The band formed in Boulder, Colorado in early 2006 to make live music for haunted houses. Frequenting the Broker Inn on the edge of town for empty late-night jazz shows, Polachek, Pfenning and Wimberly were mystified by the 1980's faux-gothic architecture, oak-cabinet aquariums, vacant dancefloors, fake trees, crystal chandeliers and dark velveteen booths. Relocating to Brooklyn in the summer of 2006, the trio continued on to develop a hypnotic yet tongue-in-cheek style, playing shows around Brooklyn and the Lower East Side.
'Evident Utensil', released on 7" vinyl featuring a remix by MGMT, marked Chairlift's first release on Kanine. Chairlift unleashed their first full-length album, "Does You Inspire You", on Kanine Records on September 30th, 2008. The duo completed their sophomore album, "Something" in 2011 for release in January 2012. Recorded between New York and London, they recruited producers Alan Moulder (Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails) and Dan Carey (MIA, Franz Ferdinand, Lily Allen) and Carey also mixed the majority of the record. Three singles, 'Amanaemonesia', 'Sidewalk Safari' and 'Met Before' preceded the album's release. "Moth", the third and final album was released January 22, 2016, preceded by the single 'Ch-Ching'.
Evident Utensil
Chairlift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The most evident utensil,
Is non other then a pencil,
Not a multi-colored stencil,
Or a camera and cool.
Chorus
How hard must I try,
You see me rolling in the dark,
You see me crawling up the walls for you.
Verse2
The most evident utensil,
Is non other then a pencil,
Right and tell me what you want from me,
Before my paper is through.
Chorus X2
How hard must I try,
How hard must I try for you,
You see me rolling in the dark,
You see me crawling up the walls for you.
In Chairlift's song "Evident Utensil," the most evident utensil is revealed to be none other than a pencil. The song's central theme revolves around the idea of communication, specifically the difficulties that come with effectively expressing oneself to another person. The use of a pencil, a simple yet powerful tool, as the most evident utensil reinforces this idea of the importance of being able to communicate effectively.
The chorus touches on the frustration and effort that comes with trying to communicate, as the singer sings about rolling in the dark and crawling up walls for the person they are trying to reach. The use of these vivid images creates a sense of desperation and the realization that there is no easy way out of this struggle. The second verse reinforces this idea, as the singer begs for the person they are trying to communicate with to be clear with their needs and desires, as time is running out for them to act on them.
Overall, "Evident Utensil" is a powerful and relatable song about the struggles of communication and the frustration that comes with trying to connect with another person. Through the use of simple yet powerful imagery and a catchy chorus, the song captures the listener's attention and resonates with them in a meaningful way.
Line by Line Meaning
The most evident utensil,
The most clear and obvious instrument to use is none other than a pencil.
Is non other then a pencil,
Nothing else can beat a pencil for its simplicity and effectiveness as a tool.
Not a multi-colored stencil,
Other instruments like colorful stencils cannot match the simplicity and ubiquitous nature of a pencil.
Or a camera and cool.
Even though cameras are cool, they are not as simple and easy to use as a pencil.
How hard must I try,
The singer is expressing frustration at the effort required to impress someone.
How hard must I try for you,
The singer is asking how much effort is required to win over the person they are addressing.
You see me rolling in the dark,
The singer feels lost and uncertain in the face of the person they are addressing.
You see me crawling up the walls for you.
The singer is emphasizing how hard they are working to impress the person they are addressing.
Right and tell me what you want from me,
The singer is asking the person they are addressing to be clear about what they want from the singer.
Before my paper is through.
The singer is using a metaphor of writing on paper to emphasis the limited time available before it's too late.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: AARON MARSHALL DAVIS, CAROLINE ELIZABETH POLACHEK, JONATHAN PATRICK WIMBERLY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chin
This music video is the peak of what it means to be an indie artist. The song is ingenious and not like anything else out there, and the video is also very well produced, mixing really beautiful sceneries, accentuating Caroline's beauty, at the same time containing dark undertones
jake smith
based
rvufo
people commenting on how bad this video is..: this video was ahead of its time, and still must be to some degree if people aren't seeing how amazing this video truly is... the sequencing and patterns of the clips that are being datamoshed are brilliant and very intricate. the corruptions could look a lot messier, but it's well planned. one of my favorite videos.
The Circle
But the style is dumb regardless how hard they tried on it,....
local
@The Circle You're wrong and @rvufo is correct. the end.
JackStrait
@The Circle I was transfixed the entire video. Your eyes are broken.
___
Chairlift & this video was magical. So happy to witness them in their prime. Sadly her new solo stuff is meh...
Jamdouglass
datamoshing is hard to achieve let alone a full length 3 min video
100nujabes
Im scrolling through Chairlift's discography after finding out Caroline's been in the industry for a while. I recognize a lot more songs than I anticipated. Wild.
Sir Switch Crookington
Chairlift is better than her solo stuff IMO but they never got the break they deserved, so they broke up. Door is really fire though.