Manchester Orchestra has released several extended plays and six studio albums: I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child (2006), Mean Everything to Nothing (2009), Simple Math (2011), Cope (2014) (as well as its accompanying acoustic version, Hope), A Black Mile To The Surface (2017), and The Million Masks of God (2021). They are signed to independent record label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings, which is distributed through Sony Music Entertainment, and Loma Vista Recordings.
Manchester Orchestra originated in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. They are named after the English city Manchester, a place rich in musical history (The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Joy Division, Oasis, New Order, Happy Mondays). Feeling increasingly alienated at his "small-town-Georgia, Christian high school", Hull became so frustrated that he spent his senior year studying at home. Early in their career, the band recorded an album entitled Nobody Sings Anymore. However, it was never released due to the shift in the band's musical direction and personal changes undergone following its recording. The band stated that "the band that made the record was different to the band now." Some of the tracks written for the album were released instead on the EP You Brainstorm, I Brainstorm, but Brilliance Needs a Good Editor.
Following You Brainstorm, I Brainstorm, but Brilliance Needs a Good Editor, Manchester Orchestra recorded and released their debut album I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child. This album gained the attention of the music industry, and eventually led to their signing with Canvasback. The album was released nationwide July 27, 2007. Guitarist Robert McDowell did not appear on this album. The song Wolves At Night was featured in the video game NHL 08.
In October of 2008 the band recorded their second EP, Let My Pride Be What's Left Behind, with producer Dan Hannon and engineer Brad Fisher. It was released October 7, 2008.
In early September 2008, the band announced on their Myspace blog that they had begun recording their second album entitled Mean Everything to Nothing with producer Joe Chicarrelli (The Shins, My Morning Jacket). On February 4, 2009, the band posted a link to a free download of the single I've Got Friends and performed an acoustic version at The Fly’s In The Courtyard Sessions. The album was released April 21, 2009.
On January 26, 2010, the band released a digital split EP with Kevin Devine entitled I Could Be The Only One. Following the release of the Manchester Orchestra/Kevin Devine split EP, it was announced that Kevin Devine would record a full-length album along with the members of Manchester Orchestra later that year, with half the album written by Devine and half by Andy Hull. On April 10, 2010, it was announced the new project's name was Bad Books, and that the album would be released under that moniker, and not "Manchester Orchestra + Kevin Devine" as previously speculated. The self-titled full-length Bad Books album was digitally released on October 19, 2010, and on CD on November 9, 2010.
On March 2010, in an interview with the Dallas Observer, Hull mentioned that the band had begun work on a follow up to 2009's Mean Everything to Nothing tentatively entitled Let Go of Your Sorrowful Groaning. He also said that the band have around 34 songs they are demoing and that in writing this album he was imagining a "spiritual miscarriage". Later that year in an interview with Rip It Up magazine, the band announced that they were in the middle of recording their third full-length album. Although without a title, they explained that the album was completely different to anything they had released in the past. The album was being recorded with Dan Hannon and balanced between Blackbird Studios (Nashville, TN) and their own Favorite Gentlemen Studios (Atlanta, GA).
On October 23, 2010, during an appearance at Radio 104.5 in Philadelphia, following a Bad Books show in support of their recently released self-titled debut album, Manchester Orchestra debuted an acoustic version of the title track of their new album, Simple Math. Originally scheduled for release in March 2011, the band announced in January of 2011 that their third full-length studio album, Simple Math, would be released on May 10, 2011, as well as announcing the album's tracklist and revealing that the album was set to be a concept album.
For more info, check out their official site: http://www.themanchesterorchestra.com/ca/home
Pensacola
Manchester Orchestra Lyrics
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I never saw it sneaking up
it wrapped it's dirty arms around me
Pockets full of blood
After I had seen the sight
I hardly had a choice to fight
A nail snuck out behind the van
and it hit me through my sweater and my shirt
And when I looked at Michael he heard "I need to be alone"
But when he turned his head I soon corrected "Need to be at home"
It took me all this time to get where I said I would never be
I hope it's not even out there
I hope eventually you'll see what you've been turning me into
It's all for you
It feels like thirty seven years
and I am nothing but a bank
If we could build our credit score
"Incredible," they'll surely say
But I can credit only one to focus all the fame
It has the first and last even the middle of my very name
I am the greatest man that never lived and now i never sleep
I never lost a fight but never knew I started one the same
I never knew how capable I would become
I'm tired of talking to a wall when I could talk to someone else
It's gone seven days without a word and you're with someone somewhere else
My daughter, she barely eats
She barely sleeps
She barely speaks
My daughter, she barely eats
She barely sleeps
She barely speaks to me
(To me, to me)
We spent the most of nights defending fights you fought in the past
But it was different now and I'm entirely too drunk to ask
(To me, to me)
You spend most every day enjoying the sun and hoping it lasts
I have a funny gut and feeling doubtful you'll get it back
(To me, to me)
I have a funny gut and feeling doubtful you'll get it back
(To me, to me)
I have a funny gut and feeling doubtful you'll get it back
Alcohol, dirty malls, Pensacola, Florida bars
She barely sleeps
She barely speaks
She barely sleeps
She barely speaks
The lyrics to Manchester Orchestra's song "Pensacola" evoke a feeling of regret and acceptance of one's flaws. The song is about the singer's personal struggles and how it is seemingly affecting his loved ones. He confesses that he has a "nagging flaw" that he did not see coming, and it has caused him to become a different person. The lyrics reveal that he was hit by a nail while behind a van, causing him to realize that he has become someone he said he would never be. He tells Michael that he needs to be alone but soon corrects himself, realizing that he needs to be at home. He has come to accept the reality of his situation and acknowledges that he hopes his loved ones will eventually understand what they have turned him into.
Line by Line Meaning
Now I have a nagging flaw
I have a persistent imperfection
I never saw it sneaking up
I was unaware of its gradual approach
it wrapped it's dirty arms around me
It fully engulfed me in its negative influence
Pockets full of blood
With a sense of guilt and responsibility
After I had seen the sight
After viewing the situation
I hardly had a choice to fight
There was no other option but to confront it
A nail snuck out behind the van
A small, unnoticed danger emerged from the back of the vehicle
and it hit me through my sweater and my shirt
It pierced through my clothing and injured me
And when I looked at Michael he heard "I need to be alone"
I expressed a desire to be by myself to Michael
But when he turned his head I soon corrected "Need to be at home"
I changed my statement and clarified my real intention to go back home
It took me all this time to get where I said I would never be
I ended up at a place that I had previously avoided or rejected
I hope it's not even out there
I wish it doesn't exist in the first place
I hope eventually you'll see what you've been turning me into
I hope you realize the negative impact that you've had on me
It's all for you
The transformation is due to your influence
It feels like thirty seven years
It seems like an incredibly long time
and I am nothing but a bank
And I am only an account for accumulating financial credits
If we could build our credit score
If we could improve our financial rating
"Incredible," they'll surely say
People will definitely be amazed with our progress
But I can credit only one to focus all the fame
I can attribute all the success to one person
It has the first and last even the middle of my very name
The name of the person signifies the beginning and end of my own name
I am the greatest man that never lived and now i never sleep
I am a hyperbolic, failed version of greatness, and I don't rest
I never lost a fight but never knew I started one the same
I never realized that I was engaged in a conflict even when I wasn't defeated
I never knew how capable I would become
I was not aware of my own potential
I'm tired of talking to a wall when I could talk to someone else
I'm tired of communicating with an unresponsive person when I could interact with someone else
It's gone seven days without a word and you're with someone somewhere else
It has been a week without communication, and you're involved with someone somewhere else
My daughter, she barely eats
My child hardly eats
She barely sleeps
She hardly gets any rest
She barely speaks
She hardly communicates
We spent the most of nights defending fights you fought in the past
We stayed up all night arguing about issues that have already been resolved
But it was different now and I'm entirely too drunk to ask
The current situation has changed, and I'm too intoxicated to comprehend it
You spend most every day enjoying the sun and hoping it lasts
You spend most of your days happily enjoying life and hoping that it never ends
I have a funny gut and feeling doubtful you'll get it back
I have an intuition that something is wrong, and I doubt that it will be resolved
Alcohol, dirty malls, Pensacola, Florida bars
These are some of the unpleasant things related to a particular location
She barely sleeps
She hardly gets any rest
She barely speaks
She hardly communicates
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
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