For the group's first album, Adam and David added bassist Matt Malley, multi-instrument talent Charlie Gillingham, and drummer Steve Bowman. David Immergluck served as the second guitarist on the first album, but he did not officially join the band until 1999. Guitarist Dan Vickery was added just as the band set out on their first tour. As stated before, 'August and Everything After' provided the band with a surprise yet very welcome success, garnering them critical praise. Released on September 14, 1993 through Geffen Records, the album hit #2 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, showing that their tunes had tapped into something.
Counting Crows, with their intimate and confessional yet smooth, often catchy musical approach, achieved a large fan base among melodic rock fans over the years. Their 90s acclaim reflected that a significant music scene looked for something different from the raging guitars of the Seattle-based grunge movement as well as from either boilerplate pop music or the budding electronic music subgenres. The group kept on releasing new songs into the new millennium.
The band's more recent successes include the 2004 hit song "Accidentally In Love", which was featured on the Shrek 2 soundtrack (that has sold over 1,000,000 copies). That song has also garnered nominations for a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. That same year, the band released their first ever best of set, which they titled 'Films about Ghosts'. That album features songs from every phase of the Counting Crows' recording career. To date, the band has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.
The group made the news when 'Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings' was released on March 25th, 2008. In addition, on January 16, 2008, the band released a digital EP as a free download on their official web site, consisting of the songs "1492" and "When I Dream Of Michelangelo". The lead single from the album was "You Can't Count On Me", which was released for radio play on February 4, 2008.
The album itself is thematically and stylistically divided into two parts: the first, more rock-influenced Saturday Nights, and the second, more country-influenced Sunday Mornings. Theme changes along with style; in the Sunday Mornings portion of the album, songs become more reflective. The iTunes release contains several bonus tracks, including a track-by-track interview with Duritz.
Members of the band:
Adam Duritz - lead vocals, piano, wurlitzer, tamborine
David Bryson - guitars, dobro, vocals
Charles Gillingham - piano, organ, accordion, mellotron, vocals
Dan Vickery - guitars, sitar, banjo, vocals
David Immergluck - guitars, bass, electric sitar, mandolin, vocals
Jim Bogios - drums, percussion loops, vocals
Millard Powers - bass guitar, upright bass, piano, vocals
Ex-members of the band:
Matt Malley - guitars, double bass, vocals
Ben Mize - drums, percussion, tambourine, bulbs, vocals
Steve Bowman - drums, vocals
Ben Ulrich - drums
Marty Jones - bass guitar
Lydia Holly - keyboards
Toby Hawkins - drums
Albums
August And Everything After - (September 14, 1993)
Recovering The Satellites - (October 14, 1996)
Across a Wire - Live in New York City - (1998)
This Desert Life - (November 1, 1999)
Hard Candy - (July 8, 2002)
Films About Ghosts: The Best Of - (November 25, 2003)
*New Amsterdam: Live At Heineken Music Hall - (June 19, 2006)
August And Everything After, Deluxe Edition - (Fall 2007)
Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - (March 25, 2008)
Somewhere Under Wonderland - (September 2, 2014)
Black and Blue
Counting Crows Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You look a lot like you
Shatter in the blink of an eye
You keep sailing right on through
Every time you say you're learning
You just look a lot like me
Pale under the blistering sky
White and red
You've been waiting a long time
You've been waiting a long time
To fall down on your knees
Cut your hands
Cut yourself until you bleed
Fall asleep next to me
Wait for everyone to go away
And in a dimly lit
room where you've got nothing to hide
Say your goodbyes
Tell yourself we'll read
a note that says
I'm sorry everyone
I'm tired of feeling nothing goodbye
Wash your face
Dry your eyes
Cause you've been waiting a long time
You've been waiting a long long time
To fall down on your knees
Cut your hands
Cut yourself until you bleed
But fall asleep next to me
Have a dream I'm falling down
On my face
Scrape my knees
Scrape my hands until they bleed
Cause you're fast asleep next to me
Next to me, next to me, next to me
In Black and Blue, Counting Crows explore the theme of self-destruction through addictive and reckless behavior, as expressed in the lines "Cut your hands, cut yourself until you bleed, fall asleep next to me". The singer is observing someone who reminds them of themselves, someone who is constantly falling but keeps sailing right through. The chorus uses the color metaphors to describe the suffering and bruises of the singer, both physically and emotionally. The line "You look a lot like me" highlights the universality of the experience of self-destruction, and the fact that the singer feels a sense of recognition and empathy towards the person they are addressing.
The song takes a turn towards darkness as the singer contemplates suicide and writes a note - "I'm tired of feeling nothing goodbye". This highlights the extent of their despair, and the fact that they feel like they are not really living, but just going through the motions. The last verse contains a sense of hope, as the singer washes their face, dries their eyes, and starts to take responsibility. It is possible that the singer is also trying to help the singer, by being a supportive presence and giving them a safe space to fall asleep next to.
Line by Line Meaning
Fading everything to black and blue
Slowly making everything dark and bruised
You look a lot like you
You resemble yourself
Shatter in the blink of an eye
Breaking apart suddenly and quickly
You keep sailing right on through
You continue moving forward despite obstacles
Every time you say you're learning
You claim to be developing knowledge and understanding
You just look a lot like me
You appear similar to me
Pale under the blistering sky
Appearing sickly in the hot, bright sun
White and red
The colors of bleeding skin
Black and blue
The colors of bruised skin
You've been waiting a long time
You have been anticipating for a while
To fall down on your knees
To lose your footing and kneel down
Cut your hands
Inflict harm on your hands with a sharp object
Cut yourself until you bleed
Hurt yourself so that you begin to bleed
Fall asleep next to me
Sleep beside me
Wait for everyone to go away
Stay until people have left the area
And in a dimly lit room where you've got nothing to hide
In a poorly-lit space with no secrets to conceal
Say your goodbyes
Say farewell
Tell yourself we'll read a note that says I'm sorry everyone
Imagine yourself apologizing through a note to all who may read it
I'm tired of feeling nothing goodbye
I am fed up with feeling empty, farewell
Wash your face
Cleanse your facial area with water
Dry your eyes
Remove any moisture from your eyes
Cause you've been waiting a long time
As you have been experiencing anticipation for a while
To fall down on your knees
To collapse onto your knees
But fall asleep next to me
Yet still, fall asleep beside me
Have a dream I'm falling down
Dream that I am tumbling downwards
On my face
Landing with my face touching the ground
Scrape my knees
Abrade my knee area
Scrape my hands until they bleed
Damage my hands to the point of bleeding
Cause you're fast asleep next to me
Because you are asleep beside me
Next to me, next to me, next to me
By my side, repeat
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVID LYNN BRYSON, ADAM FREDRIC DURITZ, CHARLES THOMAS GILLINGHAM, DAVID A IMMERGLUCK, MATTHEW MARK MALLEY, BEN G MIZE, DANIEL JOHN VICKREY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind