The band consists of Adam Gardner and Ryan Miller on guitar and vocals and Brian Rosenworcel on percussion. Multi-instrumentalist and backup vocalist Joe Pisapia played with the band from 2003-2010. Luke Reynolds took Pisapia's place to tour with the band for their 2010 album, Easy Wonderful, and has remained with the band since. The band is noted for its catchy, poppy melodies, and the distinctive hand-drumming on percussion. They are also known for their humor, including a joke album released in 2003, The Meowstro Sings: Guster's Keep It Together, wherein the lyrics are replaced with (off-melody) meowing.
The band has released eight studio albums which are, in chronological order, Parachute, Goldfly, Lost and Gone Forever, Keep It Together, Ganging Up On the Sun, Easy Wonderful, Evermotion, and their most recent, Look Alive, which was released on January 18th, 2019. In addition, they have released a total of eleven live albums, spanning the years 2003-2015.
Hard Times
Guster Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They say to open your mind
And take it all inside
One click at a time
We move through fictions
And send our sisters to the sacrifice
A cruel conviction
These are hard times
I'm breathing in the oxygen
I'm holding it through hard times
I'm breathing out in the ultrasound
Things come around in hard times
Ten thousand miles of the new prescriptions
So we open our mouths
And take 'em all inside
One pill at a time
The purist fictions
We send our sisters to the sacrifice
With cruel conviction
Sinister systems keep us satisfied
These are hard times
I'm breathing in the oxygen
I'm holding it through hard times
I'm breathing out in the ultrasound
Things come around in hard times
A new religion
We send our sisters to the sacrifice
And then the audience goes wild!
I'm breathing in the oxygen
I'm holding it through hard times
(These are hard times)
I'm breathing out in the ultrasound
Things come around in hard times
(These are hard times)
I'm breathing in the oxygen
Take it all inside, take it all inside
(I'm holding it through hard times)
I'm breathing out in the ultrasound
Things come around in hard times
Guster's song “Hard Times” is an enigmatic piece with lyrics that defy a quick interpretation. The opening line “Enter a scene that defies description” sets the tone for the song’s cryptic and elusive message. The song appears to be commenting on the influence of technology and mass media on our perception of reality. The line “We move through fictions” suggests that the reality we experience is increasingly becoming a product of our imagination, with media acting as a filter through which we understand the world. The use of the phrase “sinister systems” implies that the machinery of the entertainment industry is purposefully manipulating us for its own ends.
The recurring line “These are hard times” could be interpreted in several ways: a reference to the social and political climate, the challenges of modern life or, as suggested earlier, the effects of media consumption on our psyche. The repeated use of the phrase “breathing in the oxygen” and “holding it” could allude to the idea of needing to be resilient in tough times. The song also references the idea of taking “new prescriptions” to cope with what is effectively a dystopian present. The ambiguity in the lyrics is left open to interpretation, with the song’s message ultimately underlining that things may be tough but ultimately, they will come full circle.
Line by Line Meaning
Enter a scene that defies description
We are confronted with an incomprehensible and indescribable situation.
They say to open your mind
We are told to be open to new experiences.
And take it all inside
To fully embrace these new experiences.
One click at a time
Slowly and unsurely taking in new information.
We move through fictions
We are living in a world of made-up stories.
And send our sisters to the sacrifice
We are willing to make sacrifices to maintain the status quo.
A cruel conviction
An unpleasant and harsh belief system.
Sinister systems keep us satisfied
Negative and manipulative structures keep us content with a less than ideal situation.
These are hard times
The situation we are living in is difficult.
I'm breathing in the oxygen
I am trying to stay alive and maintain my strength.
I'm holding it through hard times
I am enduring the difficult situation.
I'm breathing out in the ultrasound
I am hopeful for the future and the possibility of new life.
Things come around in hard times
Opportunities can arise from even the most difficult of circumstances.
Ten thousand miles of the new prescriptions
There are endless amounts of new solutions and ideas being proposed.
So we open our mouths
We take these new solutions into consideration.
And take 'em all inside
We may not fully understand these new solutions, but we try to accept them anyway.
The purist fictions
There are idealistic stories told to us.
With cruel conviction
These idealistic stories may come with harsh and inflexible rules.
A new religion
We may be putting faith in these new ideas.
And then the audience goes wild!
Others may be excited about these new ideas and believe them to be a solution to our problems.
Take it all inside, take it all inside
Fully embrace all of these new ideas and solutions.
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ryan Miller, Adam Gardner, Brian Rosenworcel, Luke Reynolds
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@guster
Do you like stories about how videos get made? Here's one you might like:
Jon Danovic, a friend of ours who had previously worked with us to shoot a Pledge video for Evermotion in a room full of rented barn animals, sent us an email when he heard the song. The email looked like this:
Seriously tho, i was going thru a car wash the other day and had time to find some new music and heard this, honestly one of the best songs I've heard in years man. This song is proof that are still ways to make things sound different. Inspired the living f*ck out of me:
I have put an asterisk in the spot where Jon had the letter "u" - extrapolate at your own risk so you can devise the appropriate level of Jon's inspiration. Anyway, Jon's email also included an attachment to a video that HE HAD ALREADY FILMED TO COMPLETION. And we loved it. He captured the feeling, the pace, the darkness and the hope within "Hard Times." So, in some ways a "fan video" just became our official video for "Hard Times." But as the Pledge video for Evermotion in a room full of rented barn animals shows, Jon has always been a pro.
@Bendir
I love the video and the story! Simple and so very effective! Love the new music guys! Keep it up!
@yasmin030ya
That's cool ! better than the music video these days (woman,drugs , etc....)
@seanjdaniels
This is so good you guys. Great tune, great visual. Major kudos from an old friend-emy
@1o1beauty
TY Gus....yeah I’m old
@DogInATaco
Still such an underrated fucking song.
This video should have hundreds of millions of views.
@sherman885
I can’t stop listening to this song for so many reasons. It’s so on point and makes me cry. I have so much hope for our world, just gosh darn, isn’t it messed up right now? Thanks for helping me find a way to feel through it all. I’ve loved your band since I was 15 and saw you perform at a USY event. Your music is always good. So different. The harmonies are so incredible and then when the tambourine comes in? Sick. So much love for you all.
@laurengiuliana7269
This hits different now...
@1o1beauty
Lauren Giuliana my official 2020 song
How you doing hanging in❤️?
@JohnBainbridge0
If this isn't the anthem of the decade, I don't know what is.