(Edit: 2/4/2010: Love Spit Love is sadly also long gone - 13 years gone, in fact. Apparently the long-term intentions were crushed by the reality of hardly anyone knowing about them, Richard's pre-existing claim to fame notwithstanding. LSL was considerably more cerebral and introspective than The Furs. Too intelligent for the masses, perhaps, they didn't go on to release anything beyond Trysome Eatone. However, what comes around goes around. The Furs recently regrouped and went on tour in 2009. Intentions unknown as to whether Richard and Co. will be releasing any new material as The Psychedelic Furs.)
Like the band's music, their second album's title "Trysome Eatone" was an invitation both dangerous and alluring. The 12 songs included ''Fall On Tears,'' ''Hurts When I Laugh,'' ''Sweet Thing,'' ''All God's Children,'' ''Well Well Well'' and the LP's debut single and video ''Long Long Time.'' Throughout, the Love Spit Love sound was sharp and moody, blending Butler's unmistakable vocals with the shimmering guitar textures of Richard Fortus and the penetrating rhythm section of drummer Frank Ferrer and new bassist Chris Wilson.
Produced by Butler, Fortus and Ben Grosse (Filter, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Violent Femmes), Trysome Eatone aimed for the head and heart, with harmonically complex melodies, dynamic rhythms and subtly poignant lyrics.
Trysome Eatone was both a union of European and American pop styles and a powerful slice of pre-millennial melancholia and humor. On the album's first single ''Long Long Time,'' Butler waxed philosophical, while the band created a deceptively tempered groove. ''Fall On Tears'' and ''It Hurts When I Laugh'' represent a striking marriage of folk melody and foreboding lyricism, while ''More Than Money'' was a manic celebration of transistorized noise, volcanic rhythm and apocalyptic guitar. In all, Trysome Eatone took pop experimentation to heady new levels.
''I wanted to make a record that had all great songs,'' Butler said, ''Not all singles necessarily, just great songs. I also wanted the record to be varied, with lots of different moods, but make it so it all hung together.''
The album winds its way through Butler's tales and observations about life and everyday situations and confrontations, The inspiration for Butler's lyrics? ''I suppose things that I overhear people say, situations I find myself in,'' he says. ''I kind of like lyrics to be pretty simple-sounding and not impose themselves too much and not try to be clever. Kind of like nursery rhymes that sound innocent but are really pretty dark.''
''Little Fist'', a song written about people on St, Marks Place below his apartment window, opens with the lines:
I've got lipstick on my front teeth I'm full of pills but I don' t feel good yet I 'm tied up running out of good luck Eyeliner tears are running down my neck
''I think all songs are autobiographical; it's always either writing about yourself or putting yourself in someone else's shoes,'' Butler explained. ''Whatever you write about tells something about yourself, Songs can start from a title or a melody or taking words you've already written and squeezing them into a tune. Usually, it starts with the music and a melody. Then the feel of the music puts you in a certain mood; then you have to write lyrics with that mood.''
''I tend not to write love songs,'' he continued. ''They sound too much like somebody cornering you in a bar and moaning about their ex-wife - does anybody really care? But songs about love are a different thing.''
As a founding member of the Psychedelic Furs, Richard Butler has cast a long, folkloric shadow over the modern pop landscape. With Love Spit Love, he tried to tear down his own myth and replace it with a gleaming new creation.
The roots of Love Spit Love extend back to 1992. In the wake of the Psychedelic Furs' dissolution, Butler moved from his native England to New York. Seeking a new platform for his musical and lyrical visions, the singer teamed with Richard Fortus, who had impressed Butler when opening for the Furs with his former band.
Drummer Frank Ferrer was next to join the band's ranks, his authoritative rhythms providing a perfect foil for Butler's literate musings and Fortus's melodic inventions. Named after an erotic art exhibit, Love Spit Love was officially conceived.
For Love Spit Love's debut on the now-defunct Imago label, Butler's brother Tim was brought in to provide the bottom end on drums, while Chris Wilson assumed bass-playing duties just before the band's 1994-95 tour. He made his Love Spit Love recording debut on the band's second album.
On the band's self-titled 1994 debut recording, Butler and his bandmates created lush soundscapes punctuated by dissonant shards of noise and orchestration. In its effusive critique, The Trouser Press Record Guide noted that, ''Butler has never sounded better -- his nicotine-coated growl has, over the years, mellowed into a powerful, scratchy croon that shimmers on his most accessible record since the Furs' glory days.'' Elsewhere, Cover magazine claimed Love Spit Love to be ''both the best new band and the best debut album of 1994.''
Building on the debut disc's momentum, Trysome Eatone painted with broad musical strokes. Recorded in New York, Detroit and Los Angeles, Trysome Eatone is the kind of album that yields fresh surprises with each listen. Yet for all its lyrical insight, the record never reveals too much. Richard Butler remains an enigma, and as the singer himself crooned on ''Long Long Time'':
If I seem to make no sense I make no sense sometimes
It was a perfect lyric from a man who's always known how to engage his fans in a deep mystery.
Love spit love was perhaps most famous for their song "How Soon Is Now?", a cover of The Smiths. The song was used as the theme of the long-running TV show Charmed, and was also used in The Craft soundtrack.
Superman
Love Spit Love Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
to myself?
i bit off
more than i tell
what if the grass
stops growing green
superman, where have you been?
i don't want your
talk talk talk long
give it time
give it time
give it up
i don't want your
talk talk talk
won't give it time
give it time
give it up
i see your lines
they show your age
this day's not kind
to your face
get off my bed
put on your shoes
the world won't
turn around you
i don't want your
talk talk talk
won't give it time
give it time
give it up
i don't want your
talk talk talk
won't give it time
give it time
give it up
speak to the answer phone again
don't tell me i'm alone again
don't tell me god has gone
when i turn on the radio
i speak to the answer phone again
i don't want your
talk talk talk
won't give it time
give it time
give it up
i don't want your
talk talk talk
won't give it time
give it time
give it up
don't mirror me
if i can't stand
or walk as tall as you can
hey superman
where did you go
now that the lights have gone low
The lyrics to Love Spit Love's song "Superman" explore themes of self-deception and disillusionment. The opening lines suggest the singer might be lying to themselves, admitting that they've bitten off more than they can tell. The second verse brings up the image of grass ceasing to grow green, which can be read as a metaphor for lost hope or optimism. The chorus repeatedly expresses the singer's unwillingness to engage with someone who offers empty talk, wanting instead to move on and leave them behind.
The transition to the third verse shifts the focus outward towards another person, pointing out their aging and suggesting they need to get off the singer's bed and put on their shoes. The fourth verse then shifts again to a more existential tone, with the singer addressing the idea of being alone and turning to the answer phone for comfort. The final chorus repeats the earlier refrain, but adds the image of Superman disappearing as the lights go low, suggesting perhaps that the singer has lost all its heroes or role models.
Line by Line Meaning
what if i lie
to myself?
What if I deceive myself about what I truly believe?
i bit off
more than i tell
I have taken on more than I can handle and I'm not being honest about it.
what if the grass
stops growing green
superman, where have you been?
What if everything beautiful in the world ceases to exist? Superman, where are you when we need you most?
i don't want your
talk talk talk long
give it time
give it time
give it up
I don't want to listen to you babble endlessly, just let me be and give up trying to convince me.
i see your lines
they show your age
this day's not kind
to your face
I see the wrinkles on your face, a reminder that time is not kind and we all age.
get off my bed
put on your shoes
the world won't
turn around you
Get out of my space, put on your shoes and face the harsh reality that the world does not revolve around you.
speak to the answer phone again
don't tell me i'm alone again
don't tell me god has gone
when i turn on the radio
i speak to the answer phone again
I keep calling and talking to an answering machine, seeking human connection and hoping to not feel alone. Please don't tell me that God has abandoned me, because all I hear is static when I turn on the radio.
don't mirror me
if i can't stand
or walk as tall as you can
Don't compare me to you, especially when I'm not feeling my best or can't match up to your expectations.
hey superman
where did you go
now that the lights have gone low
Hey Superman, where did you disappear to when things got tough and the world turned dark?
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RICHARD LOFTHOUSE BUTLER, TIMOTHY BUTLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind