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.
In a City Lining
Cardiacs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Always too soon to criticise
I have had under my eyes and nose
My mouth singing me lullabies
I have no right to complain that I am alone
And have no-one permanently
But if one takes it by the hand the funny man laughs
Oh what a plain necessity to be alive
Always too soon to criticise
I have had under my eyes and nose
My mouth singing me lullabies
I have no right to complain that I am alone
And have no-one permanently
But if one takes it by the hand the funny man laughs
Forever landing them on me
Biting while cutting deep m
M akes me end up with a clean sweep
Making all my fears
Completely dissolve away
The saving up for the hope day disappears (get off)
It's funny how when you breathe in
Your mouth opens air goes in
She won't boil using Teflon on her
Should I go and put the kettle on her
Michael's got himself a girlfriend he's a lucky fellow
Katy's top was as white as ever but now it's gone all yellow
Malcolm's a bastard and keeps acting like Emperor Nero
Peter is constantly pretending to be a super hero
But whats in a name la la la la
What's in a name la la la la
What's in a name la la la la
What's in a name la la la la
Biting while cutting deep
Makes me end up with a clean sweep
Making all my fears
Completely dissolve away
The saving up for the hope day disappears
The funny man hiding something
Hands me one thing trying not to laugh
Then he gives me news of an epitaph
For the creatures dying in my bath
Tracy is turning and revolving in a city lining
Martin keeps his new Lambretta gleaming and shining
All news has its way then leaves me staring at my pillow
All clouds have a silver lining gleaming and shining
All of the time
On the Siegfried Line
All news has its way then leaves me staring at my pillow
All clouds have a silver lining gleaming and shining
The song "In a City Lining" by Cardiacs discusses the necessity of being alive and the feelings of loneliness that accompany it. The song's chorus repeats the phrase "Oh what a plain necessity to be alive, always too soon to criticise," and communicates the idea that existence alone is enough to be grateful for, and that it is too soon to criticize the fact that we are alive.
The lyrics also discuss how the singer has no permanent company or companionship, but if someone were to take their hand, the "funny man" would forever be landing on them, a metaphorical representation of the singer's hardships. The lyrics further explore the idea of letting go of fear, with the lines "Biting while cutting deep makes me end up with a clean sweep. Making all my fears completely dissolve away."
Line by Line Meaning
Oh what a plain necessity to be alive
Being alive is an absolute necessity that can't be ignored or undervalued
Always too soon to criticise
It's never the right time to criticize others
I have had under my eyes and nose
I've seen and experienced many things
My mouth singing me lullabies
My own voice helps me calm down and fall asleep
I have no right to complain that I am alone
I can't complain about being alone since it's not someone else's fault
And have no-one permanently
I don't have anyone to stay with me on a permanent basis
But if one takes it by the hand the funny man laughs
But if someone trusts a funny man, the jokes will always be at my expense
Forever landing them on me
I'm always the victim of those jokes
Biting while cutting deep m
Hurtful comments are as painful as a deep cut
M akes me end up with a clean sweep
Those hurtful comments lead to me losing everything I've been saving up
Making all my fears
The pain caused by the comments eventually makes my fears go away
Completely dissolve away
My fears disappear completely
The saving up for the hope day disappears (get off)
All the savings I've made for a better future get wasted due to the hurtful comments
It's funny how when you breathe in
It's amusing how taking a breath has a direct effect on the mouth
Your mouth opens air goes in
When breathing, the mouth opens to allow air in
She won't boil using Teflon on her
A person being referred to won't get agitated despite being in a stressful situation
Should I go and put the kettle on her
Maybe I should make her a cup of tea to help her relax
Michael's got himself a girlfriend he's a lucky fellow
Michael has found a girlfriend and is lucky to have her
Katy's top was as white as ever but now it's gone all yellow
Katy's shirt used to be white, but it's now stained and turned yellow
Malcolm's a bastard and keeps acting like Emperor Nero
Malcolm is acting cruelly and arrogantly like Emperor Nero
Peter is constantly pretending to be a super hero
Peter always acts like he's a superhero even though he's not
But whats in a name la la la la
What's the significance of a name anyway?
The funny man hiding something
The man who jokes around is hiding something
Hands me one thing trying not to laugh
He gives me something and tries not to laugh
Then he gives me news of an epitaph
He then shares news of someone's death
For the creatures dying in my bath
For the animals that are dying in my bathtub
Tracy is turning and revolving in a city lining
Tracy is getting lost and trying to navigate through a city
Martin keeps his new Lambretta gleaming and shining
Martin is taking good care of his new Lambretta and keeping it shiny
All news has its way then leaves me staring at my pillow
All the news that comes my way haunts me and leaves me sleepless
All clouds have a silver lining gleaming and shining
Every cloud has something positive, despite being gloomy
All of the time
Constantly
On the Siegfried Line
Referring to the Siegfried Line fortifications used by the Germans in World War II
Contributed by Sebastian R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.