1996–2001
We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, Destroyer's 1996 debut, is made up of sixteen lo-fi home-recordings. One reviewer suggested that the album combines Bejar's "gift for melodies" with “a concerted effort to make the recording downright inconsumable; the guitars are always out of tune, and the vocals of Fisher-Price quality. 'Static means punk / tuning is junk,' Bejar moans on one track.” [5] (Ideas for Songs, released on cassette in 1997, features songs akin to those on his first album. The cassette stemmed from a request to contribute songs for a compilation album.[6])
As Bejar gained popularity in Vancouver's music scene, he was joined by producer John Collins for 1998's City of Daughters, which was recorded at a proper studio. Pitchfork noted that the songs still sounded "homespun," also noting "[t]he wordiness that would become something of a trademark is in full effect," but that "unlike much of what came later, not every line is worthy of examination."[7]
Thief (2000) embodied "Bejar's first stab at matching his grandiose, idiosyncratic vision to a showier sound;" it was the first to feature a backing band on every track.[8] The record's "anthemic yet understated"[9] piano-driven ballads have characteristically enigmatic lyrics, though some reviewers interpreted them as critiques of the music industry.[10][11]
Streethawk: A Seduction (2001) realized the sonic refinement started with City of Daughters. Bejar put it this way: "I don't think it gives credence to any kind of conceptualization of the records, but I hope that City of Daughters, Thief, and Streethawk will pop into some kind of a progression that ends with Streethawk.“ [12] A critical success, the album (retrospectively) received a rating of 9.1/10 from Pitchfork.[7]
2002–2007
The 2002 rock album This Night was a dramatic change in style. The looser, less rehearsed style was criticized as "messy [and] haphazard without purpose,"[13] though other critics praised the "beautiful mess of sounds" as "challenging... [and] a powerful, cohesive whole."[11] In a 2006 interview (after the release of Your Blues and Destroyer's Rubies), Bejar said the album "came together pretty quickly - we probably could have used more than four or five days to mix the whole thing, but that's all hindsight. It's still my favorite Destroyer record."[12]
Your Blues (2004) saw Destroyer take another unexpected turn, using MIDI instrumentation for almost all the backing music. Bejar coined the term "European blues" to describe its unique, theatrical sound.[14] One reviewer pointed out that "Bejar’s unusual voice sounds more confident, and higher up" in the synth-rich arrangements.[15] In yet another twist, the EP Notorious Lightning & Other Works reworked six tracks from the record with a live band, the very thing the LP had forsaken (the band was Frog Eyes, who toured with Destroyer in support of Your Blues).
Bejar returned with a live band for 2006's Destroyer's Rubies, delivering arguably his most confident record up to that point. The backing band took new-found prominence and, according to Bejar, "[t]he production seems... warm and lush and pretty focused on just making the band sound good and having everything sit well together."[12] NOW Magazine observed, "[w]hile the sheer density of Bejar’s writing can be overwhelming, Destroyer’s Rubies is, on a musical level, the most ’accessible’ disc he’s released."[16]
2008–2013
For Trouble in Dreams (2008), "there was a scary lack of ideas coming into the record," Bejar admitted.[17] Destroyer's piano player Ted Bois took it upon himself, as an alternative to keyboard and piano accompaniment, to create all string and synth arrangements for the songs.[17] At the time, Bejar said it was the "hardest record" to make.[17]
After the 2009 EP Bay of Pigs came 2011's full-length album, Kaputt (featuring a slightly modified "Bay of Pigs" track). Bejar cited influences such as Miles Davis and Roxy Music for his new jazz-infused, lounge music-inspired, sophisti-pop direction. In multiple interviews, Bejar variously stressed that he "sang in a completely different manner, almost unconscious of even singing, more like speaking into a vacuum, and was really happy with the results."[18][19] The record entailed a number of firsts for Destroyer: first national television performance (on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon); first official music video; first female backing vocals; and the first time Bejar performed without an instrument on tour - his concentration placed solely on his singing. Kaputt was short listed for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize [20] and was Pitchfork's second best album of 2011.[21]
Although smaller in scale, Destroyer's fourth EP "Five Spanish Songs" continued to surprise listeners. Sung entirely in Spanish, Bejar covered songs by Sr. Chinarro (es). Bejar's own tongue-in-cheek press release announcing the new songs began: "It was 2013. The English language seemed spent, despicable, not easily singable."[22]
2014–present
Bejar released Poison Season on August 28, 2015. Bejar notes that the album's sound grew from "just really getting into what we were sounding like playing live [following Kaputt]."[4] Bejar added that he would not have been able to make such an ambitious album if Kaputt had not been successful.[23] Recorded with a live band and a pronounced string section, the album's "grand cinematic set of songs"[23] feature Bejar singing with a broader range than before: "This is the first record that I've ever done that comes close to my idea of myself as a singer," Bejar said.[24]
In 2017, Bejar released ken.
A Dangerous Woman Up to a Point
Destroyer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
"As per your wishes, I left you for dead
I left England for the English"
Is it always the one thing or the other with you?
"Forgive them, my lord, they know not what they do!"
"Hey, your friends are fucked, in so far as your friends are an ancient beast bronzed in tar!"
Did I fail to mention there's a sword hanging above you?
"Those who love Zeppelin will soon betray Floyd"
I cast off those couplets in honor of the void
I was here to stay
I would weather the storm
I pictured heaven on earth made of clay, as your form dictated...
I went down to the garden with the noblest of intentions
I felt the need to be brief
I stuck a rose between my teeth and had a laugh
The sun set at the speed of light, so I thought I also might leave this
Port of Woe on tall ships made of snow invading the sun
A Dangerous Woman Up To A Point once said -
"I've never read 'so-and-so' so why mention him here, in this square where culprits axe me, my dear
Tried to enjoy myself at the Society Ball, really I did
Froze on Union Street, it was springtime,
I was just a kid lost in a map of the stars called 'your eyes'
It was a trap!
It was a good time!
It was hard to realize...
I can't win
I can't even walk
Baby, you should talk
Baby, you should hear what you're saying
They said - "Don't look back!" but I looked back
It was a bore
It was a fucking horror
It was - well, honey, you know quite well what you are
A Dangerous Woman Up To A Point once said -
"People come, and people go, and people lie nameless in the snow..."
The song A Dangerous Woman Up to a Point by Destroyer is filled with lyrical complexity and poetic imagery. The song is self-referential, with the lyrics evoking the idea of a writer being trapped in their own mind, struggling to articulate their thoughts and feelings. The opening lines seem to suggest a betrayal, as the woman in question leaves her lover, saying she left him for dead as per his wishes. However, she also left England for the English, which could be interpreted as her returning to her roots or seeking a new identity. The words "up to a point" suggest that there are limits to her loyalty or commitment.
The lyrics then take a philosophical turn, with the question "Is it always the one thing or the other with you?" suggesting that life is full of contradictions and compromises. The next lines "Forgive them, my lord, they know not what they do!" and "Hey, your friends are fucked, in so far as your friends are an ancient beast bronzed in tar!" appear to be nonsensical or surreal phrases, adding to the overall surreal feel of the song.
The lyrics then become more personal, with lines such as "Have I told you lately that I love you?" and "Did I fail to mention there's a sword hanging above you?" suggesting a sense of urgency or danger in the relationship. The verse "Those who love Zeppelin will soon betray Floyd" is a cryptic reference to the idea that people's loyalties can shift or change, depending on their interests or preferences.
The chorus then repeats the phrase "It was a trap!" three times, suggesting a feeling of entrapment or being caught in a cycle of self-destructive behavior. The final verse, with its reference to people lying "nameless in the snow," suggests a kind of existential despair, a sense that we are all just temporary inhabitants of a vast, uncaring universe.
Line by Line Meaning
A Dangerous Woman Up To A Point once said - "As per your wishes, I left you for dead
I left England for the English"
She once said that she left someone for dead as they wished and left England, because she left to be with the English.
Is it always the one thing or the other with you?
"Forgive them, my lord, they know not what they do!"
"Hey, your friends are fucked, in so far as your friends are an ancient beast bronzed in tar!"
She wonders if people are always black and white, to which someone responds that they should forgive others because they do not understand. Another person says that the person's friends are doomed, as they are like a bronze monster stuck in tar.
Have I told you lately that I love you?
Did I fail to mention there's a sword hanging above you?
She wonders if she told someone that she loves them recently, but also warns them that there is a sword hanging over their head.
"Those who love Zeppelin will soon betray Floyd"
I cast off those couplets in honor of the void
I was here to stay
I would weather the storm
I pictured heaven on earth made of clay, as your form dictated...
She says that those who love Led Zeppelin will soon turn on Pink Floyd. She discards rhymes and words to recognize oblivion's presence. She is here to stay and endures the hardships. She pictures a paradise made of clay in the image of someone.
I went down to the garden with the noblest of intentions
I felt the need to be brief
I stuck a rose between my teeth and had a laugh
The sun set at the speed of light, so I thought I also might leave this
Port of Woe on tall ships made of snow invading the sun
She went to the garden with pure intentions but felt the urge to be quick. She put a rose between her teeth for some fun. The sunset was very fast, so she thinks she should leave this place of sorrow on big ships made of snow that venture towards the sun.
A Dangerous Woman Up To A Point once said - "I've never read 'so-and-so' so why mention him here, in this square where culprits axe me, my dear
Tried to enjoy myself at the Society Ball, really I did
Froze on Union Street, it was springtime,
I was just a kid lost in a map of the stars called 'your eyes'
She said that she never read some person's work, so why talk about them in a place where she gets attacked. She went to a ball to have fun, but froze on Union Street as she was lost in thought of someone's eyes.
It was a trap!
It was a good time!
It was hard to realize...
She realized that her good time was actually a trap, but it was hard to understand.
I can't win
I can't even walk
Baby, you should talk
Baby, you should hear what you're saying
They said - "Don't look back!" but I looked back
It was a bore
It was a fucking horror
It was - well, honey, you know quite well what you are
She feels like she can't succeed nor move forward. She suggests someone else should think about what they are saying. Although someone told her not to look back, she still did and saw the boredom and terror. She says to call it what it is.
A Dangerous Woman Up To A Point once said - "People come, and people go, and people lie nameless in the snow..."
She said that people come and go, but some remain unknown and unnoticed.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Martin Kjær
Dan Bejar is a goddam genius and this song is sick!
gnarly town
A serious breakup of a serious love affair over some aesthetic or otherwise principled disagreement. But the song says way more than that. "People come, people go, people lie nameless in the snow."
Panaceias Úberes
Destroyer's are Canada's The Divine Comedy and this is their A Lady Of A Certain Age. Amazing.
Abiel Ticas
I am speechles... I don't know if I love it or hate it... I prefer to love it.
Abiel Ticas
I realized that I love it <3
PARANOIDANDROID6
Destroyer - you destroyed my mind!
C C
Y think this song is about to lovers in a fight.
gnarly town
A man looking back at a love affair after some time has passed and seeing the errors wisely
Robert Davbis
lurv bejar anytime