As well as Smith, around 23 musicians were part of the Cardiacs over the years, including Smith's brother, Jim, and multi-instrumentalist, Sarah Cutts, who married Tim Smith in 1983.
Their music combined the excitement and energy of punk with the intricacies and technical cleverness of early British progressive rock, a combination sometimes referred to as pronk, although frontman Smith disavowed this classification.
Cardiacs released eight studio albums plus a number of live albums, compilation albums and singles between 1980 and 2007, and are best known for the 1988 minor hit single "Is This the Life?" They are also noted for attracting strongly diverse responses: they have remained one of Britain's leading cult rock bands during their four-decade-spanning career, but have also attracted virulent critical attack (including a lengthy editorial ban from the British music magazine New Musical Express).
On the 30th June 1990, Cardiacs played at Salisbury Arts Centre (a former church). The show was recorded and initially the video of it was released on VHS tape under the name "All That Glitters Is A Mare's Nest". The video helped Cardiacs achieve a cult following, with pirated copies of the video, being highly sought after. The audio from the show was released on CD in 1995.
The band was on hiatus following the 2008 hospitalisation of Tim Smith after a heart attack and series of strokes which affected his speech and movement.
Commenting on his condition, in 2017, Smith wrote: “Imagine if you were wearing a skintight bodysuit made of fishnet all around you, with electrical pulses going all the time. This is what my body feels like unless I fall asleep.”
In 2018, fundraising was set up for Tim Smith, which included the comment “This condition has affected Tim’s movement, his dexterity, his ability to speak, and it has added painful muscle tone and spasms that are a permanent feature of his life these days.”
On Tuesday 21st July 2020, at around 10.30 pm, Tim Smith passed away at his home, as a result of a heart attack.
Cardiacs final album, "LSD" remained unfinished at the time of Tim Smith's death. At the time of his death, Cardiacs still remained a cult following, their recordings were not, for example, available on Spotify. For many years there were few new copies of Cardiacs albums in circulation. Later on, re-releases became available on CD and then vinyl.
A Horse's Tail
Cardiacs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Jim prove himself worthy to a perfect nation
Michael could be the same
Hair by hair he will yang out the vicious horses tail
He will learn from tic-man that he
Always thought he were bleeding glitter to win
Jim prove himself worthy to a perfect nation
Michael could be the same Bletching hard yeah!
Hard into a shaftless mind of swankledged info
Never sucking more than this than power licence
Nice and freely
(Wish I could be the same)
Man stand far away
Looks like a dot standing on his hill
Perserverance, understanding
Climb the stairs and cross the landing
Best to grin and reap
"A Horse's Tail" by Cardiacs is a song that features cryptic lyrics with nonsensical phrases, making it difficult to interpret. However, it appears to deal with the concepts of self-improvement and growth. The first verse, "Digging to grow bigger, Jim prove himself worthy to a perfect nation, Michael could be the same," seems to suggest a desire to improve oneself and become worthy of acceptance by society. The reference to Michael implies that others can also improve, perhaps even reaching the same level as Jim.
The second verse talks about "hair by hair" yanging out the horse's tail and learning from the tic-man. This could be interpreted as removing obstacles one by one and learning from past experiences in order to grow and progress. The line "Always thought he were bleeding glitter to win" could mean that the person believed in the idea of finding success through hard work and perseverance.
The chorus references "digging up grow bigger" and "bletching hard" as a way of expressing the struggle and effort required to achieve personal growth. The line "Hard into a shaftless mind of swankledged info" seems to touch on the idea of learning and expanding one's knowledge without a specific goal or direction.
Overall, "A Horse's Tail" appears to be a song that encourages the pursuit of self-improvement and growth through perseverance, learning, and hard work.
Line by Line Meaning
Digging to grow bigger
Putting in the hard work to achieve personal growth and development
Jim prove himself worthy to a perfect nation
Jim is trying to demonstrate his value to a society that values perfection above all else
Michael could be the same
Another person named Michael could be striving for perfection like Jim
Hair by hair he will yang out the vicious horses tail
Slowly and meticulously, he will unravel and conquer a difficult problem
He will learn from tic-man that he
He will gain knowledge and insight from someone else named tic-man
Always thought he were bleeding glitter to win
He believed that he had to shine and stand out in order to succeed
Diggin' up grow bigger
Continuing to work hard and expand oneself
Jim prove himself worthy to a perfect nation
Continuing to strive for acceptance and validation from a society that values perfection
Michael could be the same Bletching hard yeah!
Another person named Michael could be working just as hard to fit into this societal mold
Hard into a shaftless mind of swankledged info
Absorbing knowledge and information without any preconceived notions or biases
Never sucking more than this than power licence
Not relying on anyone else for power or authority
Nice and freely
Living life without restrictions or limitations
(Wish I could be the same)
Expressing a desire to live unencumbered by societal norms and expectations
Man stand far away
Observing someone from a distance
Looks like a dot standing on his hill
The person observed appears small and insignificant from this distant vantage point
Perserverance, understanding
Valuing persistence and empathy in oneself and others
Climb the stairs and cross the landing
Taking steps towards progress and growth
Best to grin and reap
It's important to maintain a positive attitude and enjoy the rewards of one's hard work.
Contributed by Adam N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.