By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a moderate UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas. Their next, the critically-acclaimed Heaven Up Here, reached the Top Ten in 1981, as did 1983's Porcupine and '84's Ocean Rain. Singles like "The Killing Moon" (later used in the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, a film whose imagery owed much to the artwork of the band's early records.), "Silver," "Bring on the Dancing Horses," and "The Cutter" helped keep the group in the public eye as they took a brief hiatus in the late 1980s. Their 1987 self-titled LP was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.
McCulloch quit the band in 1988. De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident one year later. The others decided to continue, recruiting Noel Burke to replace McCulloch on vocals in Reverberation (1990), which did not generate much excitement among fans or critics. Burke, Sargeant and Pattinson split after that, but the surviving three fourths of the original band reformed in 1997 and released Evergreen (1997), What are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) , Siberia (2005), and the latest addition, The Fountain (2009). The group's old audience liked the return to their classic sound, and they also managed to gain a number of new, younger listeners.
Echo and the Bunnymen were managed early on by Bill Drummond, who went on to be a founder member of The KLF.
No Dark Things
Echo & the Bunnymen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My hands clean
No head shaved
It's quite safe
Compromise
Discovery
It's just an
It's only
Oh my god
Oh you misconstrue all
The tactics
You must learn
To distinguish error
From my bait
Really don't think it's funny
But he's beginning to accept the facts
Into the middle of the floor
You walked over
In the middle of the wall
The picture was still hanging
From the corner of my eye
You stick the pins in
In the middle of the floor
I fell over
We have no dark things
Nothing to hide or that
Just some heads and a wish
Something to sing about
We have no dark things
Nothing to hide or that
Just some heads and a wish
Something to scream about
No dark things
No dark things...
The lyrics to Echo & The Bunnymen's "No Dark Things" are cryptic and open to interpretation. The opening lines "I like it, my hands clean, no head shaved, it's quite safe" suggests indulgence in something enjoyable while maintaining a clean image. The lines “Compromise, discovery, it's just an, it's only” imply a willingness to give in to something in the pursuit of a discovery, but also accepting the possibility that it may not be important in the grand scheme of things. Echo & The Bunnymen frontman, Ian McCulloch's haunting voice becomes more intense as he warns listeners to "distinguish error from my bait", giving a sense of a cautionary statement.
The second verse "Into the middle of the floor, you walked over, in the middle of the wall, the picture was still hanging" creates a potent visual image of someone who, while in motion, has knocked over or displaced something. The violent images continue with "From the corner of my eye, you stick the pins in, in the middle of the floor, I fell over." The lyrics imply a sense of loss of control, or a feeling of being victimized or lied to. Eventually, the song ends with the repetition of the phrase "No dark things," which seems to suggest that the singer is innocent and has nothing to hide.
Line by Line Meaning
I like it
I am satisfied with the current situation
My hands clean
I am not responsible for anything wrong in this situation
No head shaved
I have not made any drastic decisions
It's quite safe
There is no danger or risk involved
Compromise
Both parties have made some concessions
Discovery
I have learned something new
It's just an
It is nothing serious
It's only
It is not a big deal
Oh my god
Expressing shock or surprise
Oh you misconstrue all
You misunderstand everything
The tactics
The methods being used
You must learn
You need to understand
To distinguish error
To recognize mistakes
From my bait
From my deliberate actions to provoke a reaction
Really don't think it's funny
I don't find it amusing
But he's beginning to accept the facts
He is starting to acknowledge the truth
Into the middle of the floor
To the center of the room
You walked over
You passed by
In the middle of the wall
On the wall's central point
The picture was still hanging
The picture was not moved
From the corner of my eye
From the edge of my vision
You stick the pins in
You cause me emotional pain
In the middle of the floor
To the center of the room
I fell over
I was knocked down
We have no dark things
We have nothing bad to hide
Nothing to hide or that
No secrets to keep
Just some heads and a wish
Only our ideas and desires
Something to sing about
Something to bring joy
Something to scream about
Something to be passionate about
No dark things
No hidden agenda
No dark things...
Absolutely nothing to be concerned about
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: IAN STEPHEN MCCULLOCH, LESLIE PATTINSON, PETE FREITAS, WILLIAM SERGEANT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind