The Meatbodies first came together in mid-2012, when Ubovich was playing guitar in Mikal Cronin's road band; while Cronin was in between tours, Ubovich began playing shows with a handful of friends who included Cory Hanson of Wand, Erik Jimenez, and Riley Youngdahl, using the name Chad & the Meatbodies. Ty Segall was impressed with Ubovich's new music, and released a cassette-only collection of home recordings on his label God? Records. The tape quickly sold out, and in 2013 Segall recruited Ubovich to play bass in his band Fuzz. Meatbodies' work caught the attention of the In the Red label and it released two songs from the now out of print tape on 7" in early 2014; later that year, the self-titled Meatbodies album arrived. While Hanson, Jimenez, and Youngdahl participated in sessions for the album, Ubovich put together an official lineup of the group for subsequent touring. He was joined by Patrick Nolan on guitar, Killian LeDuke on bass, and Ryan Moutinho on drums.
After the album's release and tour, Ubovich went back to his sideman duties, playing bass on Fuzz's 2015 album II and touring with Mikal Cronin. After adding new bassist Kevin Boog and releasing the "Hibernation" single in 2016, Meatbodies went back into the studio to record their second full-length, Alice, a concept album revolving around light subjects like war, sex, politics, and religion. It was released by In the Red Records in early 2017. After touring behind the record, Ubovich got off the treadmill that had pushed him to chemically fueled exhaustion and dedicated himself to a more sober lifestyle. The result was a flood of writing and recording that gave birth to an album with drummer Dylan Fujioka; it was all set to be mixed when the pandemic hit and put the project on indefinite hold. During lockdown, Ubovich happened upon a lo-fi demo he and Fujioka made in 2018 and decided that with a little mixing, the songs would make up the band's third album instead. Delving into shoegaze, spacy Stereolab territory, and gnarly hard rock, 2021's 333 is the band's most diverse effort to date.
Biography by Mark Deming
Count Your Fears
Meatbodies Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And burn your beliefs
I hear the tension
I see no relief
Count your fears into numbers
And burn your beliefs
I hear the tension
I see no relief
And burn your beliefs
I hear the tension
I see no relief
Count your fears into numbers
And burn your beliefs
I hear the tension
I see no relief
The recurring lyric "count your fears into numbers and burn your beliefs" suggests a desire to abandon previous belief systems that may contribute to fear and instead embrace a more rational and logical approach to life. By quantifying one's fears, they become less abstract and less imposing. The repetition of the line "I hear the tension, I see no relief" may reflect the frustration of the singer, who recognizes the negative impact of fear but feels powerless to alleviate it. The line "I see no relief" implies that there may be no easy fix to the problem of fear and that the singer is resigned to a state of chronic unease.
The overall mood of the song is tense and urgent, with driving guitar riffs and a propulsive rhythm section. The simple, repetitive lyrics further enhance this sense of urgency, as if the singer is trying to drive home a crucial message. The use of the word "beliefs" is significant, as it suggests a rejection of dogma and a call for critical thinking. Overall, the message of the song seems to be that fear can be conquered by breaking it down into manageable pieces and by rejecting irrational or illogical belief systems.
Line by Line Meaning
Count your fears into numbers
Take a good look at the things that scare you and try to quantify them so that you can start to deal with them.
And burn your beliefs
Get rid of your old ways of thinking to make room for a new perspective.
I hear the tension
I sense that there is a lot of unease and anxiety among people.
I see no relief
Despite people's efforts, I cannot see any improvement or easing of their distress.
Writer(s): Chad Anthony Ubovich
Contributed by Kaitlyn T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.