Nada Surf is an American alternative rock group that was formed in 1992. Th… Read Full Bio ↴Nada Surf is an American alternative rock group that was formed in 1992. The New York band consists of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums, vocals) and Daniel Lorca (bass, vocals). Their debut album, titled 'High/Low', came out on June 18, 1996 and featured production work from Ric Ocasek of The Cars

The band is best known for the song "Popular", released as a single from their aformentioned debut. The song reached #11 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart and propelled the album itself to #63 on the Billboard 200. Each of the verses in "Popular" are extracted from the 1964 guide 'Penny's Guide to Teen-Age Charm and Popularity', a work by former teen television actress Gloria Winters, and the lyrics are sarcastically spoken, with a calm, deadpan voice used initially that gradually builds Kinison-style in teen angst and rage.

The groups follow-up effort, an album titled 'The Proximity Effect', failed to garner as much attention due to music industry shenanigans. The band explains on their official website:

Nada Surf recorded The Proximity Effect in 1998 with Fred Maher (Luna, Lou Reed, Matthew Sweet). It was a mighty fine record. Elektra [now part of Atlantic], claiming they "didn’t hear a single," asked the band to go back in the studio to hunt for one. As this was months after they’d handed the record in, the band refused and were dropped. It’s pretty safe to say, though, that Elektra didn’t appear to be "listening" very hard. The Proximity Effect was released as scheduled in Europe. Critics loved it and fans bought it. Elektra still didn’t care, but the band still did. So after wrestling the rights back, Nada Surf released The Proximity Effect stateside in 2000 on their own label, MarDev Records, and toured accordingly...

After a three-year wait, the group released Let Go through Barsuk Records to positive reviews. The song "Inside of Love" received some airplay and even reached #73 in the United Kingdom, a feat which neither "Popular" nor the other two previously released singles from Let Go achieved. On the strength of the single, the album reached #31 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.

The band's fourth album, The Weight Is a Gift, was released in Germany on September 5, 2005, by City Slang Records, in Japan/Australia September 12th and in the US September 13th by Barsuk, and in the rest of Europe September 19th by V2/City Slang. It was produced by Chris Walla of the band Death Cab for Cutie, Louie Lino and Nada Surf. The album's lead single is "Always Love."

In 2008, Lucky was released. In 2010 the band returned to the scene triumphantly with the cover-album If I Had a Hi-Fi, revealing a diversity in source material whilst re-moulding it into trademark Nada Surf songs.

The band announced a new record will be released in January, 2012 called " The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy." The first single is called "When I was Young" and is available free to download from the band's website. On Oct 24th, 2011, the song was also featured as an NPR "Song of the Day"

No Quick Fix
Nada Surf Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There's no quick fix
You gotta take your licks
Strange times long lines
There are no clean cups
You gotta mess it up
To see why you cry
I can't stay home at night
I'm drawn out like a moth to lamplight

Come on now
You gotta try it out
You're killing time
You're killing mine
Don't go, I'll never know
When you're away, I sleep all day
Nothing works and thinking hurts
You belong to me

In my dreams
(chorus)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Nada Surf's song No Quick Fix talk about the struggles and consequences of trying to find a quick solution to life’s problems. The singer acknowledges that there is no easy way out and that we have to face our situations head-on, even if it means taking some hits along the way. The lyrics paint a picture of someone who is going through a tough time, feeling lost and confused but still trying to push through it.

The line "There are no clean cups, You gotta mess it up" seems to suggest that sometimes we have to make a mess of things to truly understand them. We have to face the ugly truth and our fears to see why we're crying. The singer cannot stay home at night, drawn out like a moth to lamplight, perhaps feeling restless and searching for something more.

The chorus, "You belong to me in my dreams, There's no quick fix, You gotta take your licks," highlights that even though life might seem hard, and we may not always get the quick solutions we want, we need to keep fighting and trying. The song's overall message is that life is not easy, but we can't give up. It is about perseverance and accepting that sometimes things might not come easily and that's okay.

Line by Line Meaning

There's no quick fix
There is no simple solution to the problem at hand.

You gotta take your licks
You have to endure the consequences of your actions.

Strange times long lines
The current situation is unusual and frustrating.

There are no clean cups
Every option has its flaws.

You gotta mess it up
You have to make mistakes in order to learn from them.

To see why you cry
Going through difficulties helps you understand your emotions better.

I can't stay home at night
I feel restless and need to be out and about.

I'm drawn out like a moth to lamplight
I am attracted to things that are not good for me.

Come on now
Encouragement to take action.

You gotta try it out
You have to experience something in order to understand it fully.

You're killing time
You are wasting valuable moments of your life.