The band's core members were Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. This duo recorded and released the band's ambient debut album Feel Good Lost, in 2001, with contributions from Ohad Benchetrit (also known as Years), Evan Cranley, Leslie Feist, Justin Peroff, Bill Priddle, and Charles Spearin. All of these musicians would emerge as key members of Broken Social Scene in future endeavors.
After the release of Feel Good Lost (an almost entirely instrumental album), Drew and Canning decided to transition the band into a more energetic sound reflective of the Toronto indie music scene of the early 2000's. As a result, they brought in a number of local artistic and musicial friends -- the Apostle of Hustle Andrew Whiteman, Jason Collett, Metric's Emily Haines, and Leslie Feist -- to flesh out their live show with lyrics and vocals. Over time, the band also came to include contributions from James Shaw, John Crossingham, Lisa Lobsinger, Julie Penner, Sam Goldberg, and Stars' Amy Millan.
Many of the later guest musicians joined with Drew, Canning, Peroff and Spearin to record the band's second album You Forgot It In People in 2002 on the label Arts & Crafts. This album, an eclectic, restlessly creative collection of experimental yet accessible pop songs, became the band's critical and commercial breakthrough -- it was greeted with widely positive reviews, and landed on many music critics' year-end Best-Of lists. For the success of the release, Broken Social Scene was awarded the Alternative Album of the Year Juno Award in 2003.
The album also included musical contributions by Bill Priddle, Jessica Moss, Brodie West, Susannah Brady and Ohad Benchetrit, but these were credited as supporting musicians rather than band members. On the supporting tour, the band consisted of Drew, Canning, Peroff, Whiteman and Jason Collett, along with whoever else was available to attend any individual show. Amy Millan and Gentleman Reg also joined for some shows.
In 2004, the B-sides and remix collection Bee Hives was released.
Broken Social Scene released their third full-length, self-titled album on October 4, 2005, with new contributors including k-os, Jason Tait and Murray Lightburn. The inside booklet accompanying album also noted several new faces as part of Broken Social Scene. A limited edition EP To Be You And Me was also printed along with the album. For the first time David Newfeld, who had produced Broken Social Scene's albums, was listed as a band member.
The group appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on January 31, 2006 performing 7/4 (Shoreline). During the several-year recording hiatus that followed, many members focused on their respective solo musical efforts; Drew and Canning both released albums under the name Broken Social Scene. The entire band appeared in the 2009 film The Time Traveler's Wife, performing an acoustic/folk-like cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." In Spring 2009, the band reported that it was in the process of recording a new album under the production guidance of John McEntire (of The Sea and Cake and Tortoise). The album, titled Forgiveness Rock Record, was released on May 4, 2010.
It was announced on August 15, 2011 that the band would go on an indefinite hiatus following an October 1, 2011 show featuring Isaac Brock and a fall tour in support of TV on the Radio. On November 8, 2011, a tweet in advance of a concert in Rio de Janeiro stated that it would be the band's final live performance.
The band returned in 2017 with a tour of Europe, Canada, and California. Their new single "Half-Way Home", was part of their latest album due to be released later in 2017. This was their first time writing a full-length album in 7 years.
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Water In Hell
Broken Social Scene Lyrics
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You're looking for your sailor boy
The music uncertainly, disconcertingly
You're looking for your sailor boy
From what I can tell
There's water in hell
The shuck and jive, the shuck and jive is over
The second time, the second time is over
It's too bad the monkey's on your shoulder
Well the truth be a lying stone cold messiah
It's time to let the cash roll in
This ain't the kind of man I want to defend
It's the year 2010
From what I can tell
There's water in hell
The shuck and jive, the shuck and jive is over
The shuck and jive, the shuck and jive is over
The second time, the second time got older
It's too bad the monkey's not
No one likes to lose (no one likes to lose)
No one likes to lose
There's water in hell
There's water in hell
There's water in hell
There's water in hell
There's water in hell
There's water in hell
There's water in hell
In "Water In Hell," Broken Social Scene presents a song about a sense of confusion and desperation. The lyrics describe the feeling of searching for someone who has disappeared, presumably at sea, while the world is falling apart around them. The singer is struggling with an uncertain present and an even more uncertain future- what they know for sure is that everything is falling apart. The second verse of the song refers to the idea that lies have taken over and that people have become controlled by money and greed instead of trying to do the right thing. The chorus ends each section of the song with, "from what I can tell, there's water in hell" implying that the world is slowly falling apart, just as one would expect in hell, though we might not always see it.
Line by Line Meaning
The newspaper ride is hanging like a thread
The situation is precarious and could fall apart at any moment
You're looking for your sailor boy
You're searching for someone to guide you through uncertain times
The music uncertainly, disconcertingly
The soundtrack to life is chaotic and unnerving
From what I can tell
There's water in hell
Things are bad and getting worse
The shuck and jive, the shuck and jive is over
The second time, the second time is over
The deception and trickery is done and it's time to face the truth
It's too bad the monkey's on your shoulder
It's unfortunate that you're burdened with this problem
Well the truth be a lying stone cold messiah
The reality is harsh and reveals uncomfortable truths
It's time to let the cash roll in
You need to make some money to survive
This ain't the kind of man I want to defend
I don't want to support someone who is dishonest or immoral
It's the year 2010
This is the present moment
No one likes to lose (no one likes to lose)
No one enjoys being defeated
There's water in hell
Things are bad and they're not getting better anytime soon
There's water in hell
Things are bad and they're not getting better anytime soon
There's water in hell
Things are bad and they're not getting better anytime soon
There's water in hell
Things are bad and they're not getting better anytime soon
There's water in hell
Things are bad and they're not getting better anytime soon
There's water in hell
Things are bad and they're not getting better anytime soon
Lyrics © ARTS & CRAFTS MUSIC INC DBA GALLERYAC MUSIC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Brendan Canning, Charles Spearin, David Whiteman, Justin Peroff, Kevin Drew, Sam Goldberg
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind