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
Simple Things
Belle and Sebastian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A boy to deal with all your problems
But part of the deal
Is for you to feel something
If you want me look me up
I don't exist in usual places
Subtle as the wind is grey
If you want me you know where I am
I saw your arms in a dream
And there were blue veins blue
Blue veins
If you want me all you have to do
Is ask a thousand questions
Triplicate and file under
Simple things you ask to make a young boy sigh
Young boy sigh
Young boy sigh
Belle and Sebastian's song, "Simple Things", speaks to the idea of longing for someone to come to in times of trouble but recognizing that love and affection take effort and commitment from both parties. The opening lyrics, "If you want me I'll be there / A boy to deal with all your problems / But part of the deal / Is for you to feel something", illustrates a sense of willingness and availability for the person in need. However, the request is for the other person to also invest in the relationship and commit to experiencing true emotions.
The next verse, "If you want me look me up / I don't exist in usual places / Subtle as the wind is grey", further emphasizes the idea of a love that may not be immediately visible or readily accessible, but one that requires effort and searching. The lyric "subtle as the wind is grey" connotes a sense of ephemeral and fleeting nature, underscoring the idea that true love requires time and patience to cultivate.
The chorus, "If you want me all you have to do / Is ask a thousand questions / Triplicate and file under / Simple things you ask to make a young boy sigh / Young boy sigh / Young boy sigh" reinforces the notion of both effort and patience but with a sense of whimsy. It carries the idea that the little things in a relationship are important too, and that it is often not grand declarations that make a difference. While the song may seem to speak specifically to a heterosexual relationship, the ideas of patience and commitment it expresses are universal and relatable to any form of loving relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
If you want me I'll be there
I'll be always there for you
A boy to deal with all your problems
I'll take care of all the problems you face
But part of the deal
However, there is a condition
Is for you to feel something
You need to feel some emotions for me
If you want me look me up
If you need me, just seek me out
I don't exist in usual places
I am not present in conventional locations
Subtle as the wind is grey
I am as delicate as the grey color of the wind
If you want me you know where I am
You know where to find me if you want to
I saw your arms in a dream
I had a dream where I saw your arms
And there were blue veins blue
Your arms had blue veins running through them
If you want me all you have to do
If you need me, all you need to do
Is ask a thousand questions
Ask me a million questions
Triplicate and file under
Make 3 copies and keep it safely
Simple things you ask to make a young boy sigh
The simple questions you ask make me, a young boy, sigh
Young boy sigh
Sigh of a young boy
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BILLY DEAN, STEVEN A DEAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Emma Taquito Girl
When I learn to play piano properly I’m going to cover the whole album I swear. And if anyone reads this I hope you find those covers because that means I fulfilled that promise to myself
Andrew Van Hoose
I'm learning the whole album on guitar, about half way through. How's your progress?
charles pay
I love this song so much, short but it always make me want to repeat it again and again.
ihatemyjobman
such a gut-wrenching song. pure, so pure.
Vioanna Herrera
This is one of my favorite minute and fifty seconds of music.
Cristobal Romero Labra
If you want me I'll be there A boy to deal with all your problems But part of the deal Is for you to feel something If you want me look me up I don't exist in usual places Subtle as the wind is grey If you want me you know where I am I saw your arms in a dream And there were blue veins blue Blue veins If you want me all you have to do Is ask a thousand questions Triplicate and file under "Simple things you ask to make a young boy sigh" Young boy sigh Young boy sigh
Alex Kiu
Amazing, beautiful song.
Carena722
i like how simple and great this song is. haunting
Danny Mc Neill
I would like to thank Radio Scotland for helping me appreciate B&S. I would be less of a person without them.
Pena.
Trainspotting needed some B&,Seb...esp..in the Tspn2..(But maybe B,&S..said no..wouldnt..surprise me.💩😕💉💊☺