In October 1978, McCulloch founded Echo & the Bunnymen with Will Sergeant (guitar), Les Pattinson (bass), and a drum machine (allegedly named Echo), making their live début at Eric's in November that year. In October 1979 the Bunnymen exchanged the drum machine for Pete de Freitas on drums. With their line up solidified, the Bunnymen played in the late 1970s and early 1980s, releasing their critically praised debut album, Crocodiles in 1980, and the heavier, bass driven, Heaven up Here in 1981. They released their third album Porcupine in 1983 with the lead single "The Cutter" finishing in the Top 10 of the UK Charts. Ocean Rain followed in 1984.
In 1988, McCulloch left the group to pursue a solo career under the impression the Bunnymen would be laid to rest, if only temporarily. When the remaining Bunnymen continued using the name with new singer Noel Burke, the split became permanent with McCulloch referring to the band as "Echo & the Bogusmen".
In 1990, McCulloch released the album Candleland which reflected a more mature outlook on the world, owing to the recent deaths of McCulloch's father and his friend Pete de Freitas. The album peaked at number 18 in the UK Charts. It yielded two Modern Rock Tracks hits, "Proud To Fall" (No. 1 for 4 weeks) and "Faith and Healing." His album Mysterio was released in 1992, but the public's interest in the former Bunnyman was waning and it sold less than its predecessor. Shortly after, McCulloch left the public eye to devote more time to his family.
McCulloch rekindled his relationship with Will Sergeant, leading to the formation of Electrafixion in 1994. The band released the album Burned which peaked at number 38 in the UK and included the top-30 hit "Sister Pain." The band soon found themselves performing set lists composed of half Electrafixion songs and half Echo & the Bunnymen songs.
In 1997, Echo & the Bunnymen reformed and released the album Evergreen to positive reviews and chart success. Evergreen made the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart and the single "Nothing Lasts Forever reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart.[12] The reformed Bunnymen have since recorded several further albums, the most recent being Meteorites[/abum] which was released in 2014.
Faith And Healing
Ian McCulloch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Someone talked and someone heard
The twisted end to all the words
That I'd hung on to
One more time inside the dream
Where nothing has to be this real
And I don't ever care to feel
What I don't want to
You once said I thought too much
But never thought enough to touch
Eyes so sad, evergreen
The saddest eyes I've ever seen
Lost all reason and belonging
Can't do right for doing wrong and
I don't like the way I'm feeling
Need your faith healing
Healing, healing, healing
Faith and healing
Faith and healing
Faith and healing
Pick me up and hold me there
Leave me hanging in the air
Till I promise I will care
The way I used to
Diamonds in the pool tonight
Reminds me of what nights were like
Before I feel into a life
That I got used to
The shining sea the silver sky
A perfect world before my eyes
Don't be scared don't you cry
If all the world goes passing by
Lost all reason and belonging
Can't do right for doing wrong and
I don't like the way I'm feeling
Need your faith healing
Healing, healing, healing
Faith and healing
Faith and healing
Faith and healing
You once said I thought too much
But never thought enough to touch
Lost all reason and belonging
Can't do right for doing wrong and
I don't like the way I'm feeling
Need your faith faith and healing
Lost all reason and belonging
Can't do right for doing wrong and
I don't like the way I'm feeling
Need your faith healing
Healing healing healing
Faith and healing
Faith and healing
Faith and healing
Faith and healing
The lyrics of "Faith and Healing" by Ian McCulloch seem to explore themes of fear, uncertainty, and the desire for comfort and healing. The first verse establishes a sense of chaos and confusion, with everyone "running scared" and communication breaking down ("The twisted end to all the words"). The singer appears to want to escape from this reality and retreat into a dreamlike state where things are not so overwhelming: "One more time inside the dream/Where nothing has to be this real." The second verse introduces another character who criticizes the singer for thinking too much but not taking action ("never thought enough to touch"). The chorus expresses a longing for healing and a return to a state of belonging and purpose: "Lost all reason and belonging/Can't do right for doing wrong/And I don't like the way I'm feeling/Need your faith healing."
Overall, the lyrics of "Faith and Healing" suggest a yearning for stability and hope in the face of uncertainty and unrest. The repeated refrain of "Faith and Healing" underscores the importance of these values as sources of comfort and strength. The references to diamonds, silver skies, and shining seas evoke a sense of beauty and transcendence that the singer seems to be striving toward. The song ends with a repeated plea for healing, suggesting that the singer has not yet found what they are seeking.
Line by Line Meaning
Everyone was running scared
People were afraid and felt the need to flee in different directions
Someone talked and someone heard
Someone made a statement and it was overheard by someone else
The twisted end to all the words
The result of the words that were spoken was negative and had an unpleasant outcome
That I'd hung on to
The negative outcome was something the artist internalized and held onto
One more time inside the dream
This situation is being relived as if it were a dream
Where nothing has to be this real
The singer prefers to be in a world where everything is not as real as it seems
And I don't ever care to feel
The singer has no desire to experience certain emotions
What I don't want to
The artist has control over what they do or do not want to feel
You once said I thought too much
Someone accused the artist of overthinking
But never thought enough to touch
The artist was not thinking enough about acting or touching someone/something
Eyes so sad, evergreen
The singer is describing someone's sad eyes that seem to never change
The saddest eyes I've ever seen
The artist believes that the eyes they saw were the saddest eyes they have ever seen
Lost all reason and belonging
The singer has lost their sense of purpose and does not feel like they belong
Can't do right for doing wrong and
The singer feels like they can't do the right thing no matter how hard they try
I don't like the way I'm feeling
The singer is not happy with how they are feeling
Need your faith healing
The artist needs someone's help to regain their faith and feel better
Pick me up and hold me there
The artist wants someone to lift them up and keep them up
Leave me hanging in the air
The singer wants to be suspended in the air and not come back down
Till I promise I will care
The singer won't come down until they can promise to care (about something/someone)
The way I used to
The artist wants to care the way they used to in the past
Diamonds in the pool tonight
There are diamonds in the pool tonight
Reminds me of what nights were like
The diamonds remind the artist of what nights used to be like
Before I fell into a life
The singer is describing a period in their life before they fell into a certain lifestyle
That I got used to
The lifestyle became normal and the artist adapted to it
The shining sea the silver sky
The singer is describing a beautiful scene of a shiny sea and a silver sky
A perfect world before my eyes
The singer sees a perfect world in front of them
Don't be scared don't you cry
The singer is comforting someone and telling them not to be scared or cry
If all the world goes passing by
Even if everyone else moves on or goes away, the artist will still be there
Need your faith faith and healing
The artist needs faith and healing to feel better
Faith and healing
The two things the singer needs to feel better and regain their faith
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ian McCulloch
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind