some are experiencing loneliness and will endure it
Lonely far into the year
For a long period of time
Cause you're making blinkers fashionable
Creating obliviousness is made to appear fashionable
And fashionably you'll say,
You will say in style that,
"All is equal in love and war"
"Anything goes in love and war"
And I'm sorry, but I've got some things to do
I regret it, but I have other activities I must attend to
And you pretend to read a book
You feign reading a book
You'll never finish till the day
You will never finish reading it till the end of your day
That the author dedicated
The day when the writer dedicated
To a century of fakers
To the deceivers of the century
They took your mold and they burned it
They removed your originality and discarded it
On the fire in history today
It has been forgotten with time
Yeah the author dedicated
Certainly, the writer dedicated
To a century of fakers
To the liars of the century
He was an anarchist
He was against the government
He tried his best but it wasn't good enough
He gave it his all, but it wasn't sufficient
Did I say I would see you soon? Well I'm sorry
Did I promise to see you soon? I apologize
But I just came off my bike
I just fell off my bicycle
And my face is scarred
My face is injured
And chance has barred me seeing you tonight
I can't meet you tonight due to unforeseen circumstances
I was over the other side of the city
I was on the opposite side of the city
And if the truth be known I'd say
Honestly, I would say
That you look great from there
You appear attractive from that perspective
Before you shaved your golden hair today
Before you cut off your blond hair today
Everybody's trying to make us
Everyone is attempting to coerce us to be
Another century of fakers
More deceitful like those of the previous century
And everybody's trying to make us
Everyone is attempting to coerce us
Another cool decade of fakers
Another decade of deception, appearing appealing
And everybody's trying to make us
Everyone is attempting to coerce us
Another century of fakers
More deceitful like those of the previous century
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CHRISTOPHER GEDDES, ISOBEL CAMPBELL, MICHAEL COOKE, RICHARD COLBURN, SARAH MARTIN, STEPHEN JACKSON, STUART MURDOCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jopalmeiras77
This was my first Belle and Sebastian contact and it means so much to me. Love these band.
@TrudiNicnevin
Mine too ❤❤❤❤❤
@marcelbastoscameraman8947
Used to listen belle & sebastian at uni in brazil 1998.and still listening.good band
@hardtosay4321
So achingly beautiful..✌👍✊
@SantyPLAY_
3:03 Morrissey and Marr. Qué sorpresa ❤
@LEX10DEX10
One of my favorite songs of all :3
@rong2912
Watching this video now that I'm older reminds me of the shallow mind we all have in our 20's.
@rowanadams4757
Good .. good
@primitivojk
♥
@baronvoncrags771
Is dude wearing an Astrud Gilberto shirt?