After arriving in New York City at the age of 16, she worked as a bar maid and go-go dancer at the Baby Doll Lounge on White street in Tribeca. Lydia met Alan Vega (who became her first friend in NYC) and Willy DeVille (who gave her the name 'Lunch' because she'd often been stealing lunch for The Dead Boys). Then she moved in for about a year with then-boyfriend James Chance (born James Siegfried) who had come to New York (from Milwaukee) in the last week of 1975. They lived at a funky two-room fifth-floor walk-up apartment on East 2nd street (between Avenue A and B) and at a tiny storefront on Twelfth street.
Lunch moved into a large communal household of artists and musicians in NYC, including Kitty Bruce, daughter of Lenny Bruce. After befriending the 'godfathers of punk' Suicide at Max's Kansas City, she founded the short-lived but influential No Wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks in 1976 with her artistic partner, James Chance. Both appeared on the seminal No Wave compilation No New York. Lunch later appeared on two songs on Chance's album Off White (credited to James White and the Blacks; Lunch used the pseudonym "Stella Rico") in 1978.
She appeared in two films directed by the husband and wife film-making team of Scott B and Beth B; In the short film Black Box (1978) she played an unnamed torturer, and in the feature length, neo-noir thriller Vortex (1982) she played a private detective named "Angel Powers". During this time, she also appeared in a number of films by Vivienne Dick, including She Had her Gun All Ready (1978) and Beauty Becomes The Beast (1979), co starring with Pat Place.
In the mid-'80s she formed her own recording and publishing company called "Widowspeak" on which she continued to release a slew of her own material, including songs and spoken word.
A self-avowed "confrontationalist", identified by the Boston Phoenix as "one of the 10 most influential performers of the '90s", Lunch's solo career featured collaborations with musicians such as J. G. Thirlwell, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Nick Cave, Billy Ver Plank, Steven Severin, Robert Quine, Sadie Mae, Rowland S. Howard, Michael Gira, The Birthday Party, Einstürzende Neubauten, Sonic Youth, Die Haut and Black Sun Productions. She also acted in, wrote, and directed underground films, sometimes collaborating with underground filmmaker and musician Richard Kern (including several films, such as Fingered, in which she performed unsimulated sex acts), and more recently has recorded and performed as a spoken word artist, collaborating with such artists as Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins, Don Bajema, Hubert Selby Jr., and Emilio Cubeiro, as well as authoring both traditional books and comix (with award-winning graphic novel artist Ted McKeever).
Simon Reynolds (author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984) wrote: "And although 'affection' is possibly an odd word to use in reference to a bunch of nihilists, I do feel fond of the No Wave people. ... there are great moments throughout Lydia Lunch's long discography." Selected quotations:
I'm nihilistic, antagonistic, violent, horrible - but not obliterated, yet.
I would be humiliated if I found out that anything I did actually became a commercial success.
There’re enough happy assholes out there, why should I be another one in the line...
It seems to me, that for over two thousand years now; mad-men, maniacs, and would be messiahs have been pilfering, have been pillaging, have been plundering, and have been raping the entire planet; and the way I see it, Mother Nature is getting pretty pissed off.
No pornography exploits women. It exploits men. It’s the men that are made to look stupid, silly and ridiculous, chasing after the golden elixir. Women look beautiful, do what they wanna do and get paid for it.
The only way to define the art of Lydia Lunch is simply not to.
Afraid of Your Company
Lydia Lunch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If we stretched this hour
It would go on forever
Once more skewered
Coming out of both sides
It's a day of waiting
Waiting two plus three
And here I go again
Yes I know all of the answers
And I'll tell you no lies
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I never see you where you are
You're never at where I am
I want you to be here
You have to stay at home
Save it you say
Save it for another day
It's safer in the day
It's safer in the day
At least for another day
A fly in the butter screams my name
Everything just came two steps too close
Slit your wrist to save your neck
I'm mouth to mouth with a corpse
From here to Eternity and then back again
Something snapped inside my head
Spit it out on the baseboard
A shot in the dark in the back of my brain
A fly in the butter screams my name
Everything just came two steps too close
13 dimensions
If we stretched this hour
It would go on forever
Once more skewered
Coming out of both sides
It's a day of waiting
Waiting two plus three
And here I go again
What will follow
Yes I know all of the answers
And I'll tell you no lies
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I never see you where you are
You're never at where I am
I want you to be here
You have to stay at home
Save it you say
Save it for another day
It's safer in the day
It's safer in the day
At least for another day
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
Lydia Lunch's song "Afraid of Your Company" is a haunting exploration of fear and mistrust. The lyrics describe a sense of unease and anxiety, with lines like "A shot in the dark in the back of my brain" and "Everything just came two steps too close". The repetition of the line "I'm afraid of your company" drives home the central theme of the song.
The reference to "13 dimensions" suggests a sense of disorientation or dislocation, as if the singer is struggling to make sense of the world around them. This feeling is reinforced by the image of an hour that "would go on forever", stretching out into eternity. The singer is waiting, but it is unclear for what or why. The line "I know all of the answers" hints at a deeper knowledge or understanding that is just beyond reach.
The song ends with a repetition of the fear of company, emphasizing the psychological distance between the singer and those around them. The final lines, "I never see you where you are / You're never at where I am", suggest a fundamental disconnect between the singer and the world. The fear of company is not just about personal relationships, but a fear of the other and a fear of the unknown.
Line by Line Meaning
13 dimensions
The intensity of the situation is so great that it feels like it exists in multiple dimensions.
If we stretched this hour
Time feels like it's moving too slow, as if this moment is everlasting.
It would go on forever
The current state of affairs would never end.
Once more skewered
Being impaled or pierced through again, often metaphorically.
Coming out of both sides
Being stabbed or impacted from more than one direction.
It's a day of waiting
Today is just a day spent twiddling thumbs and waiting for something to happen.
Waiting two plus three
Waiting for an unknown amount of time.
And here I go again
Going through the same old routine, even though it's unpleasant or futile.
What will follow
Anticipating an unpleasant or dangerous event.
Yes I know all of the answers
Being all too familiar with a problem or situation, yet still feeling helpless.
And I'll tell you no lies
Being truthful with someone, despite the unpleasantness of the situation.
I'm afraid of your company
I'm scared to be around you for a variety of reasons, including emotional or physical harm.
I never see you where you are
We are never on the same page or sharing the same experience at the same time.
You're never at where I am
We are never in the same physical location or emotional state.
I want you to be here
The desire to have someone present, even if it's not safe or healthy.
You have to stay at home
Being forced to stay in a confined space, often due to safety concerns.
Save it you say
Holding back or withholding information or feelings.
Save it for another day
Delaying a conversation or confrontation until a later, hopefully safer, time.
It's safer in the day
Daytime feels less dangerous or threatening than nighttime or unfamiliar situations.
At least for another day
Delaying something to avoid an immediate unpleasantness, even if it may be worse in the long run.
A fly in the butter screams my name
A small problem or obstacle that is loudly and intrusively getting in the way of progress or success.
Everything just came two steps too close
Feeling overwhelmed or attacked, as if everything has happened too quickly or too close together.
Slit your wrist to save your neck
A drastic or dangerous choice, done in desperation to avoid a worse fate.
I'm mouth to mouth with a corpse
Being intimately involved with something or someone that is already dead, useless, or dangerous.
From here to Eternity and then back again
Going through an endless cycle or pattern, never truly escaping the same problems or struggles.
Something snapped inside my head
Reaching a breaking point or a sudden realization that things will never be the same again.
Spit it out on the baseboard
Discarding something, often carelessly or with disdain.
A shot in the dark in the back of my brain
A sudden, unexpected attack or hurtful action that you never saw coming.
Contributed by Audrey A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Charlotte-ev6ms
13 dimensions
If we stretched this hour
It would go on forever
Once more skewered
Coming out of both sides
It's a day of waiting
Waiting two plus three
And here I go again
What will follow
Yes I know all of the answers
And I'll tell you no lies
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I never see you where you are
You're never at where I am
I want you to be here
You have to stay at home
Save it you say
Save it for another day
It's safer in the day
It's safer in the day
At least for another day
A fly in the butter screams my name
Everything just came two steps too close
Slit your wrist to save your neck
I'm mouth to mouth with a corpse
From here to Eternity and then back again
Something snapped inside my head
Spit it out on the baseboard
A shot in the dark in the back of my brain
A fly in the butter screams my name
Everything just came two steps too close
13 dimensions
If we stretched this hour
It would go on forever
Once more skewered
Coming out of both sides
It's a day of waiting
Waiting two plus three
And here I go again
What will follow
Yes I know all of the answers
And I'll tell you no lies
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
I never see you where you are
You're never at where I am
I want you to be here
You have to stay at home
Save it you say
Save it for another day
It's safer in the day
It's safer in the day
At least for another day
I'm afraid of your company
I'm afraid of your company
@gorecioran5950
Esta canción me acompañó en tantos momentos memorables de mi vida que jamás voy a dejar de volver una y otra vez a la increíble y transgresora Lydia Lunch.
@drido
Adore all of her music deeply and madly. But this album is very special.
@AnggeLeBon
This album is the best!
@peterlocksmith7046
She totally changed my way of writing Lyrics.... She showed me Not everything has to Rhyme...... Before i worked Like a HipHop Artist.... Now i Like to combine this two Things....
@rphuntarchive1
This album is so important.
@AnggeLeBon
My favorite
@gerardoalvarez4444
Sin palabras,para mi humilde opinión la primera queen goth , Tanta es su importancia e influencia que la mayoría dé los grupos dé rock gótico dé mediados y principios de los 90s la tomaron como máxima inspiración
@piperschulenberg9109
I'm afraid I'm getting old but I'll always be young and a punk at heart!
@dradd8514
YESS!!
@cuchillxs4346
De verdad amo esta canción!!! gracias por subirla! saludos desde Chile!