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
Wishing Well
Bob Mould Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wish for things i never had
Surrounds and wells up in my eyes
The screaming voice, it lies
Wishing well gets someone's attention
Every wish you ever had
In a day of nights, in the darkest of light
Could you give me a wish if i tell you what i want?
Will the price be no object?
I wish for dreams of light
I live for wishing well surprise
Deepest light, the secret lies
Wishing well gives you all that you desire
Homes and trains, and the greenest of plains
That you ever happened upon
The silent wish, it calls you out
Calls you out by name
Lays upon the plain, on the mountain high
City lights, wish delights
What if the waters and wishes appear?
Will the price be no object?
I wish for dreams of light
I live for wishing well surprise
Twist and shape on the winding twine
Around the spindle winds
Wish again, four times again
Four wishes deep into the well
There's a price to pay for a wish to come true
Trade a small piece of your life
Roots in the soil, uprooting the soil
Mountain high, the mountain high
The wish is only to speak a kind
Kind of word, so benign absurd
The well, three wishes run dry
Wishing well is dry
When no grass grows, the weeds run in line
Wish three wishes, three wishes run dry
In Bob Mould's song Wishing Well, the lyrics describe the concept of making wishes, and the consequences that may come with them. The wishing well is a place where people go to make their desires known and hope for them to come true, but the lyrics suggest that the price to pay for a wish to come true might be high. The first verse illustrates the fluctuating nature of the wishing well, where sometimes it provides and other times it doesn't. The lines "I wish for things I never had / Surrounds and wells up in my eyes / The screaming voice, It lies" convey the sense of frustration when our deepest desires are not fulfilled, and the idea that sometimes our own thoughts and emotions can deceive us.
The second verse describes the potential power of the wishing well to grant all our wishes. The words "Every wish you ever had / In a day of nights, in the darkest of light" further emphasise the idea that the wishing well can make anything happen. However, the following lines "Sits and cries, watch the lies" suggest that even when we get what we want, it might not ultimately make us happy or content. The lyrics then ask for a wish, but start to question the cost and whether it's worth it.
The chorus, "I wish for dreams of light / I live for wishing well surprise" emphasises the power of hope and imagination, and the excitement of having our wishes granted. However, the last verse warns that the price to pay for a wish might be too high, and that the outcome might not be what we expected. The lines "There's a price to pay for a wish to come true / Trade a small piece of your life" convey the idea that in order to get what we want, we might have to part with something of ourselves. The final lines, "The well, three wishes run dry / Wishing well is dry / When no grass grows, the weeds run in line / Wish three wishes, three wishes run dry" suggest that we need to be careful what we wish for, and that the power of the wishing well is both finite and unpredictable.
Line by Line Meaning
Wishing well runs wet and dry
The wishing well is unpredictable and unreliable.
I wish for things i never had
I yearn for things beyond my reach and may never achieve.
Surrounds and wells up in my eyes
The yearning in my heart overflows into my eyes.
The screaming voice, it lies
The impulsive voice inside my head tells me to wish for things that may not make me happy.
Wishing well gets someone's attention
The power of the wishing well to bring people to it.
Every wish you ever had
Every desire that has occurred to me.
In a day of nights, in the darkest of light
In the most difficult times, when hope is faintest.
Sits and cries, watch the lies
The well sees through the lies that people tell themselves when they make their wishes.
Could you give me a wish if i tell you what i want?
Asking if the well will grant the artist's wish if they reveal it.
Will the price be no object?
Asking if there is a cost to the granting of the wish.
I wish for dreams of light
The singer desires visions of hope and possibility.
I live for wishing well surprise
The excitement and wonder of the unexpected wishes granted by the well.
Deepest light, the secret lies
The well has knowledge of the most hidden desires and secrets.
Wishing well gives you all that you desire
The well has the potential to grant every wish.
Homes and trains, and the greenest of plains
Examples of things people might wish for.
That you ever happened upon
Things that are unexpected and not normally part of one's life.
The silent wish, it calls you out
The longing for the wish makes itself known.
Calls you out by name
The well knows who the wisher is.
Lays upon the plain, on the mountain high
The wish can be granted anywhere, even in the most remote places.
City lights, wish delights
Wishes can be granted even in the middle of a bustling city.
Twist and shape on the winding twine
The well is intricate and mysterious.
Around the spindle winds
The well has a complex mechanism for granting wishes.
Wish again, four times again
The singer has made multiple wishes.
Four wishes deep into the well
The artist has made four wishes and has hope that they will be granted.
There's a price to pay for a wish to come true
The well requires a cost for granting wishes.
Trade a small piece of your life
The cost of the wish is taking a piece of the wisher's soul.
Roots in the soil, uprooting the soil
The cost of the wish takes away from the wisher's foundation.
Mountain high, the mountain high
The cost of the wish is monumental and unchangeable.
The wish is only to speak a kind
The artist's wish is for people to speak kindly to and of each other.
Kind of word, so benign absurd
The wish seems like a silly and unrealistic desire.
The well, three wishes run dry
The well has limits and cannot grant every desire.
Wishing well is dry
The well has been exhausted and cannot grant any wishes.
When no grass grows, the weeds run in line
When the well runs dry, negative things will take its place.
Wish three wishes, three wishes run dry
A reminder that the well has a finite number of wishes to grant.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ROBERT ARTHUR MOULD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@daltonhatch2247
Wishing well runs wet and dry
I wish for things i never had
Surrounds and wells up in my eyes
The screaming voice, it lies
Wishing well gets someone's attention
Every wish you ever had
In a day of nights, in the darkest of light
Sits and cries, watch the lies
Could you give me a wish if i tell you what i want?
Will the price be no object?
I wish for dreams of light
I live for wishing well surprise
Deepest light, the secret lies
Wishing well gives you all that you desire
Homes and trains, and the greenest of plains
That you ever happened upon
The silent wish, it calls you out
Calls you out by name
Lays upon the plain, on the mountain high
City lights, wish delights
What if the waters and wishes appear?
Will the price be no object?
I wish for dreams of light
I live for wishing well surprise
Twist and shape on the winding twine
Around the spindle winds
Wish again, four times again
Four wishes deep into the well
There's a price to pay for a wish to come true
Trade a small piece of your life
Roots in the soil, uprooting the soil
Mountain high, the mountain high
The wish is only to speak a kind
Kind of word, so benign absurd
The well, three wishes run dry
Wishing well is dry
When no grass grows, the weeds run in line
Wish three wishes, three wishes run dry
@captaindaring
He is not unappreciated at all. Many, many musicians credit him and his band Huskur Du for influencing their music. He is a legend.
@meagainokay7673
Who?
@edwardbury2811
The solo in this song just kills. Mould shreds like no one else.
@KJOCardinalFan
All I can say is Bob Mould is an underrated and unappreciated artist. I purchased this album while finishing up a divorce and it help me release some of the venom left in my heart after crawling from the wreckage of a failed marriage.
@SCREWJACKJR
Workbook was and still is a masterful work. It is deep inside me still. Just turned 22 and was heading down a road of depression. Beautiful light, all I can say.
@eil33nann
God, I LOVE this so MUCH. When I still had my whole life ahead of me...
@biblidust12
I feel you. I loved figuring out the chords for this song. Goosebumps hearing this again. Black Sheets also.
@Johngmooney
You still have much of your life ahead of you!
@pelotasdad
Eileen Wheeler “you still have your whole life ahead of you, eileen!” said bob mould, probably, at some point in his life......
@danielswierczynski2001
Nail on the head, Eileen. I still have the whole World ahead of me, but I am finding I would rather watch than build. Not a bad place to be, but lonely sometimes. Anyone feel me?