After years playing violin as a session musician with the likes of John Mellencamp, Indigo Girls and Bob Dylan, Germano embarked on a solo career in 1991 with the understated but occasionally brilliant On The Way Down From The Moon Palace on her own label, which led to a deal with Capitol, who released her second album. Although Happiness was a massive step up in terms of confidence and songwriting, troubles at the label led to her buying back the rights. In 1994 4AD released a re-sequenced and remixed version of Happiness with a new sleeve and a few different tracks (including a gloomy version of the formerly scintillating ‘... Dresses’).
She turned out to be not just a great musician (she plays most of the instruments: piano, guitar, percussion and tape effects, as well as her trademark violin) and a wittily melancholy if kooky songwriter (‘I Love A Snot’, indeed), but a phenomenal arranger whose innovation and breadth of expression is comparable to PJ Harvey at her tape-mangling best.
As her style developed, so the music’s potential commercial appeal increased without compromising its uniqueness. Bright kaleidoscopes during an otherwise dark time in 4AD’s history, the following three albums, Geek The Girl, Excerpts From A Love Circus and Slide all won critical acclaim, but sadly failed to reach the wide audience they deserved; Germano was dropped in 1998, and announced her retirement from the music business.
(In 1997, she also released a collaboration with Giant Sand and future members of Calexico under the name OP8 Featuring The Ilk Of Lisa Germano).
Retirement didn’t suit her, and she was soon out on tour again, sessioning for David Bowie and Neil Finn, before, in 2003, releasing the self-funded Lullaby For Liquid Pig on ArtistDIRECT imprint Ineffable. A return to the woozy, after-the-carnival soundworld of ...Love Circus, the album was made with help from collaborators Finn, Johnny Marr and Wendy Melvoin.
Label-less again after Ineffable dissolved, Swans mainstay and longtime Germano fan Michael Gira snapped her up for his Young God label, which in 2007 released In The Maybe World, a stripped-down but ultimately hopeful reflection on mortality inspired by the death of, well, a cat, but also the imagined death of her Father. Young God subsequently reissued Liquid Pig with an extra CD of live recordings and demos, whose between-song banter highlighted Germano’s unique and cat-slanted take on life and death.
In September 2009 the album Magic Neighbor was released, again on Young God Records.
She also works with Maynard James Keenan's Puscifer
Official site: www.lisagermano.com
A Guy Like You
Lisa Germano Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can yell, you can scream
I got my things to do anyway
Far from you
You are this baby
Pulls me down angry
I don't care anyhow
I just get angrier
You say that love is it
All of it, a bunch of shit
I'll ruin everything
Peace of mind, or a ring
What makes me angry
Just makes you sad
This should be easier
Maybe if I could hear
But I'll just get angrier
And close my eyes
And wish away
Hide it inside, nobody knows
I just get angrier
There's something you need me for
But I can't give anymore
I gave it all away
Less and less every day
What makes you crazy takes me there, too
I just expect it to
Trying to be a guy like you
Walk away
Intoxicate
Nobody knows
I can't hear anything
In Lisa Germano's song A Guy Like You, the singer seems to be in a toxic relationship with someone who is constantly angry and pulling her down. She can't hear anything because the other person's yelling and screaming has become overwhelming. Despite this, she has her own things to do and tries to distance herself, but can't escape the anger that surrounds her. The other person believes that love is everything, but the singer sees it as "a bunch of shit" that ruins everything, including peace of mind and happiness. She feels like she's given everything she can, but it's still not enough for the other person. The thing that makes her angry only makes the other person sad, and the situation is becoming increasingly difficult to handle.
The singer wishes the situation could be easier, but she knows it won't be. In the meantime, she gets angrier and tries to hide her emotions from the outside world. She feels like she can't give anymore, but at the same time she's trying to be like the other person. At the end of the song, she decides to walk away and try to intoxicate herself to block out the anger and pain. It's a raw and emotional depiction of a troubled relationship that speaks to the difficult emotions that can arise when relationships become toxic.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't hear anything
I am not willing to listen to you anymore.
You can yell, you can scream
No matter how much you shout or scream, it won't affect me.
I got my things to do anyway
I have better things to do than to be with you and deal with your problems.
Far from you
I don't want to be near you.
You are this baby
You act like a baby and it annoys me.
Pulls me down angry
Your behavior makes me feel angry and frustrated.
I don't care anyhow
I am not concerned about your problems or what you have to say.
People just let me down
I have no faith in people and expect them to disappoint me.
I just get angrier
Your actions make me increasingly angry.
You say that love is it
You believe that love is the only thing that matters.
All of it, a bunch of shit
I think love is overrated and not worth it.
I'll ruin everything
I will destroy everything around me, including relationships.
Peace of mind, or a ring
I don't care if I find peace of mind or a long-term commitment like marriage.
What makes me angry
Things that occur around me make me angry.
Just makes you sad
Your emotional response to my anger is sadness.
This should be easier
I wish things were easier and less complicated.
Maybe if I could hear
If I listened a bit more, maybe I could understand better.
But I'll just get angrier
But all that would happen is that my anger will increase.
And close my eyes
I would rather avoid the situation.
And wish away
I would prefer if this situation would go away on its own.
Hide it inside, nobody knows
I will hide my emotions and nobody will know how I feel.
There's something you need me for
You require my assistance for something.
But I can't give anymore
I cannot provide any further help.
I gave it all away
I have already done my best to help you.
Less and less every day
Every day, I feel like I can help you less and less.
What makes you crazy takes me there, too
Your behavior drives me insane as well.
I just expect it to
I expect the worst from you and others.
Trying to be a guy like you
I want to act like you and be indifferent to everything.
Walk away
I will leave this situation and walk away.
Intoxicate
I will consume substances to forget and numb the pain.
Nobody knows
I am keeping my emotions hidden from others.
I can't hear anything
I refuse to listen to you or anyone else.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LISA GERMANO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
DON FERREIRA
Lisa is just so lovely. Lisa, missing you in West Hollywood.
Love you.
E T
This is stunningly beautiful, thought-provoking, and serenely deep. Thank you Lisa! Thanks for posting, Aaron!
kevin zimmerman
Thank you for posting this! I have my CD somewhere, but I got to thinking about Lisa today and needed to hear this. Still, her finest record!
Cody Gaisser
Amazing album!
alejandro velez
So ,I became familiar with the works of Lisa Germano thanks to Piero Scaruffi and I just wanted to ask:
How did you get a copy of this one?
kevin zimmerman
It is used on Amazon right now. Long out of print.
Eduardo Guízar Pérez
Any good downloadable version?