The band name is Portuguese for “Tired of Being Sexy” (taken from something Beyoncé once commented to the press: “I am tired of being sexy”).
The members are: Lovefoxxx (vocals), Luiza Sá (guitar, drums and keys), Ana Rezende (guitar and harmonica) and Carolina Parra (guitar and drums). Former members are Iracema Trevisan (bass) and Adriano Cintra (drums, guitar, vocals and production).
In an interview, guitarist/harmonica player Ana Rezende explains the band's name: "[...] we heard that Beyoncé had said that she was really tired of being sexy, which is a really retarded thing to say. It's like saying, "Oh, I'm tired of being rich." So "tired of being sexy" in Portuguese is cansei de ser sexy, so we put it on the flyer to promote the show that we were playing and we kind of got stuck with that name. It was just the stupidest name that we could have ever come up with, but it's funny and I love it. But sometimes people think that we're serious and we're tired of being recognized for our bodies or something like that, and it's nothing like that at all.."
CSS owes a lot of its success to word-of-mouth promotion on the internet, starting with the Trama Virtual website, a kind of Brazilian MySpace. A live performance in 2004 at Tim Festival on the same stage as 2 Many DJs and Kraftwerk increased their fanbase.
In 2005, they signed with Trama Virtual and in October of the same year their first album was released in Brazil.
At the beginning of 2006, CSS signed with Sub Pop to release their first international album and in July they made a thirty-gig tour through USA and Canada along with DJ Diplo and Bonde do Rolê.
The live performance CSS offers is uniquely energetic and entertaining. Lovefoxxx dodges among her bandmates and involves the audience in virtually every song. Sá, Cintra, and Parra switch instruments so often it's easy to forget where they started.
Tours of the US and Europe with Ladytron and Basement Jaxx in 2006 were followed by gigs in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
In 2007 18 year old student and Apple fan Nick Haley created a home made iPod Touch commercial by piecing together various clips found at apple.com and adding the fast paced and catchy CSS song "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" as the soundtrack.
After uploading the home made commercial to YouTube Haley was contacted by Apple agency TBWA/Chiat/Day who was allowed to create a TV commercial based on his original spot, claiming instant fame for the CSS tune as well as for the user generated commercial.
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Red Alert
Cansei de Ser Sexy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Feelin' the rhythm of casual love
I've always been such an anxious girl
Hurrying it up trying to rule the world
Meet me in the desert. I wanna speak your tongue
Are you too dangerous? You put my body on red alert
Maybe less oxygen in the air. Suddenly I'm out of breath (ah! ah!)
I've never seen such a prettier thing
You're welcome to come and welcome to stay in
You make me think I have a dangerous mind
You've turned me into the wild kind
Are you the medicine to heal my half-ends? OMG I feel so much pain
I'm a straight-forward-young-woman... AKA I play no mind games
What I want, I'll let you know... Tell me where you want me
and I'm ready to go. I don't want to figure nothing out...
I'm here... you're here...
Everyone knows we're not friends but they all can tell we're a tight
wolf pack. I'm not going to dig on your dirt because respect
is an aspect that I expect. To unzip your pants I don't need
to ask and you do the same with my bra-strap
Feeling dizzy my vision is going black
You're too hot. You give me asthma attack
Holy fuck! My body hurts! Are you anxious like me?
Straight to dessert
If we go too quick we might get burnt
Playing with fire could get us hurt
In such hot days there's nothing I'll mind
Just wanna fool around and enjoy the mirage
I'm gonna lay down, by your side
until my body vaporize... Uh!
Meet me in the desert. I wanna speak your tongue
Are you too dangerous? You put my body on red alert
The lyrics of Cansei de Ser Sexy's song "Red Alert" are about a woman who is all dressed up but has nowhere to go. She is feeling the rhythm of casual love, but she has always been an anxious girl who is in a hurry to rule the world. The chorus talks about how she meets a guy in the desert and wants to speak his tongue, but she wonders if he is too dangerous. He puts her body on red alert, and she feels like she can't breathe.
The next verse talks about how the woman has never seen someone as pretty as the guy she is with. She feels like he has turned her into a wild kind of person, and she wonders if he is the medicine to heal her half-ends. She then talks about how she is a straight-forward-young-woman and doesn't play mind games. She knows what she wants and is ready to go wherever her partner wants to go.
The final verse talks about how everyone knows that the woman and her partner are not friends, but they are a tight wolf pack. She talks about how she expects respect and how she doesn't need to ask to unzip her partner's pants. However, she also warns that they need to be careful because playing with fire could get them hurt. In the end, she just wants to fool around and enjoy the mirage with her partner until her body vaporizes.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go
I'm wearing my best clothes, but I don't have any plans or anywhere to be.
Feelin' the rhythm of casual love
I'm enjoying the carefree feeling of a casual romance.
I've always been such an anxious girl
I'm naturally an anxious person.
Hurrying it up trying to rule the world
I'm always in a rush to be successful and accomplish everything I want.
Meet me in the desert. I wanna speak your tongue
Let's rendezvous in a secluded location. I want to understand you on a deep level.
Are you too dangerous? You put my body on red alert
You're so exciting that I'm on high alert - I'm ready for anything with you!
Uh! Suddenly it's so hot! I look at you and I'm in shock!
Wow, it's suddenly sweltering! Seeing you makes me elated and stunned!
Maybe less oxygen in the air. Suddenly I'm out of breath (ah! ah!)
I'm so swept up in the moment with you that I'm having trouble breathing. The heat doesn't help!
I've never seen such a prettier thing
You're incredibly gorgeous!
You're welcome to come and welcome to stay in
You're always invited to my life and my heart.
You make me think I have a dangerous mind
Being around you puts me in a wild, adventurous mindset.
You've turned me into the wild kind
You've made me passionate and exciting like you.
Are you the medicine to heal my half-ends? OMG I feel so much pain
Do you complete me? I feel like I've been missing you for so long and I'm in emotional pain.
I'm a straight-forward-young-woman... AKA I play no mind games
I'm honest and upfront about what I want. I don't believe in playing games in relationships.
What I want, I'll let you know... Tell me where you want me and I'm ready to go
I'm open to your desires and willing to meet them.
I don't want to figure nothing out... I'm here... you're here...
I'm not overthinking things. All that matters is that we're together in this moment.
Everyone knows we're not friends but they all can tell we're a tight wolf pack.
We might not outwardly seem like friends, but we have a strong bond that everyone can sense.
I'm not going to dig on your dirt because respect is an aspect that I expect.
I won't pry into your past because I value respect in a relationship.
To unzip your pants I don't need to ask and you do the same with my bra-strap
We have a level of intimacy where we know each other's bodies very well.
Feeling dizzy my vision is going black. You're too hot. You give me asthma attack
I'm lightheaded and can't see straight - you're so attractive that I'm having a physical reaction!
Holy fuck! My body hurts! Are you anxious like me?
Wow, I'm so wound up and excited that it's almost painful. Are you feeling the same?
Straight to dessert. If we go too quick we might get burnt
Let's get right to the fun. But we need to be cautious so we don't get in over our heads.
Playing with fire could get us hurt
We need to be careful because if we're not, our relationship could hurt us both.
In such hot days there's nothing I'll mind
When it's hot like this, nothing else matters - I just want to focus on us and enjoy the passion.
Just wanna fool around and enjoy the mirage
I'm not worrying about the future, I just want to enjoy this momentary fantasy we're experiencing.
I'm gonna lay down, by your side until my body vaporize... Uh!
I'm so into you that I never want to leave your side. Even when my body gives out, I'll be with you.
Meet me in the desert. I wanna speak your tongue. Are you too dangerous? You put my body on red alert
I want to see you again in a secluded place so we can be wild together. You make me so excited that I can't help but be on high alert!
Contributed by James C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.