Born in Malone, New York, Mould lived in several places, including Pine City, Minnesota and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where he attended Macalester College. There, he formed Hüsker Dü in the late 1970s, with drummer/singer Grant Hart and bass guitarist Greg Norton.
Mould released his first solo album after Hüsker Dü broke up; 1989's Workbook eschewed Mould's trademark wall-of-noise guitar for a stripped-down sound featuring acoustic guitars and cellos. 1991's jagged Black Sheets of Rain put Mould in more familiar territory, recalling Hüsker Dü's loudest, angriest moments. Mould also started a record label, Singles Only Label, which released singles from up and coming bands such as Grant Lee Buffalo.
Mould then formed the group Sugar, a college/alternative radio favorite in the mid-1990s. Along with extensive touring, Sugar released two albums, an EP and a B-sides collection before splitting.
Mould returned to solo recording, releasing a self-titled album in 1996 (which is often referred to as Hubcap because of the cover photo) and 1998's The Last Dog and Pony Show. During a stint living in New York City in the late-1990s, Mould's tastes took a detour into dance music and electronica. Those influences were clear on his 2002 release Modulate, which featured a strong electronica influence to mixed critical reviews. To pursue this sound, Mould also began recording under the pseudonym LoudBomb (an anagram of his name). He has released one CD so far under this name.
Mould took a brief break from the music world to get involved with another passion of his, professional wrestling, when he joined WCW as a scriptwriter for a brief period. Creative differences with some of the other writers of the league led to Mould leaving the company and returning to music. The liner notes for Modulate thank some of the wrestlers he associated with, most notably Kevin Nash and Kevin Sullivan.
In addition to his solo work, Mould is also a live DJ in collaboration with Washington DC-area dance music artist Richard Morel, under the collective banner Blowoff. A recording under that banner was released in September 2006. Mould has been asked to do remixes for a variety of dance and alternative rock artists. A recent remix of the Interpol song "Length Of Love" has led to more critical acclaim for the veteran artist.
For much of the 1990s, Mould toured playing solo acoustic renditions of his catalog (occasionally switching to electric guitar midway through his set). In 2005 his solo album Body of Song was cross-announced with his first band tour since 1998. Brendan Canty, best known as the drummer for Fugazi, and Mould's Blowoff collaborator, Morel, played drums and keyboards, respectively, for the 2005 tour. Mould's latest album, District Line, was released in February 2008.
Though his homosexuality was previously something of an open secret, Mould was outed in the early 1990s; he is now openly gay. Though it was often rumored during his Hüsker Dü days that he and bandmate Hart were an item (Hart was also gay, and both acknowledge taking partners on tour), both have flatly denied ever having been romantically involved.
In 2006, Mould contributed the song "If I Can't Change Your Mind" to the album Wed-Rock, an album to promote same-sex marriage.
On September 29, 2005, Mould's song "Circles" was featured on The OC as Marissa Cooper was starting her first day at her public school in Season 3. Mould's song "Dog on Fire" is the theme song for The Daily Show. They Might Be Giants perform the current version. The song "See a Little Light" has been used more than once in various television applications: It was used in the closing scene of the original un-aired test pilot episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, it became one of the principal theme songs for the HBO series The Mind of the Married Man and was also used in a television commercial for TIAA-CREF (August 2007). Mould also composed the theme for the TLC program, In a Fix.
Mould and director Cameron Crowe are close friends; the character Bob Sugar (played by Jay Mohr) in Crowe's 1996 film Jerry Maguire is named for both Mould and his former band, Sugar.
Mould appeared on an episode of IFC's The Henry Rollins Show on June 15, 2007.
Mould also played lead guitar in the house band for the film of John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Mould also participated in a Hedwig tribute album, Wig in a Box, on which he covered the song "Nailed."
Solo Discography
Workbook LP (Virgin, 1989)
See A Little Light Single (Virgin, 1989)
Wishing Well + 4 Tracks Single (Virgin, 1989)
Black Sheets of Rain LP (Virgin, 1990)
Poison Years Compilation LP (Virgin, 1994)
Egøverride Single (Rykodisc, 1995)
Bob Mould LP (Rykodisc, 1996)
The Last Dog and Pony Show LP (Rykodisc, 1998)
Modulate LP (Granary Music, 2002)
Live Dog 98: The Forum, London UK Live LP (Granary Music, 2002)
Long Playing Grooves (released under anagram LoudBomb) LP (Granary Music, 2002)
Body of Song (Yep Roc, 2005)
District Line (Granary Music, 2008)
Silver Age (Edsel 2012)
Beauty & Ruin (Merge Records, 2014)
Patch the Sky (Merge Records, 2016)
Sunshine Rock (Merge Records, 2019)
Bootlegs
The Calm Before the Storm (Kiss The Stone, 1994)
Bands Produced
Soul Asylum, Made To Be Broken LP
Articles of Faith, Give Thanks and In this Life LPs
Magnapop, Hot Boxing LP
Verbow, Chronicles LP
The Zulus, Down on the Floor LP
Impaler, If We Had Brains... We'd Be Dangerous LP
Low, Tonight the Monkeys Die Remixes EP
http://www.bobmould.com
http://modulate.blogspot.com
Briefest Moment
Bob Mould Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I was bored beyond belief
I couldn't wait to get away from nowhere
I made a plan to finally leave
So I packed my bags and ran away
I needed something more to take away this pain
I picked the lock and grabbed the pills
I found a friend and then we went and then we went and then we went
We swallowed all of them up on the trestle
I heard a melody so pure
I felt an echo that was so familiar
I left my misery behind
If only for the briefest moment of time
You lost your balance as I tried to grab you
And then you slipped right through my hands
I don't remember how I made it out alive
But there you went and here I am
I keep the guilt out on display
It's my memorial to mark that day
If I could fall for you but I cannot undo
The briefest moment of time
The song Briefest Moment by Bob Mould is a reflection of a person's past struggles, a mixture of disillusionment, drug use, and regret. The first few lines of the song introduce the listener to the singer's difficult past as a small-town kid, knowing nothing beyond his environment, and seeking a way out. The singer packed his bags and ran away only to confront the loneliness of isolation, boredom, and unfulfillment. To battle the pain of his situation, he turns to drugs and confesses to stealing from someone.
As he takes the drugs, he experiences a moment of escape, a "pure melody," and moments of happiness, though they are only brief, providing temporary relief from his suffering. The singer also recalls a failed attempt to save someone from slipping, and the guilt that he still carries from that day. It seems he was not able to serve as a guide to someone else, even though he thought he could, causing him to regret his actions in the past.
This song highlights the bitter experiences of many youths that often fall into the trap of addiction due to hopelessness, depression, and other struggles. It is a call to be careful in our daily lives, to find meaning in everything we do and seek ways for self-improvement, to help others who may be experiencing the same struggles.
Line by Line Meaning
I was a small-town kid with no possessions
I was a kid who grew up in a small town, without having many possessions.
And I was bored beyond belief
I was extremely bored, with nothing to do or keep me occupied.
I couldn't wait to get away from nowhere
I couldn't wait to leave the place where I grew up, which felt like nowhere to me.
I made a plan to finally leave
I came up with a plan to leave my town and start a new life elsewhere.
So I packed my bags and ran away
I packed my bags and left my hometown, without telling anyone.
I needed something more to take away this pain
I was experiencing a lot of emotional pain, and I thought that leaving my hometown would make it go away.
I found the medicine tucked in your locker
I found some drugs hidden in someone's locker.
I picked the lock and grabbed the pills
I broke into the locker and stole the drugs, because I wanted to try them.
I found a friend and then we went and then we went and then we went
I found a friend to take the drugs with, and we kept taking more.
We swallowed all of them up on the trestle
We took all of the pills while standing on a trestle (a type of bridge).
I heard a melody so pure
While under the influence of drugs, I heard a beautiful and pure-sounding piece of music.
I felt an echo that was so familiar
I experienced a sense of familiarity and recognition with the music I was hearing.
I left my misery behind
While I was under the influence of the drugs, I felt like I had left my emotional pain behind.
If only for the briefest moment of time
This feeling of relief and happiness only lasted for a very short time.
You lost your balance as I tried to grab you
While on the trestle, my friend lost their balance and started to fall.
And then you slipped right through my hands
I tried to catch my falling friend, but they slipped through my grasp and fell off the trestle.
I don't remember how I made it out alive
I don't remember how I managed to survive after my friend fell off the trestle.
But there you went and here I am
My friend died from the fall, and I'm still alive and dealing with the guilt and trauma of what happened.
I keep the guilt out on display
I'm constantly reminded of my guilt and shame over what happened, and I don't try to hide it from others.
It's my memorial to mark that day
I see my own guilt and pain as a memorial to my friend, and a reminder of what happened on that tragic day.
If I could fall for you but I cannot undo
If I could take my friend's place and die instead of them, I would. But I can't undo what happened.
The briefest moment of time
The brief time of relief and happiness I felt from the drugs, and the brief time my friend and I spent together before the accident.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BOB MOULD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind