Their self-titled album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005. In the Future was a finalist for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize and was also nominated for "Best Alternative Album" in the 2009 Juno Awards. The song "Stay Free" from In the Future was featured on the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack.
In 2005 the band opened for Coldplay on their Twisted Logic Tour for three weeks, with their final opening in San Diego.
In September 2010 Black Mountain performed in an amphitheater located in the woods of Oisterwijk at the Incubate (festival) in Tilburg, Netherlands.
Leader Stephen McBean also heads another similarly named band, Pink Mountaintops, who are the more experimental side of McBean's musical abilities. Black Mountain is the front line band for Black Mountain Army, a collective of musicians, artists and friends in Vancouver. In an interview the band said "Black Mountain is just the five of us. The Black Mountain Army… which has kind of gotten blown out of proportion, it was kind of just a joke, because everybody thought we were this hippie collective, like we all lived in one house. But it’s basically just our friends at home in Vancouver, just our extended family of creative people that we know."
Several members of the band have, for as long as a decade, worked for organizations that meet the basic living requirements of the chronically poor, drug addicted and mentally ill in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighborhood, such as Insite. In an interview, the band said: "After work we all try not to think too hard about the effect it has on our lives. It keeps us grounded."
Wilderness Heart was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize.
March 11, 2014 The Black Mountain song "Wucan" was featured on season 2 of the FOX drama "The Following" during the eighth episode entitled "Messenger".
The Black Mountain song "Druganaut" is featured in a June, 2014 Father's Day commercial for J.C. Penney.
Queens Will Play
Black Mountain Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Blood sprawls across the walls
Blood crawls up and hassles
Blood sprawls across the walls
[Chorus]
We've all seen tomorrow
And there's truth to what they say
Blood crawls across the cancer
Blood sprawls across the shore
Blood crawls up and hassles
Blood sprawls across the walls
[Chorus]
Let your time shine
Queens will play
[Chorus]
Let your time shine
Queens will play
The lyrics of Black Mountain's "Queens Will Play" paint a macabre picture of blood crawling and sprawling through the night holes, walls, cancer, and shore. The repetition of "blood crawls up and hassles, blood sprawls across the walls" reinforces the intensity of the scene, possibly alluding to the violent struggles and deaths of people or creatures in that setting. The chorus warns of the lurking demons that may be hiding in our shadows - suggesting that the bloody scene could be a metaphor for a hidden darkness that exists within us.
However, the final lines provide a glimmer of hope with the lyrics "let your time shine, queens will play." The phrase "let your time shine" could mean that one should not waste their time on trivial matters and instead focus on living a purposeful life. "Queens will play" most likely refers to the powerful feminine energy that could take over and govern the world with grace and wisdom. Thus, the song may be an encouragement for individuals to live true to themselves and embrace their inner strength.
In sum, "Queens Will Play" presents a dark yet empowering message of facing the hidden demons and finding the courage to let our time shine.
Line by Line Meaning
Blood crawls through the night holes
Blood is seeping through the cracks of darkness
Blood sprawls across the walls
Blood is dripping and smearing on the walls
Blood crawls up and hassles
Blood is slowly moving and causing trouble
Blood sprawls across the cancer
Blood is spreading over the sickness
Blood sprawls across the shore
Blood is washing up on the beach
We've all seen tomorrow
We know what the future holds
And there's truth to what they say
The warnings and prophecies were right
Demons may be hiding in our shadows
Evil forces may be lurking around us
Let your time shine
Make the most of your time and let your essence radiate
Queens will play
Powerful women will step up and take charge
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Amber Erica Webber, Jeremy Victor Schmidt, Joshua Mark Wells, Matthew Camirand, Stephen Gordon McBean
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alan Cam
Amber is one of the best female vocalists of all time imo. I love the mixture of heavy rock and some psychedelia going on too, makes me want to trip to this album. Amazing album.
DBI Dragon Ball Intellectuals
Amazing song. This is one of those songs that is truly haunting and has an excellent guitar tone, during the solo.
BTQ PRODUCTIONS
Such an amazing song, this is probably the best rock band to come out the last five years
stonage6
I wish I could hear this song for the first time again
Niels Mud
I just did, this is absolutely amazing!
BlackCarc
this song is one of the greatest rock songs i've heard recently. This band is great, gigantic. Thank you for the up.
4712POMMES
Nice song, fantastic band ! Thanks barmbekgirl for posting !!
D B
Goddamn it took me a solid 6- 8 minutes to remember this songs name and the band name!!! I googled so many combinations of words I associated with this song!!! SUCCESS!!! This song is so incredibly badass and reminds me of my life of almost 10 years ago. And WOW how it was different. Fucking Epic!
Ken Hammond
black mountain is amazing and YES her voice!!!
janinfr
Great band. Saw MSPs new "The way I see it"-Trailer with this song in it and was blown away. Her voice is outstanding. Will definately buy their second album.