Initially, Garbage was an informal jam session between the three producers held in Marker's basement. Steve Marker saw the music video of "Suffocate Me" by Angelfish on MTV, recorded it and showcased it to his band mates. They invited the Scottish vocalist Shirley Manson to join Garbage, she accepted, and soon Angelfish disbanded. According to Vig, Garbage was named before Manson joined the band, after the percussionist Pauli Ryan walked in while Vig was working on a remix for Nine Inch Nails and said it sounded like "garbage".
In August 1995, the group released their debut album Garbage, preceded by their first single "Vow" in March 1995. This album was an unexpected smash, selling over 5 million copies and reaching double platinum status in the UK (#6), USA (#20), Australia. Also it received great reviews from critics and featured on the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die." They released five singles from this album: "Vow", "Only Happy When It Rains", "Queer", "Stupid Girl", and "Milk". A non-album single entitled "Subhuman" was issued on 7 August 1995.
In 1996, the band released a short-form VHS and Video CD entitled "Garbage Video" (also known as "Home Video"), that included all of Garbage's promotional music videos filmed up until that point.
In 1997, Garbage were nominated at Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal for "Stupid Girl", Best Rock Song for "Stupid Girl". In the same year, the remixed version of "#1 Crush" (original version released in 1996) was included on the multi-platinum movie soundtrack William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Also it was nominated for Best Song From a Movie at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards.
They spent over an year working on their follow-up album Version 2.0, which was released on May 1998 and hit #1 in the UK and #13 in the US. It was supported by six singles: "Push It", "I Think I'm Paranoid", "Special", "When I Grow Up", "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" and "You Look So Fine". The music video of "Push It" featured state of the art effects and it costs over $400,000 to make. Version 2.0 sold over 5 million copies, almost the same as their debut.
In 1999, they performed the theme song to the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough. That year, they also contributed the song "When I Grow Up" to the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy. Version 2.0 was nominated at Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album, and "Special" was nominated for Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal and Best Rock Song.
In October 2001, Garbage issued their third and most pop album beautifulgarbage, preceded by the single "Androgyny" in September 2001. All four singles released ("Androgyny", "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)", "Breaking Up the Girl" and "Shut Your Mouth") were moderately successful. This album got 6th place at Rolling Stone's Top 10 Albums of The Year. The world tour from October 2001 to November 2002 was affected by Butch's health problems.
The band struggled to remain together and almost split in 2003, before returning with the fourth studio album Bleed Like Me in April 2005, peaking at a career-high #4 in USA. Four singles promoted the album: "Why Do You Love Me", "Sex Is Not the Enemy", "Bleed Like Me", and "Run Baby Run". Garbage cut short their 2005 world tour, and announced an indefinite hiatus, but emphasized it was not a break-up.
In July 2007 the group released a greatest hits album and a DVD entitled Absolute Garbage. The compilation featured a selection of their singles, a new single "Tell Me Where It Hurts" (#50 UK), and a remixed version of "It's All Over But the Crying" (the limited edition had also a remixes disc). The DVD included most of their music videos and a documentary related to the band.
In 2008 a new track called "Witness to Your Love" was issued on a charity compilation in the USA. Shirley Manson recorded a solo album but her label refused to release it considering it to be "too noir". In the same year she started to play a regular role on US TV show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
According to a post from Shirley's Facebook profile, the band returned back to studio in 2010. On 14 May 2012, Garbage released their fifth studio album, Not Your Kind of People. The album was supported by the singles "Blood For Poppies", "Battle in Me", "Automatic Systematic Habit" and "Big Bright World".
On June 10th 2016, Garbage released their 6th album "Strange Little Birds".
13 x Forever
Garbage Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And thirteen times I fucked on your dogma
You've taught me to hate
You've taught me to crawl
You raised your hand as you waved the bottle
You knocked me down, but it made me stronger
The harder you hit
And this one's for my mother
What will I do without her?
Don't look back
Don't even bother
And this one's for the father
Who loves his middle daughter
Well, here I am
Don't even bother
You can freak out to doubt me
But you'll lose your mind without me
You thought you could see right through me
But it made no difference to me anyway
Anyway
Anyway
A free reign gave you ammunition
To play the game and fuck other women
And something just snapped
And cracked in my brain
Thirteen times I sucked up inside me
The different ways that you tried to harm me
You did it once
You'll do it again
And this one's for my sister
Who dared to denigrate it
Don't look back
Don't even bother
And this one's for my lover
The one who had to suffer
Here I am
Don't even bother
You can freak out to doubt me
But you'll lose your mind without me
You thought you could see right through me
But it made no difference to me anyway
Anyway
Anyway
Anyway
Thirteen times (one)
Thirteen times (two)
Thirteen times (three)
Thirteen times (four)
Thirteen times (five)
Thirteen times (six)
Thirteen times (seven)
Thirteen times (eight)
The lyrics of Garbage's song "13 x Forever" express feelings of frustration, anger, and betrayal towards a person who has wronged the singer thirteen times. Through the repeated line "Thirteen times you fucked with my karma, and thirteen times I fucked on your dogma," the singer makes clear that they have fought back against the wrongs of the other person, no matter how many times they have been hurt. The use of "karma" implies that the actions of the other person have caused negative consequences for the singer, and the use of "dogma" suggests that the other person is imposing their beliefs onto the singer in a forceful manner.
The lyrics also touch on themes of family, as the singer mentions their mother, father, and sister. The lines dedicated to each family member suggest that they have all experienced their own hardships at the hands of the same person. The final lines of the song, "You can freak out to doubt me, but you'll lose your mind without me / You thought you could see right through me, but it made no difference to me anyway," imply that the singer has moved on from this toxic relationship and is better off without the other person.
Overall, "13 x Forever" is a powerful song that captures the emotions of someone who has been repeatedly hurt by another person. It emphasizes the importance of standing up for oneself and not allowing others to continue causing harm.
Line by Line Meaning
Thirteen times you fucked with my karma
You messed with my fate and destiny thirteen times
And thirteen times I fucked on your dogma
And I went against your beliefs and principles a total of thirteen times
You've taught me to hate
You've influenced me to feel intense anger and bitterness
You've taught me to crawl
You've made me feel inferior and humiliated me, causing me to feel weak and insignificant
You raised your hand as you waved the bottle
You demonstrated aggression and hostility by raising and waving a bottle
You knocked me down, but it made me stronger
You caused me to experience hardship, but I gained strength and resilience as a result
The harder you hit
The more intense and forceful your actions were
The harder you fall
The more severe the consequences will be for you
And this one's for my mother
This part of the song is dedicated to my mother
What will I do without her?
I am devastated and lost without my mother
Don't look back
Do not dwell on the past or regret what has happened
Don't even bother
It is not worth the effort or energy to try and change what has already happened
And this one's for the father
This part of the song is dedicated to my father
Who loves his middle daughter
He cares for and has affection towards his child who is not the youngest or oldest
Well, here I am
I am present and assertive in this situation
You can freak out to doubt me
You may panic and become anxious if you question my intentions or loyalty
But you'll lose your mind without me
You will become unstable and irrational if you no longer have me around
You thought you could see right through me
You believed that you had a clear understanding of who I am and what I am capable of
But it made no difference to me anyway
But your assumptions and perceptions did not impact me or my actions
A free reign gave you ammunition
Being able to act freely gave you the power and resources to harm me
To play the game and fuck other women
You engaged in extramarital affairs and used it as a way to hurt me
And something just snapped
Suddenly, something inside me broke or gave way
And cracked in my brain
And caused me to become mentally unstable or unwell
Thirteen times I sucked up inside me
I internalized and dealt with the numerous ways you tried to harm me thirteen times
The different ways that you tried to harm me
Various methods were used to cause me pain and suffering
You did it once
Your actions affected me on one occasion
You'll do it again
I anticipate that you will continue to act in a harmful or destructive way towards me
And this one's for my sister
This part of the song is dedicated to my sister
Who dared to denigrate it
She insulted or criticized something that I hold dear
And this one's for my lover
This part of the song is dedicated to my romantic partner
The one who had to suffer
The person who experienced pain or hardship as a direct result of their association with me
Anyway
Regardless of what has happened, despite the pain and turmoil, life goes on
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: DOUGLAS ELWIN ERICKSON, SHIRLEY ANN MANSON, STEVE W. MARKER, BRYAN DAVID VIG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind