Kittie formed when Fallon Bowman and Mercedes Lander met in gym class. Morgan Lander became the lead vocalist and one of Kittie's guitarists and Tanya Candler completed the band's lineup on bass. After signing to NG Records, Kittie released their debut album 'Spit', which was certified gold by the RIAA and sold at least 600,000 copies in the United States. The band released 'Oracle' in 2001 and 'Until the End' in 2004. In 2005, Kittie parted ways with Artemis Records and created their own label. The band released 'Funeral for Yesterday' in 2007 and signed to E1 Music in 2009. The band released 'In the Black' in 2009 and 'I've Failed You' in 2011. In 2014, Kittie made a documentary as a 20th anniversary of the band.
In October 2016, it was announced that drummer/vocalist Mercedes Lander had started a new sludge/doom metal band called the White Swan that released the single "Illuminate". The debut EP, Anubis, was released on November 1, 2016.
On February 11, 2017, bassist Trish Doan died at the age of 31. Doan had moved to Australia in 2013 and had frequently used her social media accounts to speak of her frustrations with depression.
On August 30, 2017, the band announced that they would performing a three-set single concert on October 27, 2017, in their hometown of London, Ontario in the London Music Hall, featuring three different lineup variations made up of both current and former members.
The concert marked the launch of their 20-year anniversary documentary, and featured the return of Candler, Bowman, Phillips, Arroyo and Vujic to perform songs from their respective eras. The concert was released on DVD format on March 26, 2019. On March 30, 2018, the documentary Kittie: Origins/Evolutions, which was filmed prior to the reunion concert, was released on Blu-ray and DVD for the very first time. Like they did with reunion concert, Atfield and Marx declined to participate; according to Morgan Lander, Atfield was supportive of the documentary, appearing in the initial crowdfunding pitch video, but "didn’t think it was the right move for her" to appear. Packaged with the movie was a CD featuring a collection of live performances by the band. Several months later, it was announced that Lander had joined the melodic death metal band, Karkaos, as their new lead singer. In October 2020, Mercedes Lander stated that it was unlikely that Kittie would reunite to perform again without a significant financial offer and the ability to include all of the band's former members. Like her sister, she also stated that she found it difficult to go forward with the band without Doan.
Despite the previous doubts of the Lander sisters, it was announced in January 2022 that Kittie would reunite to perform on all three days of the When We Were Young festival, scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 22, 23, and 29, with Vujic returning to the band on bass for all three dates. After the announcement of the October performances, the band were added to the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on September 8, 2022. Morgan Lander has stated that, although nothing is set in stone, she believes the band will continue performing in 2023.
We Are The Lamb
Kittie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The lamb he sings, the song of the martyr
He is the chosen one
The one to help us fail.
The one to let us grow
The torch is passed on.
And who have we become now?
A life longed to be lived?
Our fierce love, destined to destruct
By our own selfish hands.
The one to help us fail
As blood runs cold
The torch is passed on,
We are the lamb
We have so much to gain,
But our hearts won't let us learn
Blinded by the pain of loss
And who have we become now?
We are the lamb
The opening verse of Kittie's "We Are The Lamb" speaks of a lamb tied to a post who knowingly sings the song of a martyr, suggesting that the animal is aware of its impending fate. The lamb is referred to as "the chosen one," which may imply that it has been selected for sacrifice, likely for the benefit of a larger entity. The following verse speaks of failure and growth, suggesting that this sacrifice is part of a larger cycle of progress, where one must fail to allow another to grow. The torch being passed on is a metaphor for generational shifts, and may also allude to a flame that must first be extinguished for a new one to burn.
In the chorus, the band declares themselves to be the lamb in question, asking who they have become. They question whether the life they have sought out is one that is worth living, considering their actions have led to the destruction of things they love, caused by their own selfishness. The second verse speaks again of failure, suggesting that it is necessary for growth, a theme that is consistent with the lyrics in the first verse. The lamb metaphor heightens the sense of sacrifice, as it is clear that the band's own actions have contributed to their downfall.
* "We Are The Lamb" is the fifth track on Kittie's 2004 album "Until The End."
* This was the first album that the Canadian all-female metal band released after the departure of their original bassist, Tanya Candler.
* The music video for this song was directed by Kevin Custer.
* According to vocalist Morgan Lander, this song was inspired by a book called "The Power Of Myth" by Joseph Campbell.
* "We Are The Lamb" was one of the first songs written for the "Until The End" album.
* The song was performed live on the Vans Warped Tour in 2004.
* It's one of the band's slowest songs, with a pronounced power-ballad feel.
* The album it was featured on was the first one the band released after switching from Artemis Records to independent label, Kiss of Infamy Records.
* During one of their tours, the band was forced to cancel several dates when drummer Mercedes Lander fell ill.
* The band was founded in 1996 by sisters Morgan and Mercedes Lander when they were only 15 and 17, respectively.
Chords (as played live by Kittie):
Intro: Bm Bbm G A
Verse: Bm G A
Chorus: D Bm G A
Line by Line Meaning
Tied to this post, without foresight, of what's to come
The lamb is tied to a post and he knows not what’s going to happen to him next.
The lamb he sings, the song of the martyr
The lamb is a martyr and he sings his last song.
He is the chosen one
The lamb is the one who is chosen to sacrifice his life.
We are the lamb
We, as humans, are like the lamb in the sense that we suffer and sacrifice ourselves for others.
And who have we become now?
The artist is questioning the identity of humanity and what it has become.
A life longed to be lived?
The singer asks if what we’ve done with our lives is what we truly wanted.
Our fierce love, destined to destruct
Our intense love for something, which is often self-centered, is meant to lead to destruction.
By our own selfish hands.
Our destruction is brought upon ourselves by the selfish choices we make.
As blood runs cold
The feeling of coldness and numbness takes over as the lamb’s blood runs cold.
We have so much to gain,
As humans, we have a lot to gain from life and from one another.
But our hearts won't let us learn
However, our hearts and emotions cloud our judgment and prevent us from learning.
Blinded by the pain of loss
Our pain and grief often leave us blind to the lessons we can learn from a difficult situation.
We are the lamb
Again, we are like the lamb in that we suffer and make sacrifices.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Aoede Lunarei
I will always love Kittie. They harmonize amazingly together; even during their hardest songs the riffs blend seamlessly!
Ocean Dark
Every criticism of Kittie seems to be centered around them somehow doing too little for their music. It's too slow, too simple, too easy.
Anyone ever think maybe the majority of metal bands are overdoing it? I think Kittie sounds great doing exactly what they're doing! Ride that groove.
Rhett Corbett
They kick FKN ass. Forget that Baby Metal garbage. This is the real deal. .🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Dylan Ferris
@Johnny Awesome O how so? They know the sound they're going for when they produce an album and stick to that instead of making what people think they should be making. The fact that they produced multiple albums with multiple different subgenres of metal proves to me they aren't lazy in the slightest. Lazy bands at least to me are the bands that just produce music to hit radio and don't actually care about the music they produce.
juuh771
@Confessor Rahl It amazes me, I remember when they hit the scene and toured with pantera. That alone should have put one hell of a stamp of approval on their resume. They were young and talented like no other. I still hold them as one of the top metal bands of the 90's and 2000's because they broke the mold.
Confessor Rahl
Thank you! For all the people bitching should really check out Forgive and Forget, Empires pt 2, Flower of Flesh and Blood, Already Dead, I've Failed You.
They are all songs that show their speed/thrashy metal side. It amazes me that people don't seem to comprehend- Kittie isn't a straight up balls to the wall thrash metal/ metalcore/ death metal or anything like that. They are a metal band with elements of EVERYTHING. While Mercedes is an amazing drummer and super talented, she doesn't hit shit super fast in every song just because she can. She does what's right for the song and is influenced by the rock 'n roll drummers of the 80's. In my opinion the sometimes melodic/doom metal makes Kittie stand out and is very "groovy"... Especially this song and the solo live. One of the most underrated bands of all times and it's unfortunate to say it's mostly because of their gender and their first release and all that surrounded it: age, popularity, publicity, etc.
Ginger Fitzgerald
I think this song rocks, it's simple yet heavy on the guitar. The video seems to just be them having fun, which is cool to see for a change in the metal genre.
john jones
I still love Kittie.
imusthaveyoursoul
Came here after about 3 years without listening, and I confirm, it is still badass music \m/
Steven Kelly
I love listening to songs from Spit to this... It's a complete 360. They are easily one of the most progressed bands of all time.