Blockhead grew up in downtown New York City. The son of an artist, early on… Read Full Bio ↴Blockhead grew up in downtown New York City. The son of an artist, early on he found his passion was for music. A fan of a whole range of sounds, especially hip-hop, Blockhead steadily built a tremendous collection of tapes and later CDs from innumerable artists. After a brief stint as a rapper, he realized his calling was behind the boards and not on the mic, and from there he began to produce beats. Since making that decision, he's been one of the busiest producers out there, producing 9 tracks on Aesop Rock's critically acclaimed album Labor Days, and the majority of the tracks on his followup albums Dayllight EP, Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives, and None Shall Pass. Blockhead has also been working with other indie giants such as Slug of Atmosphere, Murs, Mike Ladd and SA Smash. He also found time to complete a break beat album entitled Blockhead's Broke Beats, with 10 hard hitting instrumental tracks, which was released on Mush Records, the US home of cLOUDDEAD. Showing his artistic variety from only art-rap, Blockhead produced 2 tracks on the newly crowned Skribble Jam Battle Champ, MacLethal's full-length album. He does comedy too. He is a member of the Party Fun Action Committee whose hip-hop/comedy debut album was recently released on the legendary Def Jux.
There are also other artists using the name Blockhead

2) A Swiss darkwave band
3) A Japanese punk band
4) A hardcore punk band from Washington, DC
5) A hardcore punk band from Vancouver, BC, Canada with members of Koszmar / SNØB

2) 'Blockhead' is also the name of a Swiss Darkwave band that existed in the early/mid 90s.

3) A melodic-punk band from Saitama, Japan also goes by 'BLOCKHEAD', forming in 2003, having released their first self-titled album mid-2008 under the ChAoS label. The members are vox/guitar Hajime Tayasu, chorus/bass Namiki Ryuta, and drummer Uehara Daisuke.

Additionally, it's a one-off pseudonym used by Pet Shop Boys' Chris Lowe, who created music for the Blockhead brand of sunscreen products. His theme was remixed by James Bright, and this version was available on React's 2004 Café Mambo compilation.

The Strain
Blockhead Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

on the bank of the river

stood running bear, young indian brave

on the other

side of the river

stood his lovely indian maid

little white dove

was-a her name

such a lovely

sight to see

but their tribes

fought with each other

so their love

could never be

I want to know if you can help my husband. He has this terrible dream all the time where he's running, and running, and he's not getting anywhere!

...could never be...

feel the strain and you see the stain

and you can't get back again

x2

Skalpel.

-skalpel.

Gauze.

-gauze.

More gauze.

-more gauze.

More gauze.

-more gauze.

More gauze.

-more gauze.

...

Little more gauze.

-we don't have any more gauze.

...That's all we've got?

-Yeah... i don't know what happened, we had a small roll of clothes...

Give me a sponge.

-sponge.

Clamp.

-you have the clamp.

Suture.

-you have the suture.

Edith.

-yes?

I love you.

-...please, please!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Blockhead's "The Strain" tell a sad story about two lovers, Running Bear, a young Indian brave, and his lovely Indian maid known as Little White Dove, who despite their love for each other, couldn't be together because of their warring tribes. The lyrics create a contrast between the beauty of love and the ugliness of war by describing the lovers as a lovely sight to see but juxtaposing them with the tribes fated to fight each other. The words "could never be" at the end of the song give an air of finality to the lovers' story, and the repetition of the line "feel the strain and you see the stain, and you can't get back again" reinforces the sense of hopelessness.

The dream mentioned in the song's interlude is open to interpretation. One possibility is that the husband in the dream represents the struggle to escape circumstances beyond one's control, similar to the impossibility of Running Bear and Little White Dove ever being together. The dream's repetition implies that this is a recurring theme in the husband's life, one that he can't seem to escape. The interlude ends with a chaotic scene in a hospital room where medical staff are struggling to save a life, interrupted by a declaration of love, suggesting that life is as unpredictable and uncontrollable as love.

Line by Line Meaning

on the bank of the river
Two young lovers found themselves in a picturesque scene by the river.

stood running bear, young indian brave
A Native American man stood on the bank of the river's edge.

on the other
Opposite the young man, on the other side of the river's edge.

side of the river
Area on the far bank of the river.

stood his lovely indian maid
The man's beloved stood on the far bank of the river.

little white dove
That was the name of the beloved woman.

was-a her name
That was the woman's name.

such a lovely
She was a beautiful young woman.

sight to see
Her beauty was awe-inspiring.

but their tribes
However, the couple belonged to two different Native American tribes.

fought with each other
The tribes were engaged in a long-standing feud.