During their career the group have spent much of their time overseas, when not performing together Turner is based in Melbourne, White lives in New York, and Ellis in Paris.
The trio released their debut 'Sad & Dangerous', and eponymous album in 1995, albums representative of a trio finding their sound, their experimentality and more raucous side of their music. The albums that followed- 'Horse Stories', 1997, 'Ocean Songs', 1998 and 'Whatever You Love, You Are', 2000, 'She Has No Strings Apollo', 2003, offered definitive moments of the trio's career. 'Cinder', released in 2005, essentially continued musical traits developed in their previous albums, and although it continues in the spirit of 'Ocean Songs', 'Cinder' differs and diverges from their previous works in that it includes new instruments and, for the first time in their career, lyrics. The arrangements are generally shorter and more concise than those on their earlier albums. Perhaps most notably, instead of the usual recording live technique, they opted for the first time in their career to record in the studio individually.
The band featured in the 2006 film chronicling the Meredith Music Festival, outside Melbourne. In 2007, a documentary of the Dirty Three, simply called, The Dirty Three was released, and was screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The band also featured in the 2009 documentary film, All Tomorrow's Parties, chronicling APT since the inaugural festival ten years ago.
The Dirty Three have toured with Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Low, Pavement, Throwing Muses, Cat Power, PJ Harvey, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, John Cale, Morphine, Devendra Banhart, Josh T. Pearson, and Shannon Wright, and many others.
Warren Ellis is also a member of the group Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and releases solo material. Mick Turner has also released solo albums, and has worked together Jim White to release under the name Tren Brothers. The pair have also worked on recordings by Cat Power and Will Oldham, as session musicians, and as backing musicians on tours. Mick Turner is also an internationally exhibited painter with his own work gracing the covers of all of their major albums except Sad & Dangerous. He also runs the band's own record label Anchor & Hope. In 1999, Dirty Three collaborated with Low to record in session.
Time Jesum Transeuntum et Non Riverentum
Dirty Three Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And we went down
A wind wind blew warm and eloquent
We were searching for the secrets of the universe
We rounded up demons and forced them
To tell us what it all meant
And broke them down, one by one
On a scrap of paper they wrote these words
(And as we read them, the sun broke
Through the trees)
Dread the passage of jesus, for he will not return
Then we headed back to our world
And left the forest behind
Our hearts singing with all the knowledge of love
But somewhere, somehow, we lost the message
Along the way
And when we got home, we bought ourselves a house
And we bought a car that we did not use
And we bought a cage,and two singing birds
And at night we'd sit and listen to the canary song
For we'd both run right out of words
Now the stars they are all angled wrong
And the sun and the moon refuse to burn
But I remember a message
In a demon's hand
Dread the passage of jesus, for he does not return
He does not return
He does not return
The opening line of this song by Dirty Three, "We were called to the forest and we went down," sets the scene for a journey into the unknown. The following lines, "A wind wind blew warm and eloquent. We were searching for the secrets of the universe," suggest that the singer and their companions are on a quest for knowledge and understanding. They are willing to venture into the wilderness, to "round up demons and force them" to give up their secrets.
The lines "We tied them to trees and broke them down, one by one," suggest a kind of violence in the pursuit of knowledge. The "demons" are tortured for information, and the pursuit of knowledge is not without cost. However, the information they gain is profound, as evidenced by the words written on a scrap of paper by the demons: "Dread the passage of Jesus, for he will not return." This line suggests a sense of futility or despair, as if the singer has discovered a truth that is difficult to accept.
Despite the weight of this knowledge, the group returns to their world, their "hearts singing with all the knowledge of love." However, as they settle into domestic life, their sense of purpose wanes. They "lost the message along the way," and find themselves with nothing to say to each other except to listen to the canary song at night. The final lines of the song, "Now the stars they are all angled wrong and the sun and the moon refuse to burn," suggest a sense of cosmic upheaval, as if the knowledge gained in the forest has disrupted the natural order of things.
Overall, "Time Jesum Transeuntum et Non Riverentum" is a complex and enigmatic song. It explores themes of knowledge, violence, and the search for meaning in a way that is both poetic and ambiguous.
Line by Line Meaning
We were called to the forest
We received a summons to the woods
And we went down
We went toward the woods
A wind wind blew warm and eloquent
A gentle, pleasant breeze was blowing
We were searching for the secrets of the universe
Our quest was to find the hidden truths of existence
We rounded up demons and forced them
We captured evil spirits and coerced them
To tell us what it all meant
To reveal the meaning of everything to us
We tied them to trees
We restrained them with ropes on trees
And broke them down, one by one
We broke them mentally, one by one
On a scrap of paper they wrote these words
They wrote this on a small piece of paper
(And as we read them, the sun broke
As we read the words, the sun shone
Through the trees)
Through the branches of trees
Dread the passage of jesus, for he will not return
Be afraid of the arrival of Jesus who will not come back
Then we headed back to our world
We returned to our regular life
And left the forest behind
And departed from the wilderness
Our hearts singing with all the knowledge of love
Our hearts filled with the understanding of affection
But somewhere, somehow, we lost the message
But we misplaced the message, somehow and somewhere
Along the way
En route
And when we got home, we bought ourselves a house
And once we arrived home, we acquired a home
And we bought a car that we did not use
We bought a vehicle that we never used
And we bought a cage,and two singing birds
We purchased a cage and two birds that sung
And at night we'd sit and listen to the canary song
We'd sit at night and enjoy the canary's melody
For we'd both run right out of words
Because we both ran out of things to say
Now the stars they are all angled wrong
The stars no longer appear as they should
And the sun and the moon refuse to burn
Even the sun and the moon have stopped shining
But I remember a message
However, I recall a message
In a demon's hand
On a piece of paper held by a demon
Dread the passage of jesus, for he does not return
Be afraid of the arrival of Jesus who will not come back
He does not return
He will not return
He does not return
He will not return
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: ELLIS, TURNER, WHITE, NICHOLAS EDWARD CAVE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@michaelhowell5874
my mother and stepfather gave me this album as a gift when it was first released. this track gave me goosebumps, and still has the full effect to this day. haunting yet lovely.
@popcornenglishonline9548
It happened to me too and I got scarier than every movie I've ever watched.
@isabelmorala5285
Such great cool parents that you have!
@babyhandgrenade4004
It was going to be my wedding march before I found out my ex was cheating. Oh well, maybe with the right person.
@Kaziklu
I have had this CD for 20 years apparently I've never had a CD player capable of playing it. So this is my first hearing of it.
@hugonore
Funny story. I can't even remember how I found out there was this track, but it amazed everyone back then.
@UncleJ4
Funny thing is, I don't have a cd player that can play this any more!
@AnonEyeMouse
I had four CD players back in the day, and only one of them would rewind back before 00:00. It was the shittiest, cheapest bit of crap... but I loved it solely for listening to this track.
@ugrvdt9511
It's before 0.00.
Read the back if the box. It's ritten in a corner
@withershin
@@AnonEyeMouse Goldstar Portable CD player for around $300. Panasonic MASH had no game here.