Griffith and bassist Jake Brown first met in the late 1990s, when the two musicians played in a couple of North Florida punk combos. Griffith eventually moved north to Boston, but they maintained their friendship via e-mail and late night phone calls. In 2001, Brown issued a disc of Griffith's demos, called The Purple Magnolia, through his "really, really, really indie" label, Computer Club Records. When Griffith returned to Florida the following year, it seemed obvious that the two friends should team up in a band. They enlisted guitarist/keyboardist Justin Etheridge and drummer Brandon Cook to fill out the line-up. Taking their moniker from a lyric by Fugazi precursor Rites of Spring, Moments In Grace was born. They quickly began playing live gigs, but most of their time was spent holed up at Griffith's rented rehearsal space - dubbed "the Factory" - writing songs and refining their sonic approach.
In June Ā02, Moments In Grace supported Liars Academy at a show near Birmingham, Alabama, and the two like-minded outfits became fast friends. Later that year, Liars Academy was recording tracks with renowned indie producer/engineer McTernan at his Salad Days Studio in scenic Beltsville, Maryland. During a break between sessions, McTernan overheard the band's guitarist listening to Moments in Grace's early demo CD.
"I was like, ĀHoly shit, who is that?'" McTernan recalls. "Jeremy's voice was unbelievable. I just couldn't stop listening to it."
Impressed and moved by what he'd heard, McTernan reached out to the young band, with an eye towards signing them to his new Salad Days imprint. He flew down to St. Augustine, Florida to see them play live, and while he was intrigued with their provocative sound, it was clear Moments in Grace was still in its embryonic stage. It wasn't until drummer Tim Kirkpatrick (formerly of prominent hardcore outfit As Friends Rust) was drafted into the fold that the band began to truly gel into something special.
The four musicians knew they had found their fire after penning the yearning, anthemic "Stratus." "It really set the tone for what we wanted to do with the band," says Griffith. "Recording it was awesome as well. We rented a Hammond B3 organ, which is really cool to get to play. We also brought in a string section, which took the song to a whole other place."
On April 18th 2006, the band posted a blog on their Myspace page saying that they "had decided, after extensive touring and promotion for our album "Moonlight Survived", to take a rest from the band. Did we break up? Not officially, there's always a chance that Jeremy, Tim and I will write music together again (touring? no.). However, we're all very much wrapped up in our own separate lives at this point."
As of 2009: Tim is currently living in Hollywood, CA and recently played drums for an As Friends Rust reunion tour in Europe. Jeremy lives in Atlanta, GA and records all sorts of great bands. Jake lives in St. Augustine, FL and is currently playing bass for Frodus, and singing/playing guitar in The Eastern Wave.
We Feel the Songs
Moments In Grace Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of that day and time.
The burning of the
Stars and life we hide.
Was it the sole match
That lit the blaze?
That left us haunted
We've lived.
We've loved,
And lost this day
And time
The end of time.
The blinding light
Through bloodshot eyes,
I struggle to
The end of time
The blinding light
Through bloodshot eyes
I struggle to see
The truth
Through the shame and guilt
Through the shame and guilt
Was it the sole match
That lit the blaze?
That left us haunted
By history's flames?
I feel the songs of life
I leave behind.
I leave it behind.
The end of time.
The blinding light
Through bloodshot eyes,
I struggle toā¦
The end of time
The blinding light
Through bloodshot eyes
I struggle to see
The truth.
We feel the songs
We feel the songs
We feel the songs
We feel the songs
The opening lines of Moments In Grace's song We Feel the Songs describe the powerful emotional resonance that certain pieces of music can have, especially when they evoke memories of significant moments in our past. The reference to "that day and time" suggests that the song is a reflection on a specific moment in history, perhaps one of great upheaval or turmoil. The "burning of the stars" could represent the destruction of something beautiful or valuable, while "life we hide" could refer to things that we keep hidden within ourselves or from the rest of the world.
The lyrics then turn to questions about the cause of this turmoil. "Was it the sole match that lit the blaze?" asks whether a single event or decision was responsible for the events that followed. The reference to "history's flames" suggests that the songwriter is considering a broader historical context, as if trying to understand how different events and actions have combined to create the world we live in today.
The chorus repeats the phrase "the end of time", which could refer to either a literal apocalypse or a more metaphorical sense of an ending or conclusion. The reference to "bloodshot eyes" suggests that this ending has come at a great cost, and that the singer is struggling to come to terms with what has happened. Ultimately, the song seems to be about the difficulty of accepting the truth of our past and the things we have lost along the way.
Line by Line Meaning
We feel the songs
We are deeply moved by the music we hear
Of that day and time.
The music takes us back to a specific time in our lives
The burning of the
Stars and life we hide.
The pain and struggles we try to keep hidden are brought to the surface by the music
Was it the sole match
That lit the blaze?
That left us haunted
By history's flames?
Did one event trigger our current state of suffering and make us feel trapped by our past?
We've lived.
We've loved,
And lost this day
And time
We have experienced life's joys and sorrows during this particular era
The end of time.
The blinding light
Through bloodshot eyes,
I struggle to
The end of time
The blinding light
Through bloodshot eyes
I struggle to see
The truth
We are struggling to accept the harsh reality of our situation and the inevitable end of this era
Through the shame and guilt
Through the shame and guilt
Our past mistakes are weighing heavily on us and affecting our present state of mind
I feel the songs of life
I leave behind.
I leave it behind.
As we move on from this era, we are also leaving behind the memories and emotions attached to it
We feel the songs
We feel the songs
We feel the songs
We feel the songs
The music continues to have a profound impact on us, even as we move forward
Lyrics Ā© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JHELISA ANDERSON, LEE HAMBLIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind