It started out as a joke and it still is. We were The Geeks and we still are. In 1989 we (Christian Savill and Sean Hewson) were a couple of hairy sixth formers with unlikely body shapes and unlovely faces. We had no plans other than to avoid hard labour, grown-up emotions and deep thought. We formed a band called The Geeks that consisted of us on guitars and anyone else that could bear to stand near to us. We played anything that was in E. The Geeks became Eternal (not literally, we are still mortal, much to our chagrin) and we had a steady line-up and some OK songs. We put out a record on Sarah Records but Sean wasn't on it so it didn't go Top Ten. We performed one gig which was 90% guitar tuning, 10% confusion. Christian, very sensibly, cried until Slowdive let him join them and they went on to invent Jazz-Funk.
After Slowdive broke up, Christian was anxious to play with someone uglier than him again and so we were back together. Though not romantically. We wrote some songs about sex toys and no one liked us. It was just like the old days. But it didn't last. There were too many ideas and none of them were any good.
It is 1999. We work in an office - we hate it. We try to listen to modern music - we hate it. So, we try to make the music we want to hear. We hate that too but decide to call ourselves Monster Movie and carry on with it anyway. In our minds we are a modern Krautrock band so we call ourselves after a Can album that we have never heard. In reality we are a pop band with weird bits. We write some songs and take the whole sorry mess down to Martin Nichols at The White House Studio. He makes it sound nice and fixes our guitars for us. Our demo becomes our first EP - Crash Landing. We follow that with a debut album called Last Night Something Happened. It's pretty good. We then decide that we don't need Martin's help and record our second album - To The Moon - without him. It's terrible - good songs, badly realised. We learn our lesson and run back to Martin. The next album (All Lost) is the best one yet. We also get Rachel Goldstar to do some singing for us. It seems that the less that we have to do with an album the better it is.
2009/2010 sees our twentieth anniversary as a duo and our tenth as Monster Movie. In an attempt to prove to our parents that it hasn't all been a waste of time we have recorded an album called Everyone Is A Ghost. On this album we have added Ryan Graveface to our band of chums. Ryan has long been our label boss but we have decided that, as well as actually paying for the album, he also has to make it sound better by playing and singing on it. Sophie Pittaway also helped out on the vocals. The album has our usual blend of pop songs rendered in a variety of ways - acoustic, electronic, noisy, sparse. We have sent the album to our parents. We have heard nothing back.
We are currently writing and rehearsing in Reading with a bass player and drummer with a view to recording an album and possibly playing some gigs later in 2010. Further details will be revealed if it actually works.'
Driving Through The Red Lights
Monster Movie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or I'll start driving through the red lights
I don't belong in the human race
All fighting for the fast lane
Within pool empty silence
Far away from all those undermining
Untie the noose that's always tightening
Till I can't breath
How do I escape everyone thou I try
I don't get anywhere then the voice in my head
Could be true and I'm stuck with this view
Don't want something to believe in
Or I'll start driving through the red lights
I want to know if it's out of reach
To have no sense of feeling
Within in every pool of empty silence
Far away from all those undermining
Untie the noose that's always tightening
Tell I can't breath
How do I escape everyone?
Thou I try I don't get anywhere
And the voice in my head can be true
And I'm stuck with this view
Uh whew Uh wew
How do I escape everyone thou I try
I don't get anywhere then the voice in my head
Could be true and I'm stuck with this view
How do I escape everyone thou I try
I don't get anywhere then the voice in my head
Could be true and I'm stuck with this view
The lyrics to Monster Movie's song "Driving Through The Red Lights" explore themes of detachment, isolation, and a longing for escape. The singer expresses a desire to not have something to believe in, as they feel that it would cause them to start "driving through the red lights," potentially putting themselves in danger. They feel that they don't belong in the human race, and that everyone is fighting for the fast lane, which leaves them feeling isolated and alone. The pool of empty silence that they exist in is a far cry from the world of those who are always undermining them, and they feel as though they are constantly being suffocated by a tightening noose.
The singer is keen to escape from everyone and everything, but despite their best efforts, they can't seem to get away. The voice in their head is a constant presence, leaving them feeling like they are stuck with this view of the world. They long for a sense of feeling, but wonder if it's out of reach. The repetition of the phrase "how do I escape everyone though I try/I don't get anywhere then the voice in my head/could be true and I'm stuck with this view" emphasizes their frustration and the feeling of being trapped.
Overall, the lyrics to "Driving Through The Red Lights" paint a picture of someone who is struggling to find their place in the world and who feels increasingly alienated from those around them.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't want something to believe in
I don't want to have faith in anything
Or I'll start driving through the red lights
Otherwise I'll break the laws and do something reckless
I don't belong in the human race
I feel like an outsider amongst other people
All fighting for the fast lane
Everyone is competing for success and progress
Within pool empty silence
Amidst the void of quiet, lonely spaces
Far away from all those undermining
Distant from those who are putting me down
Untie the noose that's always tightening
Release the constant pressure that is suffocating me
Till I can't breath
Until it becomes too much to handle
How do I escape everyone thou I try
How can I avoid people, even though I attempt to do so?
I don't get anywhere then the voice in my head
I don't make any progress and my inner thoughts weigh me down
Could be true and I'm stuck with this view
Maybe my pessimistic outlook is accurate and I can't escape it
I want to know if it's out of reach
I wonder if a lack of emotional connection is unattainable
To have no sense of feeling
To not experience emotions at all
Uh whew Uh wew
(This is a vocalization and has no specific meaning)
Contributed by Elizabeth N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.