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
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You saw me looking like a slob
When I was young you were the only fun in town
Everyone thought it was a shame
For Belle and the boy Sebastian
Belle was okay but, oh, Sebastian
Went too far again
He wants to love and he wants to care
But when the girls hear that, they think he's so square
Sebastian, for once just leave your troubles home
Sebastian, for once just leave your troubles home
She goes to school around the way
The boys are queueing up to tell her she's a star
Poor Sebastian is heading for a fall
Everyone thought it was a shame
For Belle and the boy Sebastian
Belle was okay but, oh, Sebastian
Went too far again
Crashed his car in the rain
Oh, Sebastian wrote his diary that
He would never be young again
But you will
Fellow, you are ill
You'd better take a weight off of your mind and listen
To what other people say
Because things are going wrong your own way
The lyrics of "Belle & Sebastian" by Belle and Sebastian describe the relationship between two characters, Belle and Sebastian. Sebastian is a troubled young man who has left school and his job, and Belle is the only fun person in town for Sebastian. However, he is too troubled to be able to maintain their relationship, and he eventually crashes his car in the rain.
Throughout the song, the lyrics convey the perspective of the townspeople, who think it is a shame that Sebastian cannot get his life together. Sebastian wants to love and care for Belle, but the other girls in town think he is too square, and he struggles to balance his desires with the opinions of others. Ultimately, the lyrics advise Sebastian to take a weight off his mind and listen to what others say, indicating that he needs to seek help and guidance to overcome his problems.
Overall, the lyrics of "Belle & Sebastian" provide a poignant and insightful look into the complicated nature of relationships and the struggles that many young people face in finding their place in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
I left the school, I left my job
I quit everything in my life
You saw me looking like a slob
You saw me looking untidy after quitting my job and school
When I was young you were the only fun in town
You were the only one that made my youthful days enjoyable
Everyone thought it was a shame
Everyone thought something unfortunate happened
For Belle and the boy Sebastian
It was unfortunate for Belle and Sebastian
Belle was okay but, oh, Sebastian
Belle was fine, but Sebastian was going through something
Went too far again
Sebastian went overboard with something again
Crashed his car in the rain
He crashed his car while it was raining
He wants to love and he wants to care
He desires to love and care for others
But when the girls hear that, they think he's so square
But the girls think he's uncool when they hear that
Sebastian, for once just leave your troubles home
Sebastian, for once, leave your problems behind
She goes to school around the way
She goes to school nearby
The boys are queueing up to tell her she's a star
Many boys are trying to impress her
Poor Sebastian is heading for a fall
Sebastian is heading for a downfall
Oh, Sebastian wrote his diary that
Sebastian wrote in his diary that
He would never be young again
He believes that he will never be young again
But you will
But you still have time to be young
Fellow, you are ill
Dude, you're not doing well
You'd better take a weight off of your mind and listen
You better release some stress and listen to advice
To what other people say
Listen to what others have to say
Because things are going wrong your own way
Because things are not going well the way you're doing them
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: STUART MURDOCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Vernicles
First B&S song I ever heard back in 2000...fell in love with it, and it's still one of my favorites. It always stood out to me in a way that I can't quite describe...warm rainy days and fuzzy brown recorders (though they're probably flutes).
Macarena Lavin
I listened for the first time about ten years ago, after nearly 6 that i was a big fan of them. It touch me everytime, is so beautiful. One of my top five of them, I believe