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
The Model
Belle and Sebastian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Because you made me think about the times
You turn the picture on to me and I'll turn over
The vision was a masterpiece of comic timing
But you wouldn't laugh at all
And I wonder what the boy was thinking
The picture was an old collage of something classical
Because without a doubt he'd given up the fight
The ghost of somebody at his side
I will confess to you
Because I didn't think about the message
As I walked down the alleyway it was a Sunday
And all my friends deserted me because you painted me
As the fraud I really was
And if you think you see with just your eyes you're mad
'Cause Lisa learned a lot from putting on a blindfold
When she knew she had been bad
She met another blind kid at a fancy dress
It was the best sex she ever had
I'll send a dress to you
Because it's needing badly taken in
But I was so embarrassed when I missed your party
It was me that paid for it eventually
Because you know how much I wanted
To meet your friend the star of stage and local press
The dream of all the bowlie boys that hang around here
And I'm no different from the rest
I'm not too proud to say that I'm okay with
The girl next door who's famous for showing her breasts
You're not impressed by me
But it's a funny way for you to tell me
A whisper in a choir stall
The man was talking about you simultaneously
Frankly, I let my heavy eyelids flutter
Because I have been sleeping badly lately
I know you were historical from all the books I've read
But I thought you could be bluffing
And with this chance I've missed I feel remiss
It's days and months before I see you again
The song "The Model" by Belle and Sebastian is a tale of unrequited love, insecurity, and social anxiety. The singer of the song is confessing their feelings to someone they have a crush on. However, they are too afraid to approach this person directly, so they are using music to convey their message. The lyrics are dense with vivid imagery and metaphors. The opening lines, "I will confess to you because you made me think about the times," suggest that the singer has been inspired to put their feelings into words because of the person they are crushing on. However, the second line, "You turn the picture on to me and I'll turn over," reveals the singer's anxiety about being vulnerable. They are implying that they want the other person to make the first move so that they don't have to put themselves out there and risk rejection.
The rest of the song is similarly fraught with anxiety and confusion. The singer describes a variety of scenarios that revolve around social anxiety and insecurity, such as feeling embarrassed for missing someone's party, being jealous of someone else's fame and success, and feeling like a fraud. The lyrics also contain a number of interesting references, such as the line "Lisa learned a lot from putting on a blindfold," which suggests a certain level of sexual experimentation. Overall, the song paints a picture of someone who is deeply sensitive and emotionally fragile, struggling to navigate the complexities of human relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
I will confess to you
I am about to share a secret with you
Because you made me think about the times
I am telling you this because you reminded me of something
You turn the picture on to me and I'll turn over
If you show me something, I'll look at it
The vision was a masterpiece of comic timing
The image was perfectly timed for comedic effect
But you wouldn't laugh at all
You didn't find it funny
And I wonder what the boy was thinking
I'm curious about what he thought of it
The picture was an old collage of something classical
It was a vintage collage of a classical style
The model with a tragic air
The model had a sad demeanor
Because without a doubt he'd given up the fight
He had definitely given up struggling
The ghost of somebody at his side
There was a ghostly presence next to him
I will confess to you
I have another secret to share with you
Because I didn't think about the message
I didn't consider the meaning behind something and now regret it
As I walked down the alleyway it was a Sunday
I was walking down an alleyway on a Sunday
And all my friends deserted me because you painted me
My friends abandoned me after you manipulated them into thinking negatively of me
As the fraud I really was
As the imposter I truly am
And if you think you see with just your eyes you're mad
If you believe you can only trust your vision, you're insane
'Cause Lisa learned a lot from putting on a blindfold
Lisa gained knowledge from experiencing something blindly
When she knew she had been bad
After she realized her mistake
She met another blind kid at a fancy dress
She met someone who was also blind at an upscale event
It was the best sex she ever had
She had an amazing sexual experience
I'll send a dress to you
I'll give you an article of clothing
Because it's needing badly taken in
It requires alteration to fit properly
But I was so embarrassed when I missed your party
I regret not attending your party and feel ashamed
It was me that paid for it eventually
I suffered negative consequences as a result of missing the party
Because you know how much I wanted
You understand how much I desired
To meet your friend the star of stage and local press
I hoped to meet your popular friend who works in theater and media
The dream of all the bowlie boys that hang around here
The aspiration of all the male fans who are here
And I'm no different from the rest
I'm just like the other fans
I'm not too proud to say that I'm okay with
I'm willing to admit that I'm content with
The girl next door who's famous for showing her breasts
I'm not opposed to the idea of being with the sexually confident neighbor
You're not impressed by me
You're not awed by me
But it's a funny way for you to tell me
It's an interesting method of conveying that to me
A whisper in a choir stall
A quiet conversation in a religious setting
The man was talking about you simultaneously
A man was discussing you at the same time
Frankly, I let my heavy eyelids flutter
Honestly, I let my eyes droop
Because I have been sleeping badly lately
Because I've been having poor sleep recently
I know you were historical from all the books I've read
I'm aware of your importance in history from my reading
But I thought you could be bluffing
But I suspected that you might be lying
And with this chance I've missed I feel remiss
I regret having missed this opportunity
It's days and months before I see you again
I won't see you again for a long time
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