Manchester Orchestra is an American indie rock band which formed in Atlanta… Read Full Bio ↴Manchester Orchestra is an American indie rock band which formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2004. The group is currently composed of rhythm guitarist, singer/songwriter Andy Hull, lead guitarist Robert McDowell, keyboardist and percussionist Chris Freeman, bassist Jonathan Corley and drummer Tim Very. Former drummer Jeremiah Edmond parted ways with the band in January 2010 to focus on his family as well as running the band's record label, Favorite Gentlemen.

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

Sleeper 1972
Manchester Orchestra Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When my dad died
The worms ate out both his eyes
His soul flew right up in the sky
I cried myself to sleep

My mother lies
Alone on her back at night
Adding up hours till her demise

She counts herself to sleep

When my sister finds
My body closed up like the blinds
I tell her I promise, it's fine
But she cries herself to sleep

The men in black ties
Arrive at the house in surprise
To find a little girl by your side
In the wood box where you're sleeping

I still see you
Inside of this god-awful house
You move awfully quiet now
And I still feel you everywhere

You told me
This has always been worth livin'

But what's really worth
Living anymore?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Manchester Orchestra's song Sleeper 1972 touch on themes of death, loss, and grief. The singer is haunted by the memory of his father who has passed away and reflects on his mother's lonely existence as she waits for her own death. His sister is also a source of concern and he imagines her finding his lifeless body under tragic circumstances. The final lines of the song are a plea for a reason to keep living in the face of such profound loss and despair.

The imagery of the worms eating the father's eyes and the wood box where he is sleeping evoke feelings of horror and finality. The mother's counting of hours until death suggests a sense of confinement and powerlessness. The singer's desire to comfort his sister, even after he is gone, reveals a sense of familial duty and loyalty despite the darkness all around them.

Overall, the song wrestles with questions of mortality and meaning in a way that is deeply affecting and cathartic. The use of vivid and unsettling imagery creates a powerful sense of atmosphere and emotion that resonates with listeners.

Line by Line Meaning

When my dad died
Following my father's death,

The worms ate out both his eyes
His decomposition had begun as worms consumed his eyes,

His soul flew right up in the sky
I believe my father's soul was liberated and transferred to an unknown location after his death,

I cried myself to sleep
I was inconsolable and cried myself to sleep,

My mother lies
My mother rests alone at night,

Alone on her back at night
She lies on her back when trying to fall asleep at night,

Adding up hours till her demise
She counts the hours before her own death will come,

She counts herself to sleep
Counting helps her drift off to sleep,

When my sister finds
If my sister discovers,

My body closed up like the blinds
My corpse, fully shut and lifeless,

I tell her I promise, it's fine
I attempt to reassure her that everything is all right,