Our story opens with Angelella onstage at a North Philadelphia rock club, his hair flailing, his guitar strings rattling, his face beaming. It’s 2009 or thereabouts, and he’s performing with one of his old bands, a punky Americana group with such high energy, folks are hanging out after the show to shake his hand. A couple months later, a different venue, a different scene entirely – an eclectic hip-hop outfit, and there he is again, rocking out on guitar. Later still, Angelella’s face keeps showing up in band photos, on show flyers and venue websites. His enthusiasms run the gamut – experimental lo-fi psych, indie rock soul, arty grunge throwbacks. The question has to be asked - are you in every group in Philadelphia? He laughs, responds: No man, just a bunch of projects.
Meanwhile in South Philly, Brent “Ritz” Reynolds was holed up in a studio, making a name for himself as a young hip-hop producer. He cut tracks for The Roots, worked with Mac Miller and State Property alum Peedi Crakk. Reynolds knew his stuff and had the moxy for the hard haul of being a freelance recording guru. In early 2010 he and Angelella connected in a chance recording session, and the doors of possibility were blown open. Angelella’s songwriting would become a prototype for Reynolds to test out his lush, imaginative production skills into the rock world. Conversely, Reynolds’ studio alchemy would place Angelella’s broad-spanning tastes and musical interests under a single umbrella. You don’t have to be in a dozen different-sounding bands and call them a dozen different things. You can do it all, and call it DRGN KING.
DRGN KING debuted in a well-received warehouse show that fall. Angelella and Reynolds deemed the experiment a success, and kept it moving. Various musical collaborators were brought in, shows got played and new songs were written. Then they retreated into the studio, recorded, refined and recorded some more. Paragraph Nights comes after two years of nose-to-the-grindstone work, and its song are bursting with life, excitement, self-discovery, possibility. Listen to the pensive, introspective electronic pop of “Warriors.” It’s a nod to the community of artists and musicians in Philadelphia, and ruminates on crafting an identity through art: “People tell me I got no purpose,” Angelella sings. “They're not wrong but it's allright.”
Skip around and you’ll find a variety of tones and moods. The fierce industrial juggernaut “Barbarians” rushes at you with a surreal account of nightlife as a rite of passage, as well as a possibly damaging pursuit that just might fray one’s sanity. With haunting half-whispered, half-howled vocals and hammering drumbeats, DRGN KING pushes you to the edge, then carries you back. Earlier, the power pop riffage of “Holy Ghost” laughs and makes an anthemic march out of people projecting an identity onto Angelella – telling him he looks like the Christian Jesus.
With a massive beat and blissful refrain, “Altamont Sunrise” is a soaring number to carry you on your way – to other cities, to other countries, worlds apart from where we are today. A snapping snare drum and juggling bass line are your guides, while Angelella sings loudly and joyously with everyone in the room about taking the lessons learned and making something bigger and brighter on top of the ruins.
It's not a piece of music that DRGN KING could have written individually, or four years ago. Nor is Paragraph Nights a record that could have existed then. It’s an album about the journey, one that reflects as well as embraces it, channeling the trial-and-error process of music-making – and life in general – into something new.
-John Vettese, XPN.com
Undertow
Drgn King Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like in some dirty magazine
Said I Don't want you to regret
All the things that happened, yet
I want to show you what I mean
I said to summer I don't wanna go
Just wanna stay out in the undertow
I wanna give it everything I know
Soul inside those floating eyes I say
That no one wants to change
Yeah, no one wants to change
Look into the things we will away
And watch out signals change
We watch them rearrange
Soul inside those floating eyes I say
That no one wants to change
Yeah, no one wants to change
I said to summer I don't wanna go
Just wanna live out in the undertow
I wanna give it everything I know
And send a vision to my radio
I said to summer I don't wanna go
Just wanna live out in the undertow
I wanna give it everything I know
And send a vision to my radio
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
The lyrics to DRGN KING's song "Undertow" appear to be about wanting to live life freely and unencumbered by societal expectations. The singer talks about seeing someone's picture on a screen, likening it to a "dirty magazine," and expressing a desire for that person to not regret the things that have happened. The rest of the song seems to be about the singer's own desire to live a life free of regrets, without being bound to society's expectations.
The line "I said to summer I don't wanna go, just wanna stay out in the undertow" is particularly evocative, suggesting that the singer wants to experience the world in a different way, perhaps in a way that is not necessarily popular or "mainstream." The line "I wanna give it everything I know and send a vision to my radio" suggests that the singer wants to share their vision of life with others, to inspire them and perhaps to bring them into this new way of thinking and living.
The repeated line "Soul inside those floating eyes I say, that no one wants to change" seems to be a reflection on the difficulty of changing oneself, and possibly also an acknowledgement that many people are content with the way things are and aren't interested in changing their perspectives or lifestyles.
Overall, "Undertow" appears to be an upbeat and optimistic celebration of individuality and the desire to live life on one's own terms, without being held back by societal norms or expectations.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw your picture on a screen
I saw a photograph of you on an electronic device
Like in some dirty magazine
It looked like something from a low-quality publication
Said I don't want you to regret
I told you that I don't want you to feel remorseful
All the things that happened, yet
Despite everything that has occurred
I want to show you what I mean
I desire to explain myself in detail
I said to summer I don't wanna go
I told the season that I'm not interested in leaving
Just wanna stay out in the undertow
I simply wish to remain adrift in the turbulent water
I wanna give it everything I know
I'm motivated to give my all
And send a vision to my radio
And transmit an image to my broadcasting device
Soul inside those floating eyes I say
I see a spirit within those hovering pupils
That no one wants to change
But nobody desires to alter things
Look into the things we will away
Examine the things that we try to wish out of existence
And watch our signals change
And observe our communications transform
We watch them rearrange
As we witness them reorganize themselves
Soul inside those floating eyes I say
Once again, I see a spirit within those hovering pupils
That no one wants to change
But nobody desires to alter things
I said to summer I don't wanna go
Once again, I told the season that I'm not interested in leaving
Just wanna live out in the undertow
I simply wish to exist adrift in the turbulent water
I wanna give it everything I know
I'm motivated to give my all
And send a vision to my radio
And transmit an image to my broadcasting device
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Repeating chorus melody
Contributed by Jeremiah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
R Word
Music fron an 80's teen movie.
I love happy music!
Christian Gamboa
Fucking love this song
Cdubs Optional
I love this song, but it's hard for me to listen to it.