Frank Turner started solo acoustic shows prior to Million Dead's break up. The first official performance was at the first Small Town America all dayer at 93 Feet East on September 18th 2004. The solo performances were, in a sense, a sideline to Million Dead. They did allow Turner to display some of his own songwriting capabilities (without a band) as well as some covers of songs and bands he enjoyed, in some cases the songs were much re-worked to fit an acoustic atmosphere. Solo performances were also used to help bolster or expose Million Dead to new individuals as well, with some acoustic in-store and radio performances of Million Dead songs.
At the end of February and start of March (2006) Frank went to Oxford to record the "Campfire Punkrock" EP with Dive Dive as the backing band for three of the songs. This EP was released on May 15 2006 on a limited run through Xtra Mile recordings. It sold out after only a few weeks on sale and had to be re-pressed to meet demand.
With Jonah Matranga doing some touring in June 2006 in support of his CD/DVD album "Jonah Matranga" there was some discussion of Frank doing supports with Jonah, this only ended up with one show featuring both at The Peel in Kingston. The discussion however lead to the creation of the Jonah Matranga and Frank Turner split 12" vinyl. Released in the USA on Welcome Home Records and in the UK via Xtra Mile Recordings. The release features Frank covering two songs by American songwriters and Jonah covering two songs by British songwriters. He was recently (September 18 2006) the last ever artist to perform on BBC Radio 1's Lamacq Live program, unveiling two new songs from "Sleep Is For The Week".
The good sales of "Campfire Punkrock" meant good news as this allowed Frank to record his debut album "Sleep Is For The Week" in August and September 2006. Recorded in Oxford with Dive Dive as extra band on a selection of the 13 tracks. The last track, "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends", is a live recording from a sold out show at the London Barfly and features the vocal contribution of the (approximately) 200 strong audience during a verse. Those in attendance and gave their names to Xtra Mile Recordings will have their names credited as contributers to this track.
In April 2008, his second album Love, Ire and Song was released to critical acclaim.
His third full-length album, Poetry Of The Deed, was released September 7th 2009, and includes the singles The Road, Try This At Home and Isabel. An accompanying DVD, Take To The Road, was released in March 2010.
Amidst extensive touring in support of Poetry of the Deed, Turner and his then-untitled backing band recorded Rock & Roll, an EP consisting of tracks written at the same time as Poetry of the Deed alongside new material. Following its release, Turner and the band spent twenty days in January 2011, recording their next studio album with producer Tristan Ivemy. The result was England Keep My Bones, the fourth studio album by Frank, released on June 6, 2011, on Xtra Mile in the United Kingdom, and on June 7, 2011, on Epitaph Records worldwide. Preceded by the single, "Peggy Sang the Blues", the album was produced and mixed by Tristan Ivemy, who had previously mixed Love, Ire and Song, Rock & Roll and Campfire Punkrock.
The album's title is taken from William Shakespeare's play, The Life and Death of King John, with Turner noting, "I knew that the album was, for the most part, about mortality, and about Englishness. Shakespeare seemed like a good place to go hunting for some pearls of wisdom, and with a little help from my friend Ben we came across this one, and it just seemed to fit the work really well."
Following the completion of the album, Turner subsequently announced his backing band had named themselves The Sleeping Souls, after a lyric in the track, "I Am Disappeared". The Sleeping Souls are Nigel Powell, Ben LLoyd, Tarant Anderson and Matt Nasir.
Turner recorded his fifth studio album in Burbank, California, in October 2012. The reason for recording first time abroad in California was, that producer Rich Costey wouldn't come to England with all his equipment so he convinced Turner to record it in Burbank. Frank Turner announced via Twitter on 28 October 2012 that recording was completed, and mixing and mastering would be done in time for a March 2013 release date. During the November and December UK tour a free CD titled Good Hangs from Xtra Mile Recordings was distributed for free at Frank Turner shows, this included a yet-to-be-released Turner song titled "Tattoos" plus the Möngöl Hörde song "Casual Threats From Weekend Hardmen". On Christmas Day 2012, the song "Four Simple Words" was released on Xtra Mile Recordings' website as a free download along with the b-side "Cowboy Chords". On 4 January 2013, a video was shot for what would be the first single. On the same day Frank announced on Twitter that the single was the song "Recovery". On 9 January, Frank uploaded a photo to his Instagram page showing the names of all 13 songs that would feature on his new album. This included songs played during the UK and US tours of 2012 such as "Anymore", "Plain Sailing Weather", "We Shall Not Overcome" and "Tell Tale Signs". Frank also posted on his fan forum that an extended edition of his new album would be released that includes an extra 5 or 6 songs. On 19 February 2013, it was announced that Turner had signed a licensing deal with Interscope Records in the US for Tape Deck Heart. Following the release of the album Frank Turner embarked on a short U.K tour.
[this section requires expansion, to cover the period 2013 to 2018]
Discography:
2005 - Frank Turner's Demo
2007 - Campfire Punkrock
2007 - The Real Damage
2007 - Sleep Is For The Week
2008 - Love Ire & Song
2008 - The First Three Years
2009 - Poetry Of The Deed
2010 - Take to the Road: Live 2009
2010 - iTunes Festival: London 2010
2011 - 2011-11-17: Daytrotter Session, Big Orange Studios, Austin, TX, USA
2012 - The Second Three Years
2012 - Last Minutes and Lost Evenings
2013 - Tape Deck Heart
2014 - Polaroid Picture
2014 - The Third Three Years
2015 - Positive Songs for Negative People
2017 - Songbook
2018 - Be More Kind
2019 - No Man's Land
2020 - West Coast vs. Wessex
2020 - Buddies II: Still Buddies
Love Ire & Song
Frank Turner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That life was just a list of disappoints and defeats
And you could only do your best
And I said "That's a fucking cop-out
You're just washed up and you're tired
And when I get to your age, well, I won't be such a coward"
But these day I sit at home, known to shout at my TV
And punk rock didn't live up to what I'd hoped that it could be
Are just coasters for beers and clean surfaces for drugs
And I packed all my pamphlets, with my bibles, at the back of the shelf
Well, it was bad enough the feeling, and the first time it hit
When you realized your parents had let the world all go to shit
And that the values and ideals for which many had fought and died
Had been killed off in the committees and left to die by the wayside
But it was worse when we turned to the kids on the left
And got let down again by some poor excuse for protest
Yeah, by idiot fucking hippies in fifty different factions
Who are locked inside some kind of 60's battle re-enactment
And I hung-up my banner in disgust and I head for the door
Oh, but once, we were young, and we were crass enough to care
But I guess you live and learn, we won't make that mistake again, no
Oh, but surely, just for one day, yeah, we could fight and we could win
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible
Well, we've been a good few hours drinking
So I'm going to say what everyone's thinking
If we're stuck on this ship and it's sinking
Then we might as well have a parade
'Cause if it's still gonna to hurt in the morning
And a better plan's yet to get forming
Then where's the harm spending an evening
In manning the old barricades
So come on old friends to the streets
Let's be 1905 but not 1917
Let's be heroes, let's be martyrs, let's be radical thinkers
Who never have to test drive the least of their dreams
Let's divide up the world into the damned and the saved
And then ride to the valley like the old Light Brigade
And straighten our backs and we won't be afraid
And they'll celebrate our deaths with a national parade
So come on let's be young, let's be crass enough to care
Let's refuse to live and learn, let's make all our mistakes again, yes
And then darling, just for one day, yeah, we can fight and we can win
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible
Leave the mourning the to the morning
Yeah, pain can be killed
With aspirin tablets and vitamin pills
But memories of hope, and of glorious defeat
Are a little bit harder to beat
The song “Love Ire & Song” by Frank Turner is a commentary on the disillusionment that comes with growing older and realizing that the things you once believed in have been corrupted or failed to live up to expectations. The lyrics express the frustration of feeling like the world has let you down and the loss of idealism. The first verse discusses the idea that life is full of disappointments and that you can only do your best, which the singer rejects as a “cop-out”. As the song progresses, the singer becomes more disillusioned with punk rock and activism as he realizes that they are not the idealistic movements he once thought they were.
The second verse focuses on the disappointment of seeing the values and ideals of the previous generation being killed off by committees and left to die by the wayside. He turns to the kids on the left and is disappointed again by their poor excuse for protest. He becomes disillusioned with the “idiot fucking hippies in 50 different factions who are locked inside some kind of 60’s battle re-enactment” and hangs up his banner in disgust. The bridge of the song expresses the desire to fight and win despite the odds, insisting on the impossible for just one day. Finally, the song concludes with the idea that memories of hope and glorious defeat are harder to beat than the pain of disappointment.
Line by Line Meaning
Well a teacher of mine once told me
That life was just a list of disappoints and defeats
And you could only do your best,
And I said "That's a fucking cop-out,
you're just washed up and your tired,
and when I get to your age I won't be such a coward"
The singer reflects on a past conversation with a teacher where the teacher told him that life is only disappointing and full of defeats, and trying your best is all you can do. The singer disagrees, saying it's a cop-out and that when he gets older, he won't be a coward like the teacher.
But these day I sit at home, known to shout at my TV
And Punk Rock didn't live up to what I hoped that it could be
And all the things that I believed with all my heart when I was young
Are just coasters for beers and clean surfaces for drugs
And I packed all my pamphlets with my bibles at the back of the shelf
The singer confesses that he now finds himself at home yelling at the TV, disillusioned with punk rock and all the things he used to believe in. He now sees them as useless, symbolic or serve as decoys.
Well it was bad enough the feeling, and the first time it hit
When you realized your parents had let the world all go to shit
And that the values and ideals for which many had fought and died
Had been killed off in the committees and left to die by the wayside
But it was worse when we turned to the kids on the left
And got let down again by some poor excuse for protest
Yeah by idiot fucking hippies in 50 different factions
Who are locked inside some kind of 60's battle re-enactment
And I hung-up my banner in disgust and I head for the door
The singer reflects on how his first realization of disappointment and disgust came when he realized his parents had led the world to a terrible place. He then comments that things are even worse now as he sees newer generations failing to pick up the fight to revolutionize the world which was fought by many others who died for it in the past. He specifically cites protests led by modern-day hippies who are ill-equipped to create actual change as a source of disappointment
Oh but once we were young, and we were crass enough to care
But I guess you live and learn, we won't make that mistake again, no
Oh but surely just for one day, we could fight and we could win
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible
The singer reflects on the days of their youth where they were naive and passionate about the cause enough to make a difference. However, with time, they have come to learn and are wiser now, and have lost some of that passion. He still yearns for the strength of that youthful passion again and believes that even for just one day, they could fight and win something that seems impossible.
Well we've been a good few hours drinking
So I'm going to say what everyone's thinking
If we're stuck on this ship and it's sinking
Then we might as well have a parade
Cos if it's still going to hurt in the morning
And a better plan's set to get forming
Then where's the harm spending an evening
In manning the old barricades,
So come on old friends to the streets
Let's be 1905 but not 1917,
Let's be heroes, let's be martyrs, let's be radical thinkers
Who never have to test drive the least of their dreams
Let's divide up the world into the damned and safe
And then ride to the valleys like the old life brigade
And straighten our backs and we won't be afraid
And they'll celebrate our deaths with a national parade
The singer suggests that instead of doing nothing, they should celebrate their cause just like one would a parade, because even if it won't amount to anything, it's worth indulging the cause at the moment. He calls on his old friends to come together and revolt in a way that's peaceful and makes a difference. His call is to divide the world into two groups: those who are in danger and those who are safe, and fight for those in danger until they are safe too. He believes that even if martyred in the process, the fight and the resulting death will still be celebrated in a national parade.
So come on let's be young, let's be crass enough to care
Let's refuse to live and learn, let's make all our mistakes again yes
And then darling, just for one day, we can fight and we can win
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible
The singer repeats his earlier call to action, suggesting that they be young and passionate again, and refuse to be more polished and safer than they were in their youth. He wants them to make the same mistakes and fight the fight they once did with just as much passion as they once did. He again suggests that for at least one day, they can rise up and do something great - something they once deemed impossible.
Leave the mourning the to the morning
Yeah pain can be killed
With aspirin tablets and vitamin pills
But memories of hope, and glorious defeat
Are a little bit harder to beat
The singer ends with an accepting tone to the inevitable sadness and pain of life, and how it can be remedied with quick fixes like pills. He then notes that losing hope and being defeated after trying to fix what's wrong with the world is much harder to heal - yet it's worth fighting for anyways because it's what brings meaning to life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Francis Edward Turner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Hansel
From about 2:23 until the end ("Well, we've been a few hours drinking", etc.) is possibly the best song/lyrics ever written. The sheer intensity of it all... Wow.
T B
This was the first Frank Turner song I ever heard, all those years ago, and it still remains my all time favourite song. Today I got the words "Love, Ire & Song" tattooed onto my skin. Today was a good day. Thank you Frank <3
Andrew Carter
I can't stop listening. This song just resonates so deeply with me
ZDocc
These lyrics resonate so much with me on a personal level it's almost uncanny
MrDilliams
I saw him live with Flogging Molly and he was just as passionate and great, he even went to a merch stand and sold his own stuff. It was great.
Shay
This must if been around the England take my Bones era. I saw him live in Wolverhampton around that time.
The man lived on the road for years! Hope you're still full of the Frank love haha
Bosh B
Sometimes I get sad. Sometimes Frank's music makes me feel better
Josh G
Music makes a difference. Great music makes all the difference.
BigFatAmishBob
me too
Tatumn Hollenbeck
His music makes me wanna kms