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
Heartbreak a Stranger
Bob Mould Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So it matters, so you say
But it's all coming back in a way
And nothing will ever change
The words exchanged for revenge inside
You know these things take time
Now and then, these words
Going through several lies
They've never been so true
I know that I'm used to time
You know what it is, don't you?
Some words make us all cry
It's so talented
If anybody could read my mind
And share with me these thoughts
Of all the enemies left behind
And friends that time forgot
Pretending nothing could ever faze you
Well, some things never change
Tell me why do these words ring home
How can you heartbreak a stranger?
Days come, days go by
So it matters, so you say
But it's all coming back in a way
And everyone knows a way
And everybody runs away
From somebody who cries
The first verse of Bob Mould's Heartbreak a Stranger talks about the passing of time but how some things never really change. The words that were once said for the sake of revenge still remain inside and even though time has progressed, those feelings never went away. Then the chorus comes in, talking about the power of words and how they can make us both laugh and cry. The second verse goes back to the theme of time and how it makes us used to certain things, including the pain that some words can bring. But what's interesting about these words is that they can be so true even though they were born out of lies.
The verse that follows is very poetic, painting a picture of someone wishing that others could read their mind and understand the pain they feel from the enemies they've made and the friends they've lost over time. They pretend that nothing can faze them, but in reality, some things still hurt just as deeply. The chorus then repeats, emphasizing the idea that even strangers can experience heartbreak, and that everyone runs away from someone who cries.
Line by Line Meaning
Days come, days go by
Time passes by as we go on with life ignoring its flow
So it matters, so you say
Although time is inevitable, some things matter so much that we cannot let it go easily
But it's all coming back in a way
The past always catches up to us in mysterious ways
And nothing will ever change
Despite our efforts, some things in life are constant and unchanging
The words exchanged for revenge inside
Hurtful words spoken out of anger and desire for vengeance
You know these things take time
The process of healing from emotional wounds requires time
Now and then, these words
Occasionally, certain words and phrases stick with us and resonate deeply
Make me laugh so powerful
Sometimes these words even bring us a strange sense of joy or amusement
Going through several lies
We may have to sift through many lies and deceptions to discover the truth
They've never been so true
Surprisingly, the truth can still be found even in a web of lies
I know that I'm used to time
Experience has taught me to be patient with the passage of time
You know what it is, don't you?
You have also experienced the slow and sometimes painful passage of time
Some words make us all cry
Certain words have the power to evoke strong emotions and reduce us to tears
It's so talented
The power of words is truly remarkable
If anybody could read my mind
If only someone could truly understand my thoughts and feelings
And share with me these thoughts
It would be such a relief to find someone who can relate to what I am going through
Of all the enemies left behind
The people who have hurt me in the past and continue to haunt me
And friends that time forgot
The people who were once close to me, but have drifted away with the passage of time
Pretending nothing could ever faze you
Trying to put on a brave face and act like everything is okay even though it is not
Well, some things never change
Despite our best efforts, some things in life will always remain the same
Tell me why do these words ring home
Why do these words resonate with me so strongly?
How can you heartbreak a stranger?
How can someone you barely know have such a profound effect on your emotions?
And everyone knows a way
Everyone has their own unique way of dealing with emotional pain
And everybody runs away
Sometimes the easiest way to deal with pain is to avoid it altogether
From somebody who cries
But we cannot run away forever, eventually the pain catches up to us and we must face it
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ROBERT ARTHUR MOULD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind