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
To Be Myself Completely
Belle and Sebastian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Thought I'd talked myself around
But to be myself completely I've just got to let you down
Well I knew I'd say goodbye
Though it's not my time to cry
And forever and for no one I will let it all go by
And to be myself completely I've just got to say goodbye
The ladies say 'Hey baby, you've earned it!'
I'm not so sure, I toured the land
You could call it work if you count the band
Still your voice calls out to me
Escort me to the harmony
I'm not sure what I will be
Find me in a bitter sweet hello
Well my heart has fallen down
Thought I'd talked myself around
Though we say goodbye and wonder
What's to know and who's to blame
But to be myself completely I will love you just the same
The first verse of "To Be Myself Completely" by Belle and Sebastian speaks of the challenges of being honest with oneself and others. The singer has tried to convince themselves that they can move on from their problems and be content with what they have, but they realize that to truly be true to oneself, they must first let someone down. The chorus reinforces this idea, stating that even though it's difficult, the singer needs to be honest and say goodbye to someone they care about to move forward.
The second verse takes on a different tone, transitioning to a narrative about someone else entirely. The verse describes a Z-list star who has earned fame and admiration from others but is unsure if their success was truly deserved. The singer speaks of being uncertain about their own future and finding comfort in the harmonies of the person they bid farewell to in the first verse. The song ends with the reassuring statement that even though letting go and being honest can be difficult, the singer will continue to love the person they had to let down.
Overall, "To Be Myself Completely" explores themes of honesty, authenticity, and self-discovery. The song acknowledges that it can be hard to be true to oneself and others, but ultimately it is necessary in order for the singer to move forward and find peace.
Line by Line Meaning
Well my heart has fallen down
I feel shattered and broken inside
Thought I'd talked myself around
I thought I had convinced myself to move on from you
But to be myself completely I've just got to let you down
In order to be true to myself, I have to disappoint you
Well I knew I'd say goodbye
I always knew that we would have to part ways eventually
Though it's not my time to cry
Despite the sadness of it all, I won't let myself cry just yet
And forever and for no one I will let it all go by
I'll let it all go without any fanfare or recognition
And to be myself completely I've just got to say goodbye
I have to bid you farewell if I want to be true to myself
Z-list star in a hundred grand garrett
I'm a minor celebrity living in a fancy apartment
The ladies say 'Hey baby, you've earned it!'
Women are attracted to my fame and success
I'm not so sure, I toured the land
Despite my success, I'm unsure of my identity and purpose
You could call it work if you count the band
Playing music is hard work, despite the glamour of it all
Still your voice calls out to me
I can't get you out of my head
Escort me to the harmony
Take me to a peaceful place where everything makes sense
I'm not sure what I will be
I'm still trying to figure out who I am and what I want
Find me in a bitter sweet hello
I'll be there, but the reunion will be both happy and sad
Though we say goodbye and wonder
Even though we're parting ways, we still question it all
What's to know and who's to blame
We're left wondering what went wrong and whose fault it was
But to be myself completely I will love you just the same
Despite everything, I will always have love for you, even if we're not together
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BOB KILDEA, CHRISTOPHER GEDDES, MICHAEL COOKE, RICHARD COLBURN, SARAH MARTIN, STEPHEN JACKSON, STUART MURDOCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind