He was an accomplished instrumentalist and composer, who played keyboards, guitars, drums, bass and cellos, as well as singing vocals. His talents also extended to producer. He toured with Eddie Money before winning the Yamaha songwriting competition with his progressive rock group Giraffe. Producer Patrick Leonard was impressed with Gilbert's performance at the competition and invited him to join him in forming a new band which became Toy Matinee. During this time, Gilbert worked on the projects of several established pop musicians, including Madonna, Michael Jackson and produced Keith Emerson's album Changing States.
The lone Toy Matinee album was released in 1990 but effectively shelved by the record company, so Gilbert assembled a new backing band to promote the album, eventually getting two successful singles released: "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge" and "Last Plane Out".
Later, Gilbert was part of a songwriting collective (called "The Tuesday Music Club") that met at producer Bill Bottrell's studio in Pasadena, California. After he began bringing his then girlfriend Sheryl Crow to the sessions, the result was Crow's debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. Gilbert co-wrote many of the songs on that album, including 1995 Grammy Record of the Year "All I Wanna Do." Crow later acrimoniously split with most of the musicians in the collective and only Bottrell was involved in her follow-up album. Meanwhile the remainder of the collective worked with singer-songwriters Susanna Hoffs and Linda Perry on two more albums.
Gilbert continued to work in television and movie soundtrack work as well as studio work and producing and eventually released his first solo album Thud(1995) as well as partially reforming Giraffe to perform the Genesis masterpiece "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" at Progfest 94. Gilbert's manager sent a copy of the recording to Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford who were searching for a new Genesis front man to replace Phil Collins. His manager was coming to Gilbert's home to tell him that he had managed to get him an audition when he discovered him dead.
Gilbert's second solo album, The Shaming of the True was released posthumously. The album was largely incomplete, but Gilbert's estate asked Spock's Beard drummer Nick D'Virgilio to complete it based on the extant tapes and Gilbert's notes. A live album (composed mostly of songs from Thud), and a compilation of Giraffe material that Gilbert had been working on and an "industrial" album with Gilbert's latest group, Kaviar have also been released in the years since his death. His estate has promised two more posthumous studio albums and a live performance from Gilbert's promotional group for Toy Matinee.
Discography:
N.R.G. - No Reasons Given (1984)
Giraffe - The Power Of Suggestion (1987)
Giraffe - The View From Here (1989)
Toy Matinee - Toy Matinee (1990; remastered & rereleased 2001)
Sheryl Crow - Tuesday Night Music Club (1993)
Kevin Gilbert - Thud (1995)
Giraffe - Giraffe (1999)
Kevin Gilbert & Thud - Live at the Troubadour (1999)
Kevin Gilbert - The Shaming of the True (2000)
Kaviar - The Kaviar Sessions (2002)
Kevin Gilbert - Nuts (2009)
Kevin Gilbert - Bolts (2009)
Kevin Gilbert - Performs Toy Matinee Live (2010)
Kevin Gilbert - Toy Matinee Acoustic Rehearsal (2014)
All Fall Down
Kevin Gilbert Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Time for what's been called the finale
And this one comes as no surprise
One of a kind, you'll never see this anywhere else, friends,
Sort of brings a tear to your eye
So be watching closely and you'll be impressed
An order is given and a button is pressed
Then a light that is blinding and a sound that is shrill
So turn the radio up and pass the bottle round
And then we'll have one more dance before we all fall down
I'll wear my favorite tie, you can wear your wedding gown
And then we'll both look real sharp when we all fall down
Look at them now, drawing little lines with their speeches
Each daring the other to cross
It won't be long now, one will make a stand he believes in
Believing it's well worth the cost
Then the other gets angry refuses to budge
Fueled by some understandable grudge
And now we wait quietly till the missile arrives
There's no need to shout about the end of our lives
So bring your friends now, and we'll laugh at all the clowns
Who think there'll be a better world when we all fall down
And we can sing this song, we'll make a joyful sound
We'll be singing na na na when we all fall down
Buildings and bridges all leveled to the ground
Cities and nations and we just stand around
Someone unlocked the big cage
and the beast cannot be found
So strike up the music and we'll all fall down.
In the song All Fall Down by Kevin Gilbert, the lyrics depict the end of the world. The song starts with Kevin saying goodbye to the world, accepting his fate that the world is going to end. He describes it as a one-of-a-kind event that will bring a tear to your eye. It's a beautifully destructible moment that everyone should watch closely. The light is blinding and the sound is shrill. It's a moment that will end free will for all of us.
As the song progresses, Kevin sings about how people are still drawing little lines with their speeches, daring each other to cross them. But it won't be long until someone makes the stand they believe in, believing it's worth the cost. And then the other person gets angry, refusing to budge. Ultimately, we all wait quietly for the missile to arrive, accepting our fate of an end to our lives. In the end, Kevin invites his friends to join him, laughing at the people who believe there will be a better world. They sing a joyful sound of "na na na" as they all fall down, striking up the music to end it all.
Line by Line Meaning
I guess this is it.
I acknowledge this to be the end.
Time for what's been called the finale
It is now time for the ending that we all expected.
And this one comes as no surprise
The ending is not shocking or unexpected.
One of a kind, you'll never see this anywhere else, friends,
This ending is unique and never to be repeated.
Sort of brings a tear to your eye
It's a little emotional.
So be watching closely and you'll be impressed
Pay attention to what is happening because it will amaze you.
An order is given and a button is pressed
After a command is issued, a button is pushed.
Then a light that is blinding and a sound that is shrill
There is a bright light and a loud noise.
Don't blink or you'll miss it, it's the end of free will
The end of free will is rapid, so pay attention or you'll miss it.
So turn the radio up and pass the bottle round
Crank the music up and pass around the drinks.
And then we'll have one more dance before we all fall down
Before we all die, we'll have one more dance together.
I'll wear my favorite tie, you can wear your wedding gown
Let's dress up for our last dance.
And then we'll both look real sharp when we all fall down
Even though we're all dying, we'll still look good.
Look at them now, drawing little lines with their speeches
Politicians are arguing with each other.
Each daring the other to cross
Both sides are challenging each other to make a move.
It won't be long now, one will make a stand he believes in
We are close to someone taking a stand on a subject they believe in.
Believing it's well worth the cost
They believe the consequences of their actions will be worthwhile.
Then the other gets angry refuses to budge
The other side becomes upset and stubborn.
Fueled by some understandable grudge
Their behavior is being driven by a justifiable problem they have with the other side.
And now we wait quietly till the missile arrives
We wait in silence for the inevitable disaster.
There's no need to shout about the end of our lives
There's no need to make a fuss about the fact that we're all going to die.
So bring your friends now, and we'll laugh at all the clowns
Bring your friends over and we'll make fun of the foolish people.
Who think there'll be a better world when we all fall down
These people believe that after we all die, things will improve.
And we can sing this song, we'll make a joyful sound
We'll celebrate our last moments together by singing.
We'll be singing na na na when we all fall down
And we'll be having fun even as we die.
Buildings and bridges all leveled to the ground
All of the infrastructure is destroyed.
Cities and nations and we just stand around
The people just stand there in disbelief.
Someone unlocked the big cage
The source of the catastrophe has been revealed.
And the beast cannot be found
Even though we know why it happened, we still can't locate the problem.
So strike up the music and we'll all fall down.
Let's dance away the remaining moments we have left.
Contributed by Hudson R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.