Formed initially by members Alex Church (bass), Steven Scott (guitar) and Brian Canning (guitar), Irving began as a thrown-together rock outfit to accompany a friendβs art opening. Within a month, Brent Turner (drums) joined, and the group began working in earnest on the songs that would eventually appear on its first album, Good Morning Beautiful. The release of GMB in 2002 showcased the bandβs penchant for writing witty pop songs with whimsical backup vocals and upbeat melodies.
By the yearβs end, Aaron Burrows (keyboards) signed on, and the band was back in the studio. The I Hope Youβre Feeling Better Now EP, released in 2003 to critical acclaim, exhibited Irvingβs unrelenting willingness to experiment with pop song structures, and highlighted the innate strengths of a band in which all five members are songwriters.
In the two years since the release of the EP, Irving has opened for such notables as Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and The Polyphonic Spree. The bandβs songwriting has also taken a noticeably more thoughtful turn. While the innate pop sensibilities continue to stand out above all else, Irvingβs songwriting has maturedβthe sounds and structures more intricate, the subject matter more thoroughly realized.
"Death In The Garden, Blood On The Flowers" is the result of five musicians and their distinct influences, bound by an uncanny knack for melody and harmony. With production and engineering help from Phil Ek (The Shins, Modest Mouse), as well as Aaron Espinoza (Earlimart) and Jim Fairchild (from Grandaddy), Irving corrals its many distinct influences into a clear vision. From the oblique percussive start of the title track, to the psych-pop chaos of βSituationβ to the so-bizarre-it-works background breathing on βI Want To Love You In My Room,β the band pulls unforgettable hooks out of the most unlikely places.
In 2007, Church left the band to form his own band, Sea Wolf, while the remaining members put Irving on hold to form a new band with singer Claire McKeown, Afternoons, not to be confused with (or sure to be confused with) the Welsh pop band The Afternoons.
Lovely Just Like Her
Irving Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As the cold white cheek on the checkered tile
And you wish they all could be
Lovely, just like her
And she folds her hands into an fist
And the story makes an engaging twist
That I
How long will it take before you
How long will it take before you realize?
And she throws her body through the shower door
And the glass falls down onto the bathroom floor
And it bleeds so much you don't think it is real
And she wakes up slowly from a silent sleep
And a teardrop rolls down its iron cheek
And you wish they all could be lovely, just like her
How long will it take before you
How long will it take before you realize
That it was nothing
It was really nothing?
How long?
She folds her hands and she starts to smile
Rest a cold white cheek on the checkered tile
And you wish they all could be
Lovely, just like her
How long will it take before you
How long will it take before you realize
That it was nothing
It was really nothing?
At all
At all
At all
It was nothing, nothing
At all
The song "Lovely Just Like Her" by Irving seems to tell the story of a woman who is beautiful and seemingly perfect on the surface, but there is a darkness within her that is hinted at throughout the song. The first two lines describe her kneeling on a checkered tile floor with a "cold white cheek" which suggests that something is not quite right. However, the singer still wishes that everyone could be "lovely" like her. Later, the woman has a violent outburst and breaks a shower door, causing glass to shatter all over the bathroom floor. The imagery of blood adds to the idea that there is something painful or disturbing happening beneath the surface. Finally, the woman wakes up with a tear rolling down her cheek and the singer repeats the refrain that they wish everyone could be "lovely" like her. The song ends with the repeated refrain, "It was nothing at all," which suggests that despite the turmoil hinted at throughout the song, there is an attempt to dismiss it all as insignificant and unimportant.
The overall mood of the song is somewhat melancholic and introspective, and the use of repeated imagery (the checkered tiles, the teardrop rolling down a cheek) adds to the sense of something being repeated or cyclical. The woman in the song seems to be struggling with something - perhaps a mental health issue or addiction - and the singer is left hoping that others can be "lovely" like her despite these struggles. The song leaves a lot of room for interpretation, but its haunting and evocative imagery makes it a memorable addition to Irving's catalogue.
Line by Line Meaning
She folds her hands and she starts to smile
As she sits on the bathroom floor, she holds her hands together and reveals a faint smile
As the cold white cheek on the checkered tile
She rests her pale cheek against the cool, checkered bathroom floor
And you wish they all could be Lovely, just like her
One admires the girl's beauty and wishes all others could be as lovely as she is
And she folds her hands into an fist
The girl clenches her hands tightly into a fist
And the story makes an engaging twist
The plot takes a thrilling turn, captivating onlookers
That I
The lyrics trail off, leaving the storytelling unfinished
How long will it take before you
The songwriter wonders how long it will be before the listener realizes something
How long will it take before you realize?
The songwriter repeats the question, wondering how long they will have to wait for the listener's understanding
And she throws her body through the shower door
The girl hurls herself through the shower's glass door
And the glass falls down onto the bathroom floor
The shower's shattered glass lays scattered on the bathroom floor
And it bleeds so much you don't think it is real
The bleeding is so severe that the situation does not seem plausible
And she wakes up slowly from a silent sleep
The girl awakens from her slumber, her movement quiet and unhurried
And a teardrop rolls down its iron cheek
A tear streams down the girl's metallic cheek
And you wish they all could be lovely, just like her
Her beauty remains a topic of admiration
That it was nothing
The situation was not of importance
It was really nothing?
The songwriter repeats the question, signifying disbelief
She folds her hands and she starts to smile
The cycle of folding her hands and smiling resumes
Rest a cold white cheek on the checkered tile
The girl places her cheek on the cool, checkered bathroom floor once more
At all, at all, at all
The final line of the song repeats the phrase 'at all' three times, in almost an attempt to emphasize that nothing much has happened
It was nothing, nothing At all
The songwriter reiterates that what has occurred was of no real consequence or value
Contributed by Elena A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.