1. An American alt-ro… Read Full Bio ↴There are two bands with the name Galaxie 500:
1. An American alt-rock band
2. A Canadian rock band
1. Galaxie 500 was an American alt-rock band that formed in Cambridge, MA in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.
The band comprised vocalist/guitarist Dean Wareham (a transplanted New Zealand native), bassist Naomi Yang and drummer Damon Krukowski, longtime friends who first met in high school in New York City before all three attended Harvard University. Wareham and Krukowski initially teamed in the short-lived Speedy and the Castanets, which was just the two of them playing a sort of mock punk; later, the duo recruited Yang to play bass.
Named after a friend's car, Galaxie 500 began performing live throughout Boston and New York before recording a three-song demo tape which they sent to Shimmy Disc honcho Kramer, who agreed to become the trio's producer. In early 1988 the singleTugboat was released, followed by their full-length debut, Today.
After signing to the U.S. branch of Rough Trade, Galaxie 500 issued 1989's On Fire, including the single Blue Thunder. The band did a few critically acclaimed cover songs; the Beatle's Rain , Joy Division'sCeremony and The Velvet Underground's Here She Comes Now. The group returned in 1990 with This Is Our Music, including the single Fourth of July and a cover of a Yoko Ono's piece called Listen, the Snow Is Falling. Following a subsequent tour, Galaxie 500 disbanded. Dean Wareham left to form the band, Luna. He later said playing with Galaxie 500 was ," ... too much like a job."
A few months later, Rough Trade went bankrupt, and with the label's demise went the trio's three albums, as well as their royalties. In 1991, at an auction of Rough Trade's assets, Krukowski purchased the master tapes for the group's music, and five years later the Rykodisc label issued a box set containing Galaxie 500's complete recorded output; a previously unreleased 1990 live set, dubbed Copenhagen, followed in 1997. In the meantime, after first resurfacing under the name Pierre Etoile, Krukowski and Yang later recorded as Damon and Naomi; additionally, the duo served as the rhythm section for the Wayne Rogers-led Magic Hour.
Myspace
From Wikipedia:
Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City, but began playing together during their time as students at Harvard University. Wareham and Krukowski had formed a band called Speedy and the Castanets, whose bass player left, Yang joining the group, the band changing their name to Galaxie 500, after a friend's car (a Ford car of the 1960s, the Ford Galaxie 500). In their early years, Krukowski didn't own a drum kit, so he borrowed one from his Harvard classmate Conan O'Brien, who'd bought a kit but had recently given up playing it. This drum kit can be heard on many of Galaxie 500's early recordings.
The band began playing gigs in Boston and New York, and recorded a demo which they sent to Shimmy Disc label boss and producer Mark Kramer, who agreed to produce the band. With Kramer at the controls, the band recorded the Tugboat single and the Oblivious flexi-disc, and moved on to record their debut album, Today, which was released on the small Aurora label. In 1989, they signed to Rough Trade, and released their second album, On Fire, which has been described as "lo-fi psychedelia reminiscent of Jonathan Richman being backed by The Velvet Underground", and is considered the band's defining moment. On Fire reached number 7 in the UK Indie Chart, and met with much critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, but was less well-received by the US music press, who cited Wareham's 'vocal limitations' as a weakness.
With Kramer's live sound production at the mixing board at the band's every gig, the sound and the increasingly loyal audience grew with each release.
Galaxie 500 recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme, these later released on the Peel Sessions album. Their cover of Jonathan Richman's Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste was also voted into number 41 in 1989's Festive 50 by listeners to the show.
The band split up in the spring of 1991 after a third album,This Is Our Music, Wareham quitting the band after a lengthy American tour.
Galaxie 500's records were released in the US and UK on the independent Rough Trade label. When Rough Trade went bankrupt in 1991, Krukowski and Yang purchased the masters at auction, reissuing them on Rykodisc in 1997.
Musical style and influences:
Galaxie 500 leveraged fairly minimal instrumental technique with intense atmospherics, provided by producer Kramer, and their distinctive sound bore an influence beyond the small audience for their independently released albums. The Velvet Underground and Jonathan Richman have been identified as key influences. In interviews on the Galaxie 500 DVD Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste, Wareham cites Spacemen 3 as another key inspiration.
Post-Galaxie 500 activities:
After leaving Galaxie 500, Wareham tried his hand at production, working with Mercury Rev. He released a solo single, Anesthesia in February 1992, and formed a new band, Luna[/luna]. Krukowski and Yang continued to record under the moniker Pierre Etoile, and then Damon and Naomi (whose first two releases were also produced by Kramer), and as members of Magic Hour. They also began the avant-garde press Exact Change.
Influence:
Galaxie 500's music had an influence on many later indie music groups, including Low. It has been covered and referenced by several well known artists. In Liz Phair's song Stratford-on-Guy, she sings, "And I was pretending that I was in a Galaxie 500 video." In Xiu Xiu's song Dr. Troll, Jamie Stewart sings, "Listen to On Fire and pretend someone could love you." The Submarines did a cover of Tugboat in their iTunes Live Session EP, recorded with famed indie rock producer Adam Lasus. The Brian Jonestown Massacre And This Is Our Music was titled in reference to the group's album This Is Our Music (which was in turn titled after Ornette Coleman's album This Is Our Music). Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore has cited Galaxie 500's album On Fire as "the guitar record of 1989".
2) Galaxie 500 is a francophone garage-rock band from Montreal QC, Canada. They have released two albums: a self-titled album Galaxie 500 (2002) and Le Temps au Point Mort (2006), both C4 Records.
Following the release of Le Temps au Point Mort, Galaxie 500 was nominated for the Group of the Year award in the 10th annual MIMI (Montreal International Music Initiative) awards.
The lineup that recorded Galaxie 500 consisted of Olivier Langevin (guitar and vocals), Pierre Girard (guitar), Fred Fortin (guitar and vocals), Simon Gauthier (bass), and Michel Dufour (drums). Several changes in personnel occurred between the recording of the two albums. For Le Temps au Point Mort, Langevin was joined by returning members Girard (guitar) and Fortin (drums), and by Vincent Peake (bass) and François Lafontaine (keyboards) of Karkwa.
Official Website
Blue Thunder
Galaxie 500 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Singing to myself
Thinking how fast it moves
Feeling how it turns
I was singing something
Out on Route 128
Thinking how blue it looks
My, my blue thunder
My, my blue thunder
My, my blue thunder
Singing out aloud
My, my blue thunder
My, my blue thunder
My, my blue thunder
Singing out aloud
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
The lyrics to Galaxie 500's song "Blue Thunder" seem to be about the joy of driving on the open road, free and untethered. The singer is singing to themselves, perhaps lost in the thrill of the moment as they speed down the highway. They marvel at the speed and agility of their car, "how fast it moves / feeling how it turns." The singer seems to be lost in their thoughts, hoping to escape whatever worries or stresses they may be facing in their daily life. They are "thinking of blue thunder," fully immersed in the experience of driving.
The references to Route 128 suggest that the song takes place in the Boston area, as Route 128 is a major highway that encircles the city. The singer is captivated by how "blue" the road looks, perhaps due to the time of day, the weather, or their own mood. Regardless, they continue to sing to themselves, lost in the moment of driving and enjoying the freedom it brings. The repetition of the phrase "my, my blue thunder" further emphasizes the singer's awe and appreciation for their car and the experience of driving it.
Overall, "Blue Thunder" is a song about joy and escape, a celebration of the freedom and pleasure that can come from driving aimlessly along the open road.
Line by Line Meaning
Thinking of blue thunder
Reflecting on the power and beauty of the color blue, as represented by an object called 'Thunder'
Singing to myself
Vocally expressing this internal contemplation, likely as a way of processing and enjoying the experience
Thinking how fast it moves
Musing on the speed and agility of 'Thunder'
Feeling how it turns
Sensually experiencing the fluid motion of 'Thunder'
I was singing something
Describing the act of vocalizing thoughts and emotions as a fluid and improvisational process
Out on Route 128
Placing this experience in a specific geographical context, lending it a sense of place and time
Thinking how blue it looks
Reflecting again on the powerful and striking visual aspect of the 'Thunder' object
Singing out aloud
Continuing this spontaneous and expressive vocalization of thoughts and feelings
My, my blue thunder
Addressing the object of contemplation directly, as if it were a powerful and mysterious force
I'll drive so far away
Expressing a desire to escape or transcend mundane reality, using the act of driving as a metaphor
Blue thunder
Returning to the powerful and alluring image of the 'Thunder' object
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Written by: Damon Krukowski, Michael Dean Wareham, Naomi Yang
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
liebejill
Thinkin' of blue thunder
Singin' to myself
Thinkin' how fast it moves
Feelin how it turns
I was singin' somethin
Out on Route 128
Thinkin how blue it looks
Singin out aloud
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
Singin' out aloud
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
Singin' out aloud
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
VolumeDrinkers
My favorite song by Galaxie 500, the end gives me goosebumps every time. God, without this band I would have never discovered so many amazing bands like Bedhead, Duster or Codeine
Jackjude
That's a veeeery correct list of bands.
VBBass333
Reminiscing the days when I had found out about this album. I was angsty and on the verge of ending it all every day. It’s been years since then and it seems like nothings changed except my ability to recognize that everything is temporary, pain and happiness. Daydreaming rn and telling myself that everything will be okay.
MaxMJM
This song is mint!!! I got my dad to listen to this album and now he listens to it all the time....describes it as 'haunting'. This band is wildly underrated. Cheers for uploading.
Murilo
It is autumn. Everything is gray. I'm alone at home. Sunday morning. This song. Sometimes it is just great to enjoy the melancholy.
Ben Smith
Murilo the best
Matteo Russo
yes yes yes! An album for autumn and doing nothing.
lmw_blue
Autumnhead. Now there’s a great band name!
liebejill
Thinkin' of blue thunder
Singin' to myself
Thinkin' how fast it moves
Feelin how it turns
I was singin' somethin
Out on Route 128
Thinkin how blue it looks
Singin out aloud
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
Singin' out aloud
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
Singin' out aloud
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Simon Roberts
I remember in my teens feeling trapped in my small town - cranking this up and singing (shouting) "I'll drive so far away". When it finished I heard the phone ringing - neighbours telling me that they were being deafened. It was in the middle of the day BTW. xD