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.
Head Sick
July Talk Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I borrowed a car, you packed your Saturday
Seems that we deal with things a bit differently, differently
I went to the kitchen and looked at a knife
I watched a stranger fuck the love of my life
Seems that I deal with things a bit differently, differently
I don't wanna, I don't wanna waste your time, I love the way you lose your mind
New York's underwater is counting to ten, he'd rather stop breathing than see me again
Seems we remember things a bit differently, differently
I never saw myself climbing the stairs, voices to see and best not compare
Try to forget things, a bit differently, differently
I don't wanna, I don't wanna wasted mind, I misplaced myself this time
I don't wanna I don't wanna waste your time, I love the way you lose your mind
Hey, come back, that's not what I said
It's all in your head
I don't wanna, I don't wanna wasted mind, I don't wanna, I don't wanna wasted mind
I don't wanna, I don't wanna wasted mind, I don't wanna, I don't wanna wasted mind
I don't wanna, I don't wanna violent show, I don't wanna, I don't wanna watch you go
I don't wanna, I don't wanna let you know, I don't wanna, I don't want a head sick
The lyrics of July Talk's song Head Sick describe a relationship that is falling apart due to the different ways the two people handle their problems. The singer is on the wrong side of the story, implying that they are at fault for what has happened. The first verse illustrates how they deal with issues differently as the singer has borrowed a car while their partner packed for the weekend. The second verse is more ominous as the singer looks at a knife in the kitchen and watches a stranger have intercourse with their love interest. Again, the singer states that they handle things differently. The chorus emphasizes the singer's inability to cope with their problems and how they don't want to waste their own or their partner's time. There is also a reference to "New York's underwater" which could be interpreted as an apocalyptic event or a metaphor for the relationship being washed away.
In the third verse, the singer talks about their ex wanting to stop breathing instead of seeing them again. This shows the level of hurt that the singer has caused their partner. The singer also notes that they never saw themselves climbing the stairs, implying that they never thought they were capable of causing such harm to their partner. The final line of the verse, "Try to forget things, a bit differently, differently," further emphasizes their inability to cope with issues.
In the bridge, the singer pleads for their partner to come back and states that it's all in their head. This line could mean that the partner is overreacting or that the singer is gaslighting them.
Overall, the song paints a picture of a relationship that has reached its breaking point due to the different ways the two people deal with problems. The singer is grappling with their own demons and cannot handle the strain that their partner's problems bring.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm on the wrong side of this story
I feel like I am not the singer in my own life.
I borrowed a car, you packed your Saturday
I made a mistake and inconvenienced my partner.
Seems that we deal with things a bit differently, differently
My partner and I have different coping mechanisms.
I went to the kitchen and looked at a knife
I had thoughts of self-harm.
I watched a stranger fuck the love of my life
I felt helpless while someone took advantage of my loved one.
Seems that I deal with things a bit differently, differently
My coping mechanisms are not typical or healthy.
I don't wanna, I don't wanna wasted mind, I misplaced myself this time
I don't want to be in a state of confusion and feel like I have lost myself.
I don't wanna, I don't wanna waste your time, I love the way you lose your mind
I don't want to be a burden to my partner and I appreciate how they can let go and have fun.
New York's underwater is counting to ten, he'd rather stop breathing than see me again
My past mistakes have caused someone to cut ties with me completely.
Seems we remember things a bit differently, differently
Our memories of the same event don't match up.
I never saw myself climbing the stairs, voices to see and best not compare
I never imagined myself struggling with mental health issues and I shouldn't compare my struggles to others.
Try to forget things, a bit differently, differently
I try to forget my problems in a unique way.
Hey, come back, that's not what I said
I want to be understood and my words to be taken seriously.
It's all in your head
The other person is misunderstanding the situation.
I don't wanna, I don't wanna wasted mind, I don't wanna, I don't wanna wasted mind
Repeating that I don't want to feel lost and confused.
I don't wanna, I don't wanna violent show, I don't wanna, I don't wanna watch you go
I don't want to act aggressively and push my loved one away.
I don't wanna, I don't wanna let you know, I don't wanna, I don't want a head sick
I don't want to burden my loved one with my mental health struggles and I strive for emotional stability.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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