Formed in Dublin in the late 1990's, mrnorth have had quite an odyssey leading up to the release of their debut record Lifesize. The four-piece, made up of two brothers, a first cousin and a next door neighbor, started playing together when they were young teens. After making some noise on the Dublin scene, the boys left Ireland for Vicenza, Italy. The trip was supposed to last for 3 months, just long enough for a producer to put down some tracks for a record. Instead, the band became local favorites and toured all of Italy for the next two years. Then, the band met up with an American manager who brought them to New York City. With constant performances, mrnorth built up a great fan base in New York and eventually all over the Northeast. Next, the band caught the eye of several record executives. mrnorth scored a record deal and went into the studio with Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads, Live, No Doubt). The result was Lifesize, 12 moving tunes of epic proportions. Lifesize allows the listener to feel an enormous lift with each song from start to finish, just as it is delivered by mrnorth in the live performance. The record exhibits an incredible unity and tightness among its four members. Smith delivers the songs with one of the most powerful and original voices in music today and is often compared to Jeff Buckley, Thom Yorke and Freddie Mercury. Audiences are constantly blown away by the charismatic singer's vocals combined with his energetic performances. mrnorth broke out of the Northeast in 2003 with tours in the Southeast, Midwest, West Coast and Hawaii including support shows with Liz Phair, Puddle of Mudd, Sheryl Crow, Evanescence, Bruce Willis and 'Lollapalooza 2003. 2004 saw them taking part in Lollapalooza, Nashville Rivers, Camp Jeep and Music Fest as well as supporting The Who, Van Halen, Live and Brian Adams. The band have spent the last few months writing and recording the follow up to Lifesize.
Wastin'
Mr. North Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the stars don't shine
You're drunk and twisted
So fuckin' wasted
You're from the emerald Isle
You'd swear you swam the nile
I know you need your life
But it's a waste of time
After so many years
Of automatic jeers
And covering up of tears
With your synthetic cheer
You paved the boulevard
With good intentions
In your forever search
For bar extensions
If this is healthy
If this will save me
Bring me to safety
I'll start behavin'
I know you need your life
But it's a waste of time
Stop me wastin' away
And there's his trophy kept
A dusty cabinet
He'll raise a can to it
He won't let time forget
The ink surrounds the scars that
He's collected in bars
Time has let him forget
This man's a walking wreck
If this is healthy
If this will save me
Bring me to safety
I'll start behavin'
I know you see my life
As just a waste of time
Stop me wastin'
If this is healthy
If this will save me
Bring me to safety
I'll start behavin'
I know you need your life
But it's a waste of time
Stop me wastin' away
And on the walls inside
Pictures of all the lives
That have been pushed aside
A country's suicide
No one believes the smiles
You force on shopping aisles
Who knows what's on their files
From your nights on the tiles
And at the moment you fall through the door wasted
She's in her corner while you vomit on the pavement
Tonight the superstar's thrown his towel in
So what about his life? Alleged waste of time
If this is healthy
If this will save me
Bring me to safety
I'll start behavin'
I know you need your life
But it's a waste of time
Stop me wastin' away
The lyrics to Mr. North's song "Wastin'" appear to be a commentary on the destructive nature of alcoholism and the toll it takes on individuals and society as a whole. The song speaks of someone who lives on the sunnyside, where the stars don't shine, which could be interpreted as a place where everything appears to be great on the surface but is actually in a state of decay. The person in the song is described as being drunk and twisted, wasting their life away, and collecting scars in bars.
The verses detail the struggles this person faces as they try to balance their need for alcohol with the desire for a better life. They have good intentions and want to extend their drinking time, but at the same time, they also want to start behaving and need help to bring them to safety. The person's life is seen as a waste of time by those around them, but they are powerless to stop themselves from falling deeper into the addiction, even as they realize the damage it is doing to their life and relationships.
The chorus repeats the line "If this is healthy, if this will save me, bring me to safety, I'll start behavin'," suggesting that the person knows that their behavior is self-destructive and that they need help to change. This is contrasted with the line "I know you need your life, but it's a waste of time," which implies that society as a whole is also wasting its energy trying to ignore the problem of addiction instead of addressing it head-on.
Line by Line Meaning
You live on the sunnyside
You live life on the bright side, enjoying every moment you can
Where the stars don't shine
But you can't see the darker side of things or the potential consequences of your actions
You're drunk and twisted
You're intoxicated and emotionally unstable
So fuckin' wasted
You're really far gone, past the point of being in control
You're from the emerald Isle
You come from Ireland
You'd swear you swam the nile
You boast and exaggerate about your accomplishments
I know you need your life
I understand that you want to live on your own terms
But it's a waste of time
But it's leading you down a path of self-destruction
After so many years
After a long time
Of automatic jeers
Of negativity and criticism
And covering up of tears
And hiding your true emotions
With your synthetic cheer
By pretending to be happy with a fake smile
You paved the boulevard
You tried your best to create a better life
With good intentions
With the intention of doing good for yourself or others
In your forever search
In your never-ending quest
For bar extensions
To keep the party going
And there's his trophy kept
And you hang on to your past accomplishments
A dusty cabinet
But they're collecting dust and are being forgotten
He'll raise a can to it
You still drink to celebrate yourself
He won't let time forget
You refuse to acknowledge the passing of time and the need to move on
The ink surrounds the scars that
The memories of the pain you've experienced
He's collected in bars
You've accumulated in your drunken nights out
Time has let him forget
You've forgotten about most of them as time has passed
This man's a walking wreck
You're a mess, both physically and emotionally
And on the walls inside
Inside your mind
Pictures of all the lives
Memories of the people and opportunities you've missed
That have been pushed aside
That you've neglected or ignored
A country's suicide
A nation's destruction, reflected in your own life
No one believes the smiles
Nobody sees past your facade of happiness and realizes the pain you're in
You force on shopping aisles
You go through the motions of living a normal life, but you're just pretending
Who knows what's on their files
Who knows what secrets and issues others are hiding, just like you
From your nights on the tiles
From your nights spent drinking and partying
And at the moment you fall through the door wasted
And when you come home drunk and disheveled
She's in her corner while you vomit on the pavement
The woman in your life is left to deal with the consequences of your actions
Tonight the superstar's thrown his towel in
Even you, the star of your own life story, are giving up
So what about his life? Alleged waste of time
You question if your life really has been worth living and if you've just wasted your time
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ADRIAN JOHN MORDAUNT, COLIN LEO THOMAS SMITH, EMMETT CIARAN O'MALLEY, OISIN SEAN O'MALLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Anna Costa
on The Player
I was in this show, It was awesome!!!