It took only seconds of strumming and dreamy, dulcet singing for Dreimanis to realize he’d met his muse. He sat listening, dumfounded, dreaming up ideas for what could come to be between the two of them. Clear-headed the next day, he started his search for the stranger from the bar with whom he seemingly shared a soul. He found her; they founded July Talk.
The basic structural facts of rock band July Talk are this: two front people, Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis, surrounded by whiplashing guitarists Ian Docherty and [[bandmember from=2012]Josh Warburton, and double drummers Danny Miles and Dani Nash. For this compulsively DIY, rigorously self-realizing group, the essence of July Talk has always been the tension between precision and chaos.
Audiences need not ask what July Talk’s two writhing frontpeople’s relationship is to each other, but rather what their relationship is to their audience, and to the world. These bodies welcome our gaze, they revel and recoil in it while they furiously push back, asking of us what they ask of each other: please see me for who I am. If we see July Talk as a woman and a man, in opposition to one another, what we are seeing is our own projections upon these bodies.
What goes on between these bodies, all of them, that kinetic, staticky, sticky space, is where the truth of July Talk takes shape. On stage, July Talk unfurls and explodes. July Talk is known by their success at radio and their unmatched live show. Both of these things are true, but neither tells the complete story.
As video directors, their meticulous and masterful visual work has created an entirely unique aesthetic, and propelled them into collaborations with other artists, including Tanya Tagaq, Born Ruffians and Jasmyn. Their pandemic drive-in show presented an emphatic vision of creative direction, with balletic live projections opening new possibilities for coming performances. July Talk’s quieter triumphs, growing in their roles as advocates for industry change and defining their own parameters for safer, decolonized spaces at rock shows with their Love Lives Here posters, now translated into twelve languages, are as important to the band’s identity and humanity.
We can hear July Talk as the contrast of two voices that interject, operate and overlap around one another. We’re not wrong, but it’s not the full story. July Talk is a decade-long dialogue between two people; it is also a continuous conversation with older generations, previous selves, collaborators.
Even in the stark orderliness of black and white, July Talk has always been a work in progress. More accurately, it’s a work of progress, a communal pursuit of limitlessness as a mode of being. For a decade, July Talk has continued in its relentless project to know itself, through its whiskey-soaked blues rock roots on its self-titles debut EP, the 2016 dance-rock infused Touch and its contemplation of connection, or the quietly reflective eyes of their 2020 release Pray For It.
With their forthcoming 2023 album Remember Never Before, the most potently yet inventively “July Talk” album yet, the band returns – changed – to where they began.
Having You Around
July Talk Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your heart doused in flames
Your song, come along
Spread yourself thin
Your hair is on fire
You can't get much higher
Freight train with your name
Come on in
Don't you think it's time to get used to somebody
(I don't mind)
Don't you think it's time to get used to having me around
(I don't mind)
Having you around
Having you around
Everyone's been young and
Knows that love's a lot of fun
But check it at the door, write it on the floor
Your safe within these walls
You've had your ups and downs the shotgun bullets through highway town
But now you're here, never fear
And I'll never fall
Don't you think it's time to get used to somebody
(I don't mind)
Don't you think it's time to get used to having me around
(I don't mind)
Having you around
Having you around
Having you around
Having you around
Having you around
Having you around
Having you around
The lyrics to July Talk's "Having You Around" describe the feeling of being in a relationship with someone who has a wild and unpredictable personality. The song paints a picture of a person who is constantly on the move, running in the rain with their heart ablaze, and living their life to the fullest. The lyrics suggest that this person is fun and exhilarating, but also somewhat dangerous and hard to keep up with.
Despite their wild nature, the singer of the song is drawn to this person and wants to be around them. They encourage the person to let their guard down and get used to being in a relationship, promising to always be there for them. The chorus repeats the line "Don't you think it's time to get used to having me around," emphasizing the singer's desire to be a constant presence in the other person's life.
Overall, the lyrics of "Having You Around" capture the excitement and uncertainty of being in a relationship with someone who is larger than life. The singer is willing to take a chance on this person, even though they know it won't always be easy.
Line by Line Meaning
You're running in the rain
You are running in the rain, possibly trying to escape or release your emotions.
Your heart doused in flames
You are feeling intense emotions, likely related to love or passion.
Your song, come along
Your emotions are expressed through your music, and others are invited to join in.
Spread yourself thin
You are pouring yourself into your emotions or creative work, potentially to the point of exhaustion.
Your hair is on fire
You are consumed by your emotions, potentially experiencing anxiety or stress.
You can't get much higher
Your emotions are already at a peak or climax, and it may be difficult to experience more intensity.
Freight train with your name
Your emotions are powerful and unstoppable, like a fast-moving train.
Come on in
Despite the intensity of your emotions, others are invited to join and experience them with you.
Don't you think it's time to get used to somebody
(I don't mind)
The artist is willing to commit to building a relationship and hopes the other person is willing to do the same.
Don't you think it's time to get used to having me around
(I don't mind)
The artist is eager to form a lasting bond with the other person and is open to compromise in order to make it work.
Having you around
The presence of the other person in the singer's life brings comfort and joy, and the singer desires to continue the relationship.
Everyone's been young and
Remembering that everyone experiences the intensity of emotion associated with youth and passion.
Knows that love's a lot of fun
Love is often exciting and enjoyable, reminding us to enjoy it while it lasts.
But check it at the door, write it on the floor
Your safe within these walls
While emotions and passion are encouraged, they should also be controlled and expressed in a safe environment where they will not harm or endanger the individuals involved.
You've had your ups and downs the shotgun bullets through highway town
The other person has likely experienced both positive and negative aspects of life and relationships, possibly including heartbreak or pain.
But now you're here, never fear
And I'll never fall
Despite past experiences or potential future uncertainty, the artist is confident in the present and committed to their relationship with the other person.
Having you around
The other person's presence is a source of strength and reassurance for the artist, and they wish to continue the relationship.
Having you around
Repeated for emphasis, as the singer values the other person's role in their life.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Peter Goyette Dreimanis, Leah Fay Goldstein, Eamon Michael Mcgrath, Daniel P Miles, Josh Earl Warburton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Julian Schmidt
on Push + Pull
This is my first song I really caught on to balance because until I got here I already had thoughts but then push and pull drove it home we always do opposite things and as the lyric goes I don't want to wait and I take to much that is just saying so if we split day and night and you like the night all night you take but all day you would have to give back to even it out but when would you sleep? And you don't want to wait either so your scale shifts to causing more harm than you can balance. Nightlife and drugs and booze is just how they explain it because they and well I relate to this concept
Julian Schmidt
on Paper Girl
Well super complicated as usual love them for the music but this is my interpretation he's saying that he realizes he's an extreme person and also that he uses women by lying and hurting them by abuse not physical but abuse is abuse hence the chorus. Now she sings the chorus solo first time more as a warning and info to women cuz if you notice his next line is oh it must be hard to be a pretty girl is dipped in sarcasm. Then ya it's hard to be a girl in society to constantly require good looks and ageing is inevitable. In 3 lines he reflects upon his usury of female insecurity to how it's society that's really damaging women and really like it or not you can't blame males for being like that because it just is the way now that males have an easier time being abusive. I could go more in depth as to society but I digress only thing I want to point out that he's not saying it's not his fault in fact he's being sarcastic to serious so fast to show that's just what it is because blaming humanity is the reality but c'mon that's still why people do blame things we can't affect to not take responsibility so he isn't sorry he's trying to teach that he realized it and is saying by keep away from me that he is bad but doesn't want to be. I'll not make this too much longer but the correlation to money and secrets in your morning drink is that it comforts you in a small dose and you actually want secrets as a addiction just really you moderate it and then it would benefit your desire for those things. However like I mentioned earlier he is an extreme person so if you can't handle his dose of secrets and money which is just a metaphor for potential as money allows us to get things for wrong or right. Her singing along at certain times and solo at times makes sense of you think of the song as it is all about him and she is there to support the lessons involved, and less deeply she's got a great voice plus they always sing together so when you create a song that's using abuse from the male side, well then it being a punk song and her not coming off hurt and whiny I ask you how would you compose it? Love every song by July talks though they all mean alot, if youve read this to the end I'll add one thought all their music leads back to how balance is what the world needs and humans can't do it so we achieve balance by hurting and helping, working hard then being lazy etc. We can't balance all the time so we balance by doing more of one than making up for it. That's you can figure out why human race is destroying the planet because gluttony and luxury are too hard for us to balance out with sacrifice and hardship. If humans were neutral be only way but we are to intelligent and we'd get bored, once survival wasn't important every second of every day that was the beginning of the end
Cheers, Jules Schmidt