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
Black and White Unite
Belle and Sebastian Lyrics
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All the children watch the cricket and they never wash for weeks
In the suburbs young protesters write "Black And White United"
They're tearing up the streets
I'm in love with every girl I meet
The gasman loves the street
He loves to drill
He loves to think about his girl
In the summer all the workers head out for the sandy beach
Stay together in all weather
Entertainment through your grief
Communities of prejudices travel on the train
The upperclass will have to pass the chance up of a knees-up with the gang
Your record profits will buy you an island
There's a jigsaw with a picture, all the country as a map
Kiers hiking, cyclers cycling, if I go I'm not coming back
I'm all in love with all the girls I meet, the hardcore summer kind
Kitchen porters, budding painters, whiskey touring guides
In the rain all your plans will fade
You'll be left with the jigsaw
The lyrics to Belle and Sebastian's song "Black and White Unite" describe the joys and the tensions of summer. For hikers, it's a time to explore the great outdoors and push themselves to reach new heights. Children, on the other hand, enjoy their freedom from school and delight in watching cricket games, playing with friends, and forgetting about the rigidity of daily life.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs, young protesters are fighting for a noble cause: racial equality. Their slogan "Black and White United" is reflected in their actions as they take to the streets, disturbing the peace and challenging societal norms. Against the backdrop of turmoil, the singer is enamored with every girl he meets - from the summer-loving kind to the kitchen porters and budding painters. It's a time of passion and possibility, but also of violence and division.
In the second verse, the scene switches to the beach, where workers seek solace from their toiling lives. There's camaraderie in the face of adversity, and even though prejudices exist, there's a sense of belonging and identity that comes with traveling together on the train. The upper class may not understand this sense of community, but they have the resources to escape to their own private islands. The image of a jigsaw puzzle hints at the fragility and complexity of life, especially when the rains come and wash away our carefully constructed plans.
Overall, Belle and Sebastian's "Black and White Unite" is a vivid and multi-layered portrait of summer that captures the highs and lows of this season of change and reckoning.
Line by Line Meaning
In the summer all the hikers hike out for the highest peaks
During the summer, adventurous people head towards high mountains for hiking
All the children watch the cricket and they never wash for weeks
During summer, kids enjoy watching cricket matches and tend to ignore personal hygiene
In the suburbs young protesters write "Black And White United"
In suburban areas, young activists express their support for racial equality by writing "Black And White United"
They're tearing up the streets
Their activism is making a big impact and disrupting the status quo
I'm in love with every girl I meet
The singer is enamored with all the women he encounters
The gasman loves the street
The gasman enjoys working on the street as part of his job
He loves to drill
Part of the gasman's job is drilling, which he enjoys
He loves to think about his girl
The gasman has someone special in his life, and he enjoys thinking about her
The sun is melting half the street
The heat from the sun is so intense that the street seems to be melting
In the summer all the workers head out for the sandy beach
During the summer, laborers head to the beach to enjoy some relaxation
Stay together in all weather
Despite any climatic conditions, people tend to stay united and connected
Entertainment through your grief
Even during difficult times, people find ways to distract themselves with enjoyable activities
Communities of prejudices travel on the train
Certain communities with biased perspectives travel together on trains
The upperclass will have to pass the chance up of a knees-up with the gang
The upper class won't get the opportunity to party with ordinary people
Your record profits will buy you an island
If you're a wealthy person, you can afford to buy your own island with your record profits
There's a jigsaw with a picture, all the country as a map
There's a jigsaw puzzle with a picture of the entire country in the form of a map
Kiers hiking, cyclers cycling, if I go I'm not coming back
If the singer joins his friends who are going hiking and cycling, he might not return
I'm all in love with all the girls I meet, the hardcore summer kind
The singer is attracted to every girl he meets, especially those who are enthusiastic and adventurous during summer
Kitchen porters, budding painters, whiskey touring guides
People with different jobs like kitchen porters, aspiring painters, and whiskey touring guides can be found everywhere
In the rain all your plans will fade
Bad weather like rain can ruin all your plans and make it difficult to carry on with things
You'll be left with the jigsaw
When plans fail, you're left with a sense of incompleteness and an incomplete jigsaw puzzle is a metaphor for that feeling
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CAMPBE, COLBURN, COOKE, GEDDES, JACKSON, MARTIN, MURDOCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind