Their official biography reads as follows: Our story begins – as many of these stories do – with a TDK 60 minute cassette. It's back in 1992 and Kurt Cobain with Smells Like Teen Spirit is playing himself into the nirvana of rock'n'roll and hitting us in the gut. Wow! At roughly the same time, Adrian packs in his drummer job with The Bash — freeing his hands to do the old Fender Strat thing and, in fact, record on to that TDK 60. He calls his one-man band "Lovebugs", enters the cassette for a Band Contest in Basle ... and ends up being invited to take part in the final round.
So he finds Sebastian on bass and Julie on drums – more for their charming personalities than for instrumental virtuosity. And then it all happens pretty dammed quick. First gig, the final, victory, thank you!
Adrian and Sebastian then record their first album Fluff in all of five days in league with 17-year-old temp drummer Simon who has been a permanent fixture since then, irreplaceable actually, because not only is he an amazing drummer but also an amazing cook. We play a few gigs and Adrian wants to pack it in again. Making music is OK, he says, but being the frontman is a pain. Well, we persuade him to stay on and, before long, we have played countless gigs in small clubs. And, between all that, recorded our second album: Tart.
The third album appears in 1996: Lovebugs. Recorded in London, produced by George Shilling and Tony Harris. We storm the Top 40 and our single Fantastic is what you might call our minor breakthrough on the Swiss music wallpaper scene. We sign major recording contacts in Germany, feel pretty fantastic, immortal at least. Just the right mood for getting on to the TourBus for a few months.
Thomas also gets on: live, we need extra guitar; he needs a good band. And the tours go on — with Marc Owen, Republica, Vivid and Ocean Color Scene. We become addicted to life on tour. We hang on to Thomas because, apart from making the right noises with the guitar, he's cool with studio buttons and, in the morning, he looks so grotty.
In 1999, BMG/RCA prescribe us a recording producer who – from the very start – we don't hit it off with. The proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. After a really vicious battle with the record company (all that small-print crap) we record an album under the name of The Symbol. No, not really, we sign a deal with Warner Music Switzerland and, at long last, in 2000, bring out Transatlantic Flight. All that turbulence seems to have paid off. The album sells in 13 countries and represents now our ultimate breakthrough. The concerts are sold out. We shoot a video in LA and give loads of interviews from Moscow through Niederbipp to Helsinki …
While Sebastian publishes his glam rock project Fucking Beautiful, we work on our fifth studio album Awaydays. Wanting to go new places, we record the album in the rehearsal room (with Thomas as producer) and bring in a string orchestra. Adrian starts to think of packing it in again but eventually gives up smoking instead. At about the same time, Awaydays gets to the number one spot in the Swiss charts and Sebastian announces his departure from the band. We play one last tour with him and wonder about how things should continue.
Come autumn 2002, we retreat to the heel of the Italian boot – Apulia – to work on 13 Songs With A View. There are now five of us and we're searching for a new Lovebugs sound. Bass player Florian is more than a mere substitute for emigrant Sebastian: he brings a new earthy edge to the band and raises the average IQ by 35%. The same tidal wave also dumps Stefan on board MS Lovebugs. In an official capacity, that is. For almost three years, he's been pounding away on the keyboards for us — both on stage and in the studio. 13 Songs With A View is, in a word, a bitch, and gives us a really hard time. Yup, the search for our joint roots is difficult, taking 13 long months in the studio. An eternal labyrinth. But also a welding torch for the new line-up. The result is rawer and harder than previous albums. A true milestone, we reckon. Whereas the Swiss radio stations reckon that our sound is too noisy. TV gets cold feet as well and even drops us from a programme at literally the last second. They are worried that our music might hit the viewers in the gut (hmm, sounds familiar). Whatever. A short time later, to kick off our tour, we play Letzigrund Stadium with the legendary Stones to a crowd of 40,000 before, at long last, setting off on an extended club and festival tour again.
December 2003. We've done some 1,000 gigs (I think) and recorded seven albums. Tired? No way! But where can we now sail to without going round in circles? One thing is clear: we need a producer who will accompany us, give us feedback and be in on the songs as they emerge so that we don't drift into studio quicksands again. Someone who can stand up to the Lovebugs steamroller. Adrian has the shocking idea of having a go with that swine Chris von Rohr. In fact, the chemistry works at the very first meeting and soon we have a veritable swimming pool full of creativity — not to mention a genuine friendship.
Together we work on the eighth CD. It's to be an unplugged album, recorded live and featuring the best from 11 years of Lovebugs. Old hits are re-arranged, stripped down to the bare essentials. We want it to be intimate and direct. After nine months of preparation, we perform Naked (!) on stage in Basle ... and, well, it's one of our best concerts ever. Included on the album version are five new songs, some really moving moments and acres of goose pimples.
For six months or so, the subsequent Naked Tour takes us though old theatre prosceniums and cinema halls. Backed by mood and guest musicians, we play unplugged into the summer. It's during the festival season of 2005 that – in parallel and in secret – we start plugging our cables in at the rehearsal room again. We hunger for electricity and sounds but first Adrian has to have on operation on his respiratory system while the rest of us send postcards from our holiday resorts. Each taking a creative breather, so to speak.
In autumn 2005 – by which time we're up to our knees in new material – a Taiwanese record company calls up suddenly and invites us to hold a series of interviews and concerts in Asia. We leave the freshly served Creative Soup on the counter and fly "naked" to the land of the permanent sushi enthusiasts where we (a) score something of a success and (b) get to know something about chopsticks, isolation and sleeping tablets. Then, in the middle of a snowstorm and an infinitely long winter, we eventually realise where we are going and who we wish to take along with us. Things are going to be epic and huge and also deep enough to drown in, a unified whole indeed. So, after a three-year absence from the studio, In Every Waking Moment will not be a stroll through the park, more like an intense midnight ramble J
To read the map and shine the torch, we hire Roman Camenzind. The man who never sleeps and who always has a good idea just when one is needed.
In February and March of 2006, we record In Every Waking Moment at locomotive speed and, only one week after Switzerland gets kicked out of the last 16 of the Football World Cup, a Lovebugs CD soars to Number One on the Swiss album charts … again.
Discography
IN EVERY WAKING MOMENT (2006)
NAKED (2005)
13 SONGS WITH A VIEW (2003)
AWAYDAYS (2001)
TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT (2000)
LIVE VIA SATELLITE (1999)
LOVEBUGS intl. version (1998)
LOVEBUGS (1996)
TART (1995)
FLUFF (1994)
Group Members
Adrian Sieber: vocals, guitar
Thomas Rechberger: guitar, vocals
Stefan Wagner: piano, synthesizers, vocals
Florian Senn: bass
Simon Ramseier: drums
Website
http://www.lovebugs.com
How Can You Sleep?
Lovebugs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh god, it feels a lot like falling here
Without you on my side
I won't make it through the night
Please come over again
Oh god, it never felt so empty here
On my side of the bed
Oh, please come over again
Let's not let the silence reign
Yeah
How can you sleep
With a heart that bleeds?
How can you turn your back on me
And leave?
Please come over again
Oh god, it never felt so wrong my dear
Every time that we try
It's harder to get by
Oh, please come over again
Let's not let the silence reign
Yeah
How can you sleep
With a heart that bleeds?
How can you turn your back on me
And leave?
How can you sleep
With a soul that weeps?
How can you dream our dreams away
And leave?
Don't just leave
me here alone with my thoughts and fears. The singer is pleading for their lover to come back to them because they cannot handle being without them. They express that their absence feels like falling and that they won't make it through the night without them by their side. The bed feels empty and there are things left unsaid between the two of them. The singer is desperate for their lover to come back and not let the silence reign between them.
The chorus reveals the heartbreak the singer is feeling. They ask their lover how they can sleep with a bleeding heart, turning their back on them and leaving. They ask how they can sleep with a weeping soul, dreaming of their shared dreams while leaving them behind. The singer is deeply hurt by the departure of their lover and cannot understand how they could leave them in such a state.
Overall, the song is a plea for a lover to come back and not leave the singer alone with the pain of their departure. The lyrics express the deep hurt and confusion one feels when a lover leaves.
Line by Line Meaning
Please come over again
The singer wants the person they are addressing to come back into their life.
Oh god, it feels a lot like falling here
Without the person they are addressing, the singer feels as though they are spiraling downwards.
Without you on my side
The singer needs the person they are addressing to be a support system for them.
I won't make it through the night
The artist is expressing how important the addressed person is to them and how they need them in order to continue on with life.
Oh god, it never felt so empty here
The artist expresses how lonely they feel without the person they are addressing.
On my side of the bed
The singer is physically experiencing loneliness in their own bed where the addressed person used to be.
With so much left unsaid
The singer expresses regret at not being able to communicate with the addressed person and have a conversation about their relationship.
Let's not let the silence reign
The artist wants the addressed person to come back so that they can talk about their problems and not suffer in silence.
How can you sleep
With a heart that bleeds?
The artist questions how the addressed person can be at peace while the artist is suffering due to the relationship breaking apart.
How can you turn your back on me
And leave?
The artist is asking how the addressed person was able to just walk away from the relationship without any explanation or understanding.
How can you sleep
With a soul that weeps?
The singer questions how the addressed person can be at peace when the singer is grieving over the end of their relationship.
How can you dream our dreams away
And leave?
The artist expresses their sadness at how their shared dreams with the addressed person are now gone after the relationship has ended.
Don't just leave me
Wondering why you had to leave
The singer wants the addressed person to come back and provide an explanation for why the relationship ended, instead of just leaving the singer with unanswered questions.
Contributed by Max R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.