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
Family Tree
Belle and Sebastian Lyrics
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I've been looking round the town
For somebody just like me
But the only ones I see
Are the dummies in the window
They spend their money on clothes
It saddens me to think
That the only ones I see are mannequins
And I don't know why I hang around with them
The way they act, I'd rather be fat than be confused
The way they act, I'd rather be fat than be confused
Than be me in a cage
With a bottle of rage
And a family like the mafia
I've been feeling blue
And I don't know what to do
And I never get a thrill
And they threw me out of school
'Cause I swore at all the teachers
Because they never teach us
A thing I want to know
We do chemistry, biology and maths
I want poetry and music and some laughs
And I don't think it's an awful lot to ask
So won't you please get up off your knees, and let me go
So won't you please get up off your knees, and let me go
'Cause I'm here in a cage
With a bottle of rage
And a family like the mafia
If my family tree goes back to the Romans
Then I will change my name to Jones
If my family tree goes back to Napolean
Then I will change my name to Smith
If my family tree goes back to the Romans
Then I will change my name to Jones
If you're looking at me to be an accountant
Then you will look but you will never see
If you're looking at me to start having babies
Then you can wish because I'm not here to fool around
You can wish because I'm not here to fool around
You can wish because I'm not here to fool around
There is too much love!
I could hang about and burn my fingers
I've been hanging out here waiting for something to start
You think I'm faultless to a 'T'
My manner set impeccably
But underneath I am the same as you
I could dance all night like I'm a soul boy
But I know I'd rather drag myself across the dance floor
I feel like dancing on my own
Where no one knows me, and where I
Can cause offence just by the way I look
And when I come to blows
When I am numbering my foes
Just hope that you are on my side my dear
But it's best to finish as it started
With my face head down just staring at the brown formica
It's safer not to look around
I can't hide my feelings from you now
There's too much love to go around these days
You say I've got another face
That's not a fault of mine these days
I'm honest, brutal and afraid of you
The song “Family Tree” by Belle and Sebastian is a reflection on the singer’s feelings of isolation and dissatisfaction with their life. The opening lines describe the singer’s search for someone like them in the town, but they only find mannequins in the shop window. This frustrated the singer as the mannequins’ lives seem empty and meaningless. The singer does not understand why they keep hanging around these mannequins.
Throughout the song, the singer expresses their frustration with their life, their family, and the education system. They feel as if they are stuck in a cage with their anger and their family, who they compare to the mafia. The singer is disillusioned with the system’s focus on practical education at the expense of poetry, music, and other less “practical” subjects that the singer finds much more engaging.
The song concludes with the chorus, where the singer relinquishes their wish to be someone else or live someone else’s life. They decide to stay true to themselves, despite their unconventional ways of thinking and living. The singer acknowledges their faults but also celebrates their uniqueness.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been feeling down
I've been feeling sad
I've been looking round the town
I've been searching around the town
For somebody just like me
For someone similar to myself
But the only ones I see
But the only ones I can find
Are the dummies in the window
Are the mannequins in shop windows
They spend their money on clothes
They buy clothing with all their money
It saddens me to think
It makes me sad to think
That the only ones I see are mannequins
That the only ones I can find are mannequins
Looking stupid, being used and being thin
Appearing foolish, being exploited and being thin
And I don't know why I hang around with them
And I don't know why I spend time with them
The way they act, I'd rather be fat than be confused
I'd rather be overweight than confused like them
Than be me in a cage
Than be trapped like I am
With a bottle of rage
With a bottle full of anger
And a family like the mafia
And a controlling family like the mafia
I've been feeling blue
I've been feeling sad
And I don't know what to do
And I don't know how to cope
And I never get a thrill
And I never get excited
And they threw me out of school
And I was expelled from school
'Cause I swore at all the teachers
Because I used bad language towards the teachers
Because they never teach us
Because they don't teach us
A thing I want to know
Anything that I want to learn
We do chemistry, biology and maths
We learn chemistry, biology, and maths
I want poetry and music and some laughs
I want to learn poetry, music, and comedy
And I don't think it's an awful lot to ask
And I think it's not too much to request
So won't you please get up off your knees, and let me go
So please let me go
'Cause I'm here in a cage
Because I'm trapped here
If my family tree goes back to the Romans
If my ancestry is from the Roman era
Then I will change my name to Jones
Then I will alter my name to Jones
If my family tree goes back to Napolean
If my ancestry is from the Napoleonic period
Then I will change my name to Smith
Then I will change my name to Smith
If you're looking at me to be an accountant
If you expect me to be an accountant
Then you will look but you will never see
Then you'll search, but you won't find it
If you're looking at me to start having babies
If you expect me to have children
Then you can wish because I'm not here to fool around
You can hope, but I'm not joking
There is too much love!
There is an abundance of love
I could hang about and burn my fingers
I could hang out and get hurt
I've been hanging out here waiting for something to start
I've been waiting here for something to begin
You think I'm faultless to a 'T'
You believe I'm flawless
My manner set impeccably
My attitude appearing perfect
But underneath I am the same as you
But I am just like you on the inside
I could dance all night like I'm a soul boy
I could dance for hours like a soul enthusiast
But I know I'd rather drag myself across the dance floor
But I prefer to move slowly across the floor
I feel like dancing on my own
I want to dance alone
Where no one knows me, and where I
Where no one recognizes me, and where I
Can cause offence just by the way I look
Can offend people simply by how I appear
And when I come to blows
And when I get into a fierce argument
When I am numbering my foes
When I am counting my opponents
Just hope that you are on my side my dear
Just hope that you are my ally
But it's best to finish as it started
But it's best to end things as they began
With my face head down just staring at the brown formica
With my face down gazing at the brown formica surface
It's safer not to look around
It's safer to avoid looking around
I can't hide my feelings from you now
I cannot conceal my emotions from you
There's too much love to go around these days
There is too much affection these days
You say I've got another face
You claim that I have another personality
That's not a fault of mine these days
That's not a problem I have these days
I'm honest, brutal and afraid of you
I'm truthful, harsh, and scared of you
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CAMPBE, CHRISTOPHER GEDDES, ISOBEL CAMPBELL, MICHAEL COOKE, RICHARD COLBURN, SARAH MARTIN, STEPHEN JACKSON, STUART MURDOCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind