Noted at first for its lo-fi aesthetic and typically Portastudio four-tracks-to-cassette production methods, Guided by Voices' music revealed influences from post-British Invasion garage rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, punk rock and post-punk. The band also garnered much attention for its prolific output, with a seemingly endless stream of releases. Most songs are in the two-minute range, but many are even shorter; often they end abruptly or are intertwined with odd and homemade sound effects. Some even start with songs fully incorporated on earlier albums, like how "Ester's Day" from Bee Thousand has a snippet of "At Odds With Dr. Genesis" from King Shit and the Golden Boys.
Formed in Dayton, Ohio in the early 1980s, Guided by Voices began their career as a bar band working the local scene. As lineups and day-jobs shifted, however, Pollard moved the band towards a studio-only orientation. Guided by Voices' recording career began with a stream of self-financed, independent releases. With only a few hundred copies of each album being pressed, these tended to circulate only among the band members' family and friends.
With the release of the ultra-limited album Propeller in 1992 (of which only 500 copies were pressed, each with a unique, handmade cover), Guided by Voices for the first time gained some recognition outside of their hometown. This was due in part to gaining fans in the college rock circuit and bands such as Sonic Youth, R.E.M. and The Breeders. New York City and Philadelphia were host to Guided by Voices' return to the live stage (and first shows outside of Ohio) in 1993. At this time, the always-fluid Guided by Voices lineup coalesced around the core of Pollard, guitarists Tobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell (not to be confused with Jimi Hendrix's drummer), bassist Dan Toohey, and drummer Kevin Fennell. Sprout, who was briefly featured in an early-'80s version of the band, had re-joined circa Propeller and soon became Pollard's primary musical foil, in addition to contributing several of his own songs to the band's catalog. 1993 also saw the release of Vampire on Titus, as well as the Fast Japanese Spin Cycle and Static Airplane Jive EPs. Over the next year, the band began to receive national media exposure from sources such as Spin magazine.
In 1994, after culling both new songs and reams of archival recordings from GBV's history, Pollard delivered the indie landmark Bee Thousand via Scat Records, with a distribution deal through indie label Matador Records. Soon, the band officially signed with Matador, concurrent with Pollard and his bandmates finally retiring from their day jobs to work in music full-time. The band surprised early audiences accustomed to the generally shambling, lo-fi and collage-like quality of the records with their energetic live show, featuring Pollard's homegrown rock theatrics (consisting of karate-kicks, leaps, and Roger Daltrey-inspired mic-twirling), Mitch Mitchell's windmilling and chain smoking, sometime bassist Greg Demos' striped pants, a never-ending barrage of tunes that all seemed to clock in under 90 seconds, and prodigious alcohol consumption all around.
Their true Matador debut came in 1995 with Alien Lanes, which, despite a five-figure recording allowance, was constructed out of home-recorded snippets on the cheap. The band's underground following continued to grow, with notices coming from mainstream sources such as MTV and Rolling Stone. After sessions for a concept album entitled The Power of Suck were aborted, the band assembled Under the Bushes Under the Stars out of their first 24-track studio sessions, recorded with Kim Deal and Steve Albini among others, in 1996. However, the strain of heavy touring would ultimately lead to the demise of the "classic lineup", with Sprout deciding to retire from the road in order to focus on raising his first child, his painting, and his solo musical career. Sprout and Pollard marked the occasion by releasing simultaneous solo albums on the same day in 1996: Sprout's Carnival Boy and Pollard's Not in My Airforce, with each making a guest appearance on the other's album. Pollard maintained an active, parallel solo and side project career alongside GBV releases for the remainder of that band's existence. These records were primarily self-released. Because GBV alumni were regularly featured, and songs from these albums were frequently included in GBV setlists, they are informally considered to be part of the GBV canon. Also in 1995, the band contributed the song "Sensational Gravity Boy" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Bothered produced by the Red Hot Organization.
Pollard created a new incarnation of Guided by Voices with Cleveland glam rockers Cobra Verde in 1997. The following album Mag Earwhig!, combined a new hard-rocking swagger with classic lo-fi fragments and one track, "Jane of the Waking Universe", that featured the classic lineup for one last time. However, after another year of rigorous touring, the "Guided by Verde" lineup split in late 1997 following Pollard's announcement in an interview that he intended to work with other musicians on the next Guided by Voices project.
Cobra Verde's Doug Gillard was tapped for yet another new Guided by Voices lineup in 1998, which also included "classic"-era bassist Greg Demos, former Breeders drummer Jim Macpherson, and eventually, former Amps/Breeders guitarist Nate Farley. Departing from Matador, this lineup (without Farley) worked with producer Ric Ocasek to create what was intended to be Guided by Voices' major label debut. Initially produced for Capitol Records, Do the Collapse was repeatedly delayed and finally released in mid-1999 on pseudo-indie label TVT. (In the UK it was released on Creation Records). Featuring a slick, heavily processed sound previously foreign to GBV albums, Do the Collapse failed to catch on at radio, and was for the most part greeted with mixed reviews.
Through touring heavily throughout 1999 and 2000, Guided by Voices' live act became legendary, with shows often stretching past the three-hour mark, and populated by an endless stream of new and classic songs, Pollard solo tracks, impromptu covers of The Who, David Bowie and The Rolling Stones, all accompanied by continuous alcohol consumption. In addition to multiple swings through the United States and Europe, 2000 saw the band's first and only visits to Australia and Japan. 2000 was capped with the release of the massive Suitcase, a four-disc, 100-song trawl through three decades worth of Pollard's enormous reserve of unreleased material. (Two more box sets of unreleased songs, Suitcase 2 and Suitcase 3, were released in October 2005 and November 2009, respectively.)
2001's Isolation Drills was recorded with Rob Schnapf, who aimed to capture the band's live sound more closely than did Ocasek. Though the album debuted in Billboard's top 200 and received higher critical notices than its predecessor, it did not achieve the sought-after radio breakthrough.
After departing from TVT in 2002, Guided by Voices returned to Matador and released Universal Truths and Cycles, a departure from the previous two radio-aspiring albums, and a return to the band's mid-90's, mid-fi aesthetic. Universal Truths producer Todd Tobias would also record the band's final two albums for Matador. 2003 saw the release of the prog-styled Earthquake Glue, followed by the anthology box set Hardcore UFOs: Revelations, Epiphanies and Fast Food in the Western Hemisphere and the greatest hits compilation Best of Guided by Voices: Human Amusements at Hourly Rates.
In 2004, Pollard announced he was disbanding Guided by Voices following the release of the Half-Smiles of the Decomposed LP, and a final farewell tour.
On November 9, 2004 Guided by Voices performed on the stage of Austin City Limits, broadcast by PBS on January 22, 2005. Their last television appearance was on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on December 2, 2004. They played the single, "Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)". After a select round of final US shows, Guided by Voices played their final show at The Metro in Chicago on December 31, 2004. The four hour, 63-song marathon finale is documented on the DVD The Electrifying Conclusion
In June 2010, Matador Records announced that the "Classic '93-'96 Lineup" of Robert Pollard (vocals, guitar), Tobin Sprout (guitar), Mitch Mitchell (guitar), Greg Demos (bass) and Kevin Fennell (drums) would reunite to perform at the label's 21st Anniversary celebration in Las Vegas, in October of that year. A full reunion tour was subsequently announced, with the band selling out nearly every date. The tour included stops at Hoboken's Maxwell's and the Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky, two venues that the band had built a history with due to legendary shows there in the past. When asked by Spinner if there might ever be another proper GBV record Pollard said "I've thought about it sometimes but it's a very long shot," he says. "We all kind of do our own thing. I'm not completely eliminating the possibility."
The band played their "last ever" performance at North Carolina's Hopscotch Music Festival in September 2011, however later that month the band announced that they would be releasing a new album, Let's Go Eat the Factory on 1 January 2012. The band released a second post-reformation LP, Class Clown Spots a UFO, on June 12, 2012. A third, The Bears for Lunch, followed in November. Another album, English Little League, was released in 2013. In a July 2013 interview with Magnet Magazine, Pollard stated that English Little League could be the final GBV album. However, in September, a fifth reunion record, Motivational Jumpsuit, was confirmed for release on Guided By Voices Inc. and Fire Records in February 2014. A sixth reunion album, Cool Planet, has also been announced for May 19, 2014.
In 2016, Guided by Voices (lineup at the time only Robert Pollard) released their 22nd album, Please Be Honest. Pollard played every instrument on the album. In 2017, the band, with another new lineup, released their 23rd album, August by Cake. This lineup has since recorded 16 studio albums, with their newest, Nowhere to Go But Up, released on November 24th, 2023.
Spiderfighter
Guided by Voices Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We felt sad
We felt so sad
And in our theme
The truth reveal
But we sell fiction
An old clown
In old clothes
(I'm going to spiderland)
Competes for sun
(I'm going to spiderland)
By slapping heads
Send his thoughts through
So come out to war with a sword
He said "Let's do this two shay,
On my birthday,"
So you're so proud
And you're so free
And your town votes you
And you're so cold
And you're so sad
And your town quotes you
(I'm going to spiderland)
So come out to war
(I'm going to spiderland)
And sit there bored
And wait till Tuesday
And feel the need
To lose the seed
And smash it gooey
With a toupee
And now is the time
I make up your mind
The lyrics to Guided by Voices' song "Spiderfighter" express the disillusionment and sadness that the singer and those around them feel. They admit that they sell fiction instead of revealing the truth, and compare themselves to an old clown in old clothes taking up time. Despite feeling sad and conflicted, the singer is also full of bravado and invites others to come to war with a sword. The final lines of the song, "And now is the time I make up your mind," suggest that the singer is trying to inspire someone to take action or make a decision.
The lyrics are ambiguous and can be interpreted in several ways, but one possible interpretation is that the singer is critical of the superficiality and apathy of their town and invites others to join them in fighting against it. The use of the phrase "going to spiderland" evokes a feeling of being lost or trapped, and the reference to smashing the seed with a toupee suggests a desire to disrupt the status quo.
Line by Line Meaning
From all sides
We were surrounded by sadness and negativity from every direction.
We felt sad
The sadness we felt was overwhelming.
We felt so sad
Our sadness was intense and all-consuming.
And in our theme
Despite our sorrow, we remained true to our core beliefs.
The truth reveal
We were committed to upholding the truth, even in difficult circumstances.
But we sell fiction
Despite our commitment to the truth, we sometimes resorted to selling false ideas or stories.
An old clown
A person who presents a false persona or face to the world.
In old clothes
Using an outdated or outmoded approach that no longer holds relevance.
Taking up time
Engaging in activities or behaviors that are ultimately unproductive or meaningless.
(I'm going to spiderland)
Engaging in a metaphorical journey or exploration, possibly to find meaning or escape from reality.
Competes for sun
Fighting for attention or recognition in any circumstance, even where success is impossible.
(I'm going to spiderland)
Engaging in a metaphorical journey or exploration, possibly to find meaning or escape from reality.
By slapping heads
Using physical or metaphorical violence or force to assert dominance or achieve a goal.
Send his thoughts through
Communicating with intense or powerful emotions, trying to influence or persuade those who are listening.
So come out to war with a sword
Inviting others to join in a fight, possibly one that is unjustified or unimportant.
He said "Let's do this two shay, On my birthday,"
Making a demand or suggestion that is unreasonable or impossible to fulfill.
So you're so proud
Feeling a sense of self-importance or arrogance in one's actions or beliefs.
And you're so free
Believing that one is unencumbered by rules or constraints that others must follow.
And your town votes you
Being recognized or rewarded for one's actions or beliefs by those who live in the same community.
And you're so cold
Feeling emotionally distant or detached from others, possibly as a result of past trauma or negative experiences.
And you're so sad
Being consumed by negative emotions, such as grief or despair.
And your town quotes you
Being recognized or remembered for one's words or actions by those who live in the same community.
(I'm going to spiderland)
Engaging in a metaphorical journey or exploration, possibly to find meaning or escape from reality.
So come out to war
Inviting others to participate in a conflict or struggle, possibly one that is unnecessary or harmful.
(I'm going to spiderland)
Engaging in a metaphorical journey or exploration, possibly to find meaning or escape from reality.
And sit there bored
Feeling uninterested or unengaged in one's current situation or surroundings.
And wait till Tuesday
Delaying action or decision-making until a specific, arbitrary time in the future.
And feel the need
Experiencing a strong or pressing desire or urge to do something, even if it is not necessarily productive or beneficial.
To lose the seed
Letting go of something that was once valuable or important, possibly as a result of changing priorities or beliefs.
And smash it gooey
Destroying or discarding something in a messy or disorganized way, without considering the consequences.
With a toupee
Using a false or misleading appearance or behavior to cover up one's true intentions or identity.
And now is the time
Recognizing that the present moment is crucial for making decisions or taking action.
I make up your mind
Exerting influence or pressure on someone to make a decision, possibly by presenting limited or biased information.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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