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
Seeing Other People
Belle and Sebastian Lyrics
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Kissing just for practice
Could we please be objective?
'Cause the other boys are queuing up behind us
A hand over my mouth
A hand over the window
Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle
Then we should be ok, and we won't get in a muddle
At least that's what we say we are doing
So how are you feeling?
I don't think you can be dealing
With the situation very well
You take a lover for a dirty weekend, that's ok
But when it's over
You are looking at the working week through the eyes of a gigolo
You're kissing your elbow
You're kissing your reflection
And you can't understand why all the other boys are going for the
New, tall, elegant rich kids
You can bet it is a bitch, kid
But if they don't see the quality then it is apparent that
You're going to have to change
Or you're going to have to go with girls
You might be better off
At least they know where to put it
We lay on the bed there
Kissing just for practice
Could we please be objective?
'Cause the other boys are queuing up behind us
A hand over my mouth
A hand over the window
Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle
Then we should be ok, and we won't get in a muddle
Cause we're seeing other people
At least that's what we say we are doing
We're seeing other people
At least that's what we say we are doing
We're seeing other people
At least that's what we say we are doing
Belle and Sebastian's song "Seeing Other People" tells the story of a couple who are trying to navigate the complexities of their relationship as they explore their options with others. The singer is kissing their partner "just for practice," acknowledging that they are not fully committed to each other. The couple agrees that they are "seeing other people," but the partner is struggling to handle the emotions that come with being involved with others. The partner takes a lover on a weekend trip and is left feeling like a gigolo when it's over, seeing the mundane workweek from a different perspective.
The chorus repeats the line "we're seeing other people" several times, emphasizing the detachment that the couple feels towards each other. There is a sense of distance between the two, as they acknowledge that they are not necessarily "together" but are still holding onto something.
The song is a commentary on modern relationships and how young people navigate the complex world of dating and hookups. It explores themes of detachment, emotional distance, and the struggle to reconcile personal desires with societal expectations.
Line by Line Meaning
We lay on the bed there
We were lying on the bed together
Kissing just for practice
We were kissing each other as a sort of trial
Could we please be objective?
Can we approach this from a rational, neutral viewpoint?
'Cause the other boys are queuing up behind us
Many other boys are interested in us or similar relationships to us
A hand over my mouth
You covered my mouth with your hand
A hand over the window
You put your hand over the windowpane
Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle
If I don't do anything and you only want to hug me
Then we should be ok, and we won't get in a muddle
We'll be fine and not get confused
'Cause we're seeing other people
Because we're dating other people
At least that's what we say we are doing
Or that's what we tell ourselves we're doing
So how are you feeling?
How are you emotionally coping with this?
I don't think you can be dealing
I don't think you're handling it well
With the situation very well
With this situation very effectively
You take a lover for a dirty weekend, that's ok
You can have a fling for a weekend, that's acceptable
But when it's over
But when it's done
You are looking at the working week through the eyes of a gigolo
You're seeing the workweek as a prostitute would
You're kissing your elbow
You're trying to kiss your own elbow which is impossible
You're kissing your reflection
You're kissing the reflection of yourself in the mirror
And you can't understand why all the other boys are going for the
And you don't comprehend why other boys are interested in
New, tall, elegant rich kids
New, tall, well-to-do and graceful youths
You can bet it is a bitch, kid
It is undoubtedly a tough situation for you
But if they don't see the quality then it is apparent that
But if they don't see the value, then it's clear that
You're going to have to change
You'll have to alter yourself
Or you're going to have to go with girls
Or you'll have to consider dating women instead
You might be better off
You could potentially benefit from
At least they know where to put it
At least they understand where to place their affection
We're seeing other people
We're in relationships with other individuals
At least that's what we say we are doing
That's the reasoning we've made for our behavior
We're seeing other people
We're in relationships with other individuals
At least that's what we say we are doing
That's the reasoning we've made for our behavior
We're seeing other people
We're in relationships with other individuals
At least that's what we say we are doing
That's the reasoning we've made for our behavior
Lyrics © 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