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, EinstΓΌrzende 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.
Thereβre 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. Itβs 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.
This Side of Nowhere
Lydia Lunch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dead still the horror in the middle of the day
Pulling at your collar, pulling at your hair
You've got to find a way to get out of there
What do you do when your legs won't run
When you want to scream
But you can't find your tongue
You've got to find a way to get out of there
Take it from strangers and see what you get
What do you want...well I bet that you get it
Ride past the highway hiding forever
I'm sleeping on this side of going nowhere
Slow down the clock in the middle of the night
Close off the world in the middle of the night
Pitch black murder in the dead of the night
You've got to find a way to get out of there
What do you do when your legs won't run
When you want to scream
But you can't find your tongue
Middle of nowhere, middle of the night
You've got to find a way to get out of there
Take it from strangers and see what you get
What do you want...well I bet that you get it
Ride past the highway hiding forever
I'm sleeping on this side of going nowhere
Dead still the hour in the middle of the day
Dead still the horror in the middle of the day
Pulling at your collar, pulling at your hair
You've got to find a way to get out of there
Slow down the clock in the middle of the night
Close off the world in the middle of the night
Pitch black murder in the dead of the night
You've got to find a way to get out of there
In Lydia Lunch's song "This Side of Nowhere," the lyrics depict a sense of urgency and desperation in trying to escape a situation that feels suffocating and terrifying. The repetition of the lines "Dead still the hour/horror in the middle of the day/night" amplifies the feeling of being trapped and paralyzed by fear. The image of pulling at one's collar and hair suggests a feeling of being suffocated, and the line "You've got to find a way to get out of there" emphasizes the urgency and necessity of finding a way to escape.
The chorus repeats the same question twice: "What do you do when your legs won't run/When you want to scream but you can't find your tongue?" This captures the feeling of being frozen in a moment of panic or terror. The repeated phrase "middle of nowhere" further emphasizes the feeling of being lost, alone and desperate. When Lunch sings "Take it from strangers and see what you get/What do you want...well, I bet that you get it," it suggests a kind of desperation that leads to making bad choices or seeking help from people who may not have our best interests at heart.
Overall, "This Side of Nowhere" is a haunting and powerful song that captures the feeling of being trapped and fearful. The repetition of certain phrases creates a sense of urgency and desperation, while the image of being paralyzed by fear is captured in the repeated question in the chorus. Lunch's performance is raw and emotive, and the song speaks to universal themes of struggle, fear, and the search for a way out.
Line by Line Meaning
Dead still the hour in the middle of the day
Everything is so silent and stagnant in the middle of the day
Dead still the horror in the middle of the day
The horror that exists is still present even in daylight
Pulling at your collar, pulling at your hair
Feeling trapped and helpless, trying to find a way out
You've got to find a way to get out of there
You need to escape from this situation and find a solution
What do you do when your legs won't run
Feeling paralyzed and unable to move forward
When you want to scream
Feeling overwhelmed and wanting to express your emotions
But you can't find your tongue
Being speechless and unable to communicate
Middle of nowhere, middle of the night
Being stuck in an isolated and dangerous place
Take it from strangers and see what you get
Listening to advice from unreliable sources can lead to negative consequences
What do you want...well I bet that you get it
If you pursue your desires without thinking about the consequences, you will regret it
Ride past the highway hiding forever
Trying to run away from your problems and avoid facing them
I'm sleeping on this side of going nowhere
Being stuck in a hopeless situation with no clear way out
Slow down the clock in the middle of the night
Feeling like time is moving slowly and every second is agonizing
Close off the world in the middle of the night
Feeling isolated and alone in the darkness
Pitch black murder in the dead of the night
Feeling like danger is lurking in the darkness
Contributed by Sophie K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@matteoravazzolo3019
Dead still the hour in the middle of the day
Dead still the horror in the middle of the day
Pulling at your collar, pulling at your hair
You've got to find a way to get out of there
What do you do when your legs won't run
When you want to scream
but you can't find your tongue
Middle of nowhere, middle of the night
You've got to find a way to get out of there
Take it from strangers and see what you get
What do you want...well I bet that you get it
Ride past the highway hiding forever
I'm sleeping on this side of going nowhere
Slow down the clock in the middle of the night
Close off the world in the middle of the night
Pitch black murder in the dead of the night
You've got to find a way to get out of there
@pranksterj0009
13.13 really feels like Lunch's best to me. Transitional no wave into goth rock was just so seamlessly done on this record.
@ericlogan1418
Totally. I feel like this album is so neglected and it's absolute perfection.
@birdsofafeatherR
this is one of the finest punk albums ever made. or "no wave" or whatever you want to call it.. lydia and the nyc scene paved the way for.. lets just say alot. thanks for posting, im sorry that people are offended but if they are.. why are they listening to it?
@user-tk4gr9zo7t
This would be perfect for a neo western goth punk movie. Perhaps set in the 80s, during or around Halloween.
@Rep0007
So sullen black haired women with eyeliner and cowboy hats... exploring the LA underground at 3 AM? Okay we'll get Martin Scorsese to direct and produce.
@Beerlejuice
It should star Steve Buscemi!!!
@valentinesdate9461
William dafoe
@JJONNYREPP
Lydia Lunch - This Side of Nowhere 27.2.23 2223pm time for your lydia to star in a road movie, then? i like that notion - b+w film - not digitally shot - with her crossing some cuddy state line due to her murdering someone and meeting a whole heap of oddball freaks as she gives the law and the revenge squad sent out to git her the slip etc etc etc... you know how such things go - you should write the synopsis.
@Beerlejuice
β@@JJONNYREPP Maybe I will
@dannyfernandez1851
This is such a hidden fucking gem