The group was named for the San Francisco Muni Metro line that Hahn took down Church Street to work, as well as to band practice in the the early days. Through the years, Lance was joined by a vast array of musicians in an ever-evolving J Church lineup.
Lance Hahn was also a punk rock history writer, writing many pieces for Maximum Rock 'n' Roll, the San Francisco music zine. Additionally, he also found time to run Honey Bear Records and work on a book compiling various writings on anarcho-punk bands. Lance Hahn passed away on October 21, 2007, aged 40, after falling into a coma nine days earlier due to complications from kidney dialysis.
Band Members included:
Guitar / Vocals
Lance Hahn (1991-2007)
Second Guitarist
David DiDonato (2002-2005)
Bass Players
Ben White (2002-2007)
Jeff Bursley (1999-2002)
Scott Bradley (1998-1999)
Gardner Maxam (1991-1998)
Drummers
Chris Pfeffer (2002-2007)
Adam Pfahler (1998-2002)
Andee Connors (1997-2000)
Reed Burgoyne (1995-1997)
Wade Arnold Driver Jr (1994-1995)
Brendan Murdoch (1992-1994)
Adam Pfahler (1992-1993)
Aaron Olson (1991-1992)
http://www.j-church.com
Open Road
J Church Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A battleground mechanical
Of sexuality
This is a haunted house
Ghosts of our dead fathers
Walk the halls here eternally
When all your bankrupt dreams
Tell me that you're satisfied
You blink whenever you lie
When all your middle class dreams
Blow up in your face
Losing trying to be right
That's the story of your life
The story of your life
This isn't Chinatown
You can't pretend not
To understand half of what you see
This is a shopping mall
You take your fetish
And pass it off as cheap commodity
When all your bankrupt dreams
Die somewhere in space
Tell me that you're satisfied
You blink whenever you lie
When all your middle class dreams
Blow up in your face
Losing trying to be right
That's the story of your life
The story of your life
My open road
My open road
Driving through L.A.
With no special place to go
My open road
My open road
Everyone wants to move
They want to move out to the coast
In J Church's song "Open Road," the lyrics describe the realities of life and the struggle to achieve one's dreams. The opening lines of the song make a comparison between the present and the past, stating "This is no Vietnam," suggesting that while the world may still be in turmoil, it is not on the same scale as the war in Vietnam. This comparison is followed by "a battleground mechanical of sexuality," which implies that the war is now a different type of struggle, where sexuality is a weapon, and people use it to hurt and manipulate each other.
The song's next verse highlights the theme of the past continuously affecting the present, as it mentions a "haunted house" where "ghosts of our dead fathers walk the halls here eternally." Here, the lyrics suggest that we are haunted by the actions of those before us and that we can never fully escape the past. The chorus repeats the phrase "When all your bankrupt dreams die somewhere in space/Tell me that you're satisfied," which is a commentary on the idea that we often give up on our dreams when they seem impossible to achieve, and we settle for less. The line "You blink whenever you lie" implies that we're not honest with ourselves when we claim to be content living a life we didn't want.
The second verse contrasts with the first and describes the present as a "shopping mall," where people take their desires and turn them into consumer products passing them off as cheap commodities. The following lines repeat the chorus, emphasizing that losing and feeling like we've failed to achieve our dreams is a significant part of life, but we have to learn to accept it. The song ends with a positive note, suggesting that having an "open road" and being able to travel without a destination is freeing and that it's a dream many of us share in common.
Line by Line Meaning
This is no Vietnam
A battleground mechanical
Of sexuality
This is not a war like Vietnam, fought for political reasons or the threat of communism. Rather, it's a daily battle for power and sex, devoid of emotion and authentic connection.
This is a haunted house
Ghosts of our dead fathers
Walk the halls here eternally
Our society is akin to a haunted house full of the ghosts of our dead fathers, meaning our culture is haunted by the mistakes and shortcomings of those who came before us.
When all your bankrupt dreams
Die somewhere in space
Tell me that you're satisfied
You blink whenever you lie
When all of your aspirations and dreams fail to come to fruition, and you end up feeling hopeless, do you still pretend to be content? If so, your dishonesty is made clear by your involuntary blinking when you lie.
When all your middle class dreams
Blow up in your face
Losing trying to be right
That's the story of your life
The story of your life
When your aspirations of achieving the American Dream, enjoyed primarily by the middle class, fail miserably and you end up feeling defeated, think back on the times you tried so hard to be right. This is the ongoing narrative of your life.
This isn't Chinatown
You can't pretend not
To understand half of what you see
Unlike in the film Chinatown, you cannot feign ignorance or blissful ignorance to avoid understanding the societal issues that plague us.
This is a shopping mall
You take your fetish
And pass it off as cheap commodity
Our culture is akin to a shopping mall, where individuals take their unique interests and turn them into commonplace and cheaply produced commodities to sell to everyone.
My open road
My open road
Driving through L.A.
With no special place to go
The open road, for me, is about taking a drive through Los Angeles without any specific destination in mind.
My open road
My open road
Everyone wants to move
They want to move out to the coast
Everyone aspires to move to a place like the coast, which is why the open road leading to that destination is so important to those who want to live up to the idealistic version of the American Dream.
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: GARY BARLOW
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind