Following a few scattered independent releases, done mostly on homemade CDs with hand-drawn art, VanGaalen released Infiniheart in 2004 on Canadian independent label Flemish Eye. Being a collection of songs selected from recordings made in his bedroom/makeshift studio, it was picked up in 2005 by indie label Sub Pop. In late 2005, the album was re-released with a bonus six-song EP entitled Green Beans.
On 22 August 2006, VanGaalen's second album, Skelliconnection, was released in the U.S. on Sub Pop and in Canada on Flemish Eye. The album comprised of new songs as well as tracks previously released on his earlier independent recordings and features exclusive artwork and videos made by VanGaalen. The album was named on the shortlist for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize.
VanGaalen's third studio album, Soft Airplane, was released 9 September 2008.
In 2009, VanGaalen released a full-length album "Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz" under the alias Black Mold.
In 2015, VanGaalen collaborated with Seth Smith of the indie rock band Dog Day on the album Seed of Dorzon.
Chad VanGaalen's Light Information, his sixth record on Sub Pop, was released on 8 September 2017.
As a visual artist, VanGaalen is known for his illustration and animation work. He has animated music videos for folks like J Mascis, Guster, and Holy Fuck.
Cries of the Dead
Chad VanGaalen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Maybe it's your neighbour beating his dog in the basement
I can hear the cries of the dead
Muffled by the ground but still loud enough to make it out
Monkey-webs of concrete road disappear in time
Weeds and trees that grow from seed will cover us in time
Swallowing all of the buildings
I can hear the cries of the dead
Maybe its your neighbour playing his trumpet in the basement
I can hear the cries of the dead
Muffled by the ground but still loud enough to make a sound
You went to the mountains true and painted what you saw
You came back late and hid the painting underneath our couch
and I wasn't there when you made it
But I feel like I'm there when I'm lookin' at it
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
I can hear the cries of the dead
Maybe its your neighbour beating his dog in the basement.
I can hear the cries of the dead,
Muffled by the ground but still loud enough to make it out
The lyrics in Chad VanGaalen's "Cries of the Dead" are a haunting exploration of our mortality and the inevitable decay and destruction of all things. The lines "Monkey-webs of concrete road disappear in time/Weeds and trees that grow from seed will cover us in time/Swallowing all of the buildings/And every single piece of trash" describe the eventual power of nature to reclaim the man-made world, and the transience of human life in the face of this process. The idea that we can "hear the cries of the dead" is a chilling reminder that everything we create or accomplish in life will eventually fade away, and that our individual struggles and pain are ultimately insignificant in the grand scope of things.
The lyric "Maybe it's your neighbour beating his dog in the basement" brings another layer of darkness to the song, hinting at the fact that cruelty and violence are inevitable aspects of the human experience. This contrasts with the line "Maybe it's your neighbour playing his trumpet in the basement", which suggests that music and creativity can serve as a powerful counterbalance to the horrors of the world. The final verse, in which the singer describes a painting that was hidden under the couch, represents a moment of connection and beauty in the midst of all the chaos and destruction.
Overall, "Cries of the Dead" is a powerful meditation on the transitory nature of existence, and the ways in which moments of beauty and creativity can serve as brief respites from the horrors of the world.
Line by Line Meaning
I can hear the cries of the dead
The feeling of death and despair is so pervasive that it seems as though you can hear the cries of those who have passed on
Maybe it's your neighbour beating his dog in the basement
The source of the cries may actually be something mundane or cruel, like the sound of a neighbour physically abusing their pet
Muffled by the ground but still loud enough to make it out
Despite being buried or silenced, the cries of the dead are still able to find their way to our ears
Monkey-webs of concrete road disappear in time
The urban landscape that we have built is temporary and impermanent, and will eventually be reclaimed by nature
Weeds and trees that grow from seed will cover us in time
The unstoppable force of nature will eventually grow over and consume our cities, leaving no trace of our legacy
Swallowing all of the buildings
The natural world will eventually destroy and consume all of the human-made structures in its path
And every single piece of trash
Even our refuse and waste will eventually be absorbed and transformed by the natural world
You went to the mountains true and painted what you saw
Artists are compelled to capture the beauty of the natural world, even as it is slowly being consumed by our urban sprawl
You came back late and hid the painting underneath our couch
The beauty and truth of nature may be hidden away or ignored in our daily lives
and I wasn't there when you made it
The act of creation is often solitary, and may be borne of a deep-seated need to connect with something greater than oneself
But I feel like I'm there when I'm lookin' at it
Even if we weren't present for the creation of art, it can still evoke a powerful emotional response that transcends time and space
Contributed by Ryan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.