The members of Mew started playing music together in 1995. Mew first achieved success in Denmark with their album Frengers, although their debut album, A Triumph for Man, had been met with much critical acclaim back in 1997. At the 2003 Danish Music Critics Award Show, Mew won the awards for "Album of the Year" and "Band of the Year." Until this point Mew was relatively unknown outside of Denmark; however after a European tour supporting R.E.M. Mew began to attract wider attention. After releasing the critically-acclaimed album And The Glass Handed Kites, featuring contributions from J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr, Mew has built on their success in Denmark as well as attracting attention from other countries in Europe and Asia. In the summer of 2006, they toured as the supporting act for Bloc Party in the U.S. as well as for Kasabian in the U.S. and Canada in the fall. After these tours, they returned to Denmark to work on new material.
On March 14th, 2007, Mew embarked on their first ever headlining tour in America with Oh No! Oh My! as the supporting act. Their fifth studio album, No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away, was released in August 25, 2009. They've also toured with Nine Inch Nails, Kings of Leon and Sigur Rós. In 2010, they released a greatest hits compilation called Eggs are Funny. They began performing new material in 2012 at Roskilde Festival, and released their sixth studio album, +- in 2015. Madsen left the band the same year, and the band began writing new material for their new album shortly after they concluded their tour. They released their seventh studio album, Visuals, after releasing a few singles in the months preceding its release. They embarked on tours for the album, as well as a tour celebrating the 15th anniversary of their breakthrough album Frengers in 2018.
Discography:
* A Triumph for Man (1997, re-released 2006)
* Half the World Is Watching Me (2000, re-released Aug 2007)
* Frengers (2003)
* And the Glass Handed Kites (2005)
* No More Stories... (2009)
* Eggs are Funny (2010)
* +- (2015)
* Visuals (2017)
Start
Mew Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All except that trick of yours.
No one to leave the light on,
To help you choose the right song.
I try to do right, but it's wrong.
Nothing feels right with you gone.
Over hedges high,
Climbs a smiling spy.
Who now will shift your shoelace?
And wipe the crumbs off your face?
No one should get what you got,
Nothing should end where you start.
It seems that Mew's "Start" is a song about heartbreak and the feeling of being lost without someone. The lyrics paint a picture of a person who is struggling to move on from a relationship and is unable to find solace in any of the usual comforts. The first two lines suggest that the person has tried many different things to overcome their hangups, but nothing has worked except for one trick that belongs to the person they are missing. This could refer to a specific memory or ritual that they shared with their ex that brings them some temporary relief.
The next two lines suggest that the person feels alone and unable to make decisions without the support of their ex. The light being off could symbolize a lack of guidance, and not having someone to help choose the right song could represent a lack of emotional connection. The following two lines express frustration with the situation. The person is trying to move on and do the right thing, but nothing feels right without their ex.
The next two lines introduce a new character, a "smiling spy", who is climbing over hedges, suggesting that they are sneaking around or spying on the person. This could represent someone who is trying to come between the person and their ex, or it could be a metaphor for the person's own thoughts and emotions that are trying to undermine their efforts to move on.
The final two lines bring the song to a close with a sense of melancholy. The person is still struggling to come to terms with what has happened and is unable to let go of the past. The final line, "Nothing should end where you start," could be interpreted in many different ways, but it seems to suggest that the person feels trapped or unable to move forward because they are still emotionally tied to their ex.
Line by Line Meaning
They are useless hangup cures,
All the methods to overcome obstacles are useless, except the one unique to you.
All except that trick of yours.
Only the method or trick that you have can truly help you.
No one to leave the light on,
There's nobody to guide you in the right direction to choose the right path.
To help you choose the right song.
No one is there to advise and give suggestions to help choose the best path in life.
I try to do right, but it's wrong.
Even though I try to do the right things, everything goes wrong without you.
Nothing feels right with you gone.
Everything feels incomplete and wrong without your presence in my life.
Over hedges high,
Someone is keeping a watchful eye over you.
Climbs a smiling spy.
That person, who is keeping an eye on you, is always smiling and happy.
Who now will shift your shoelace?
Who will take care of the little things that only you were aware of?
And wipe the crumbs off your face?
Who will take care of the small details only you paid attention to, like wiping off any crumbs from your face?
No one should get what you got,
Nobody should have to go through the pain and suffering that you had to endure.
Nothing should end where you start.
Life should not end in the same place it started - there should always be growth and progress.
Contributed by Katherine D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Dee Ef Sea
Maan, one of my favourite (and most overlooked imo) Mew songs. Thanks for capturing this.
Kaffekaffe Kaffe
So different and refreshing. Love Mew