Live Band Members, Jack Antonoff – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, samples
Evan Smith – keyboards, synthesizers, saxophone, vocals
Mikey Hart – bass, guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, vocals
Sean Hutchinson – drums, sampling pad, synthesizers, backing vocals
Mike Riddleberger – drums, sampling pad, backing vocals
Bleachers' debut album Strange Desire was released July 10, 2014, from RCA Records. Variance Magazine called the single "Rollercoaster" a "brilliant summer anthem." Bleachers went on their debut Come Alive! tour, which features Night Terrors of 1927 and Joywave as opening acts, from March to April 2015. From there, they went on the Strange Desire World Tour from July to November of that same year. They juggled this with the Charli and Jack Do America Tour, a tour co-headlined by Bleachers and Charli XCX.
Bleachers' second album Gone Now was released June 2, 2017. Its lead single "Don't Take the Money" has been described by Atwood Magazine as "an epic uplifting pop-rock anthem ultimately about how when love is real, its worth everything that comes along with it". In celebration of the album release, he brought his childhood bedroom on tour with him. He had it dismantled and rebuilt inside of a portable trailer. During May and June concerts, fans could enter the "moving, living art exhibit" and listen to the album prior to its official release. Antonoff explained in a press release, saying "when I thought about where this album was coming from and what it’s kissing goodbye I thought of this room. I wished I could play the album for people who care about Bleachers in this space that it is coming from and leaving." The band was on its Gone Now Era: Part 1 tour from September to November 2017. The tour featured Tove Stryke, Bishop Briggs, and Tangerine as openers.
In September 2017, Bleachers performed on MTV Unplugged at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The live session was later released as an album, also entitled MTV Unplugged. The album features 11 tracks from both Gone Now and Strange Desire and was released November 10, 2017. Antonoff produced the soundtrack of Love, Simon, released on March 16, 2018. He contributed five songs, with four being credited to Bleachers—"Alfie's Song (Not So Typical Love Song)", "Rollercoaster", "Keeping a Secret", and "Wild Heart"— and one credited to his real name, a duet with MØ titled "Never Fall in Love". Throughout 2019, Bleachers released the third volume of Terrible Thrills in a series of four vinyl records, each featuring covers of songs from Gone Now by female artists as well as new demos by Bleachers.
In late 2019, Antonoff began recording the third Bleachers album. During this time the band embarked on a three-day "mini-tour" called the "I Love Making This Album but I'm Also Losing My Mind in Here & Need to Come Out and Play" Tour. On January 6, 2020, Antonoff announced on Twitter that a new Bleachers album would come within the year. In May, Bleachers was featured on Carly Rae Jepsen's song "Comeback" which was the first official release of the band in nearly two years. On the Bleachers Twitter account, a song called "Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night" has been teased for months, and starting on November 14, 2020, a phone tree was set up for fans to call to hear clips from the song.
On November 16, 2020, Bleachers released the first two singles from Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, "45" and "Chinatown", the latter featuring Bruce Springsteen. The same day it was announced that the album will be released in 2021. "Stop Making This Hurt", the third single, was released on May 18, 2021. Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night is scheduled for release on July 30.
Shadow
Bleachers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Some girls they really just wanna hurt you
And there's some boys
Some boys that laugh when they break your heart
But how love dies is a place that I'm not going
And we could try, 'cause
If you're feeling small
And if you're feeling small
I'll love your shadow
There are those girls
Those girls that are waiting by the phone on the weekend
Oh yeah, like those boys,
Those boys that are home with the broken hearts
But the heart wants fear
So we're looking for a villain
I'll be there
If you're feeling small
I'll love your shadow
And if you're feeling small
I'll love your shadow
And when the lights go dark
I will stand right beside you
If you're feeling small
I'll love your shadow
I'll love your shadow
And I know that they have hurt you
And I know the love you gave feels cheap and used
And I know it's getting harder
And I know the lights have all gone dark on you
Still I will love your shadow
When the love you gave feels cheap and used
Yes I will love your shadow
When the lights have all gone dark on you
How love dies is a place that I'm not going
And we could try
If you're feeling small
I'll love your shadow
And if you're feeling small
I'll love your shadow
And when the lights go dark
I will stand right beside you
If you're feeling small
I'll love your shadow
I'll love your shadow
In "Shadow" by Bleachers, the singer reassures their loved one that they will love them even when they feel small and vulnerable. The opening lines of the song, "Some girls they really just wanna hurt you / And there's some boys / Some boys that laugh when they break your heart," suggest that the song is about the pain that can come with relationships. The chorus, "If you're feeling small / I'll love your shadow," is a declaration of the singer's commitment to their partner, even in times of difficulty.
The second verse of the song focuses on the pressure that can come with dating, particularly for young people. The lines, "There are those girls / Those girls that are waiting by the phone on the weekend / Oh yeah, like those boys / Those boys that are home with the broken hearts," suggest that the singer is familiar with the anxiety of waiting for a call or text from a crush. The line, "But the heart wants fear / So we're looking for a villain," suggests that even when things are going well in a relationship, there is an inherent fear of something going wrong.
The bridge of the song, "And I know that they have hurt you / And I know the love you gave feels cheap and used / And I know it's getting harder / And I know the lights have all gone dark on you," acknowledges the pain that the singer's partner has experienced in previous relationships. However, the chorus is a reminder that the singer will always support and love their partner, even in the darkest of times.
Overall, "Shadow" is a song about the ups and downs of relationships and the importance of being there for a partner through thick and thin.
Line by Line Meaning
Some girls
There are certain girls in this world
Some girls they really just wanna hurt you
Some girls have intentions of causing pain
And there's some boys
There are certain boys as well
Some boys that laugh when they break your heart
Some boys find pleasure in breaking hearts and laughing about it
But how love dies is a place that I'm not going
I choose not to focus on how love ends
And we could try, 'cause
We could attempt to make it work despite the odds
If you're feeling small
If you're feeling vulnerable or insignificant
I'll love your shadow
I'll still love you in the darkest of moments
There are those girls
There are some specific girls as well
Those girls that are waiting by the phone on the weekend
Girls who wait desperately by the phone on weekends for someone to call them
Oh yeah, like those boys,
Similar to those boys
Those boys that are home with the broken hearts
Boys who stay at home with their broken hearts
But the heart wants fear
But our hearts are scared
So we're looking for a villain
So we're searching for someone to blame
I'll be there
I'll be there to support you
And when the lights go dark
And when everything seems hopeless
I will stand right beside you
I will stay by your side through everything
And I know that they have hurt you
I know that they have caused you pain
And I know the love you gave feels cheap and used
I know that the love you gave was not appreciated
And I know it's getting harder
I realize that it's increasingly difficult
And I know the lights have all gone dark on you
I know that everything seems bleak and hopeless
Still I will love your shadow
Nevertheless, I will still love you and your imperfections
When the love you gave feels cheap and used
When you feel like your love was unappreciated and taken for granted
Yes I will love your shadow
Yes, I will continue to love you even in the darkest of times
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Emile Haynie, Jack Michael Antonoff, John Graham Hill
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
u know who i am
“But if we take the sadness out of Saturday night, I wonder what we’d be left with…”
Favorite lyric from the song, and possibly of all time. It hits different in so many different ways, and it just straight up slaps you with the realization that without sadness we’re incomplete, and I have Jack to thank for that..
Steven Kay
@u know who i am very good points, I agree!
u know who i am
@Steven Kay Yesss!!! It’s a crime that most of indie artists are very underrated compared to mainstream music artists, but it’s also kind of a good thing because you get to enjoy it knowing you only have it to yourself, and you listen to these amazing lines that sometimes kinda makes you feel emotional and a sense of comfort at the same time, at least for me lol
Steven Kay
@u know who i am I love the line you pointed out. Probably my fault for not paying attention to it sooner.
There's so many Bleachers lines to choose from too, like 4-5 from Wild Heart alone lol
u know who i am
@Steven Kay in my opinion it is, maybe because we go through life in different ways and relate to things in our own ways, but if you think so otherwise I can't blame you those are great lyrical lines too.
Steven Kay
Is it better than "When love is gone, where does it go?" from Afterlife by Arcade Fire? or "At once I knew I was not magnificent" from Holocene by Bon Iver?
callum’s cds
jack is exactly the type of person who plays live on a school bus and i love that for him
Jeremy Deutch
@Jack Antonoff I trust you are the real Jack about as much as I trust gas station sushi
Jack Antonoff
I want to Specially appreciate you for being a big fan. Thanks for your support♥️♥️
JabTrill
definitely not a school bus🤣