After a solo tour in the fall of 2003, Alexakis decided to continue with Everclear, organizing a new band that made its debut in March of 2004. The new lineup consisted of bass player Sam Hudson, guitarist Dave French, and drummer Eric Bretl. In the summer of 2004, the band added keyboard player Josh Crawley, and swapped Bretl for former Everclear drum tech Brett Snyder. The new lineup released its first recording, a cover of Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land, that summer. A self-released EP of performances recorded for XM Satellite Radio called Closure was given out at shows in the fall of 2004.
Free of a major label, Alexakis spent the ensuing year and half slowly recording material for a new Everclear release. He admitted that the time after the breakup of the original lineup served as a "wake up call", during which he suffered his third divorce and a filing for bankruptcy. Alexakis announced the completion of the album in early 2006,titled Welcome To The Drama Club. The new band is now on Eleven Seven Music.
In August of 2008, drummer Brett Snyder left the band after four years. He was then replaced by Tommy Stewart, who previously played in bands Fuel and Godsmack.
Queen Of The Air
Everclear Lyrics
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My dream swallowed me whole
There is a bridge where I hate to go
That is where I first saw her
High on the bridge I seen her red hair shining
There is a girl I never knew
She was my Aunt Virginia
They said that she, she just disappeared
High on the bridge I seen her dancing, waving to me there
She smiled and raised her head
Then she took to the air
There is a dream I can't escape
My memories come back to me
There is a hell I can't escape
My memories come back to me
I heard the truth about it
Pictures and headlines hidden away
I heard the truth about my real mom
Jumping from the bridge that day
Now I know why ever since I was 3 years old
Been having the same nightmare
Now I know the truth about Virginia
Why she took to the air
The lyrics of Everclear's song "Queen of the Air" describe a recurring dream that the singer has been having since he was a child. The dream is about a woman named Virginia who has disappeared, and whom the singer never knew, but who is said to look like him. The first time the singer saw her was on a bridge, which he now hates to go to. High on this bridge, he saw her dancing and waving to him as her red hair shone in the sun. Suddenly, Virginia smiled and raised her head, and then she took to the air, disappearing into the sky. The lyrics also talk about hidden pictures and headlines that reveal the truth about the singer's mother, who jumped from the same bridge, and how this explains why he has been having the same nightmare since he was a child.
Line by Line Meaning
There is a dream I used to have
I had a recurring dream
My dream swallowed me whole
The dream consumed me entirely
There is a bridge where I hate to go
There is a bridge that brings back unpleasant memories
That is where I first saw her
I saw the girl there for the first time
High on the bridge I seen her red hair shining
I saw her on the bridge, and her red hair was very noticeable
There is a girl I never knew
I never actually knew the girl
She was my Aunt Virginia
The girl was actually my Aunt Virginia
They said that she, she just disappeared
They told me that she disappeared without a trace
They said I look just like her
I was told that I resembled her in appearance
High on the bridge I seen her dancing, waving to me there
On the bridge, I saw her dancing and waving at me
She smiled and raised her head
She looked happy and lifted her head up
Then she took to the air
She jumped off the bridge and flew through the air
There is a dream I can't escape
I have a recurring nightmare that I can't get rid of
My memories come back to me
I keep remembering the same events
There is a hell I can't escape
There is a difficult situation that I can't avoid
My memories come back to me
I keep remembering the same events
I heard the truth about it
I learned the truth about what happened
Pictures and headlines hidden away
There were pictures and news articles that were kept hidden
I heard the truth about my real mom
I learned the truth about my biological mother
Jumping from the bridge that day
She jumped off the bridge and died that day
Now I know why ever since I was 3 years old
I understand why I've been having this nightmare since I was young
Been having the same nightmare
I've been having a recurring nightmare
Now I know the truth about Virginia
I learned the truth about what really happened to Virginia
Why she took to the air
Why she jumped off the bridge and died by suicide
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ART ALEXAKIS, CRAIG MONTOYA, RALPH SCOTT CUTHBERT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind