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"
The Way You Wear Your Head
Nada Surf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
with whatever you just said
don't push me cause i'll fall in love
with the way you wear your head
out in the corner
you're glowing white
i want to want you
i need to need you
i'd love to love you
i want to want you
i need to need you
i'm begging to beg you
(chorus)
i'd like to say good-bye
to a complicated mind
but when i walk and wave
i'm stalked all day
by california lives
and things i didn't try
and the strangest colored eyes
(chorus)
The lyrics of Nada Surf's song "The Way You Wear Your Head" convey the feeling of falling in love at first sight. The singer is drawn to someone in the corner who is "glowing white," attracted to the way they wear their head. The repetition of "don't push me cause I'll fall in love" emphasizes the intensity and immediacy of the attraction the singer is feeling. The desire to want, need, and love this person intensifies with each repetition in the lyrics.
However, this intense attraction is complicated by other factors. The singer wants to say goodbye to a "complicated mind" and move on from the past. Walking away is difficult because they are "stalked all day by California lives" and the regrets of "things I didn't try." The "strangest colored eyes" may represent the unknown, unpredictable aspects of life and love that make it so complex and challenging.
Overall, the song captures the exhilaration and fear of falling in love, the intensity of first impressions, and the desire to move on from past experiences that may complicate new relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
don't push me cause i'll fall in love
I am susceptible to falling in love easily
with whatever you just said
I am easily influenced by your words
with the way you wear your head
I am attracted to the way you carry yourself
out in the corner
You are standing alone, isolated from everyone
you're glowing white
You are radiating with a positive energy
i want to want you
I desire to be emotionally invested in you
i need to need you
I require an emotional connection with you
i'd love to love you
I am open to falling in love with you
i'm begging to beg you
I am desperate for your attention and affection
i'd like to say good-bye
I want to move on from my complicated thoughts
to a complicated mind
I want to leave behind my mental complexity
but when i walk and wave
Even when I try to move on
i'm stalked all day
I am haunted by memories and thoughts of you all day
by california lives
By the people and lifestyle of California
and things i didn't try
Things I regret not doing in the past
and the strangest colored eyes
Reminiscing about the unique qualities of someone's eyes
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lanceashdown7190
I like how they incorporate the Cheap Trick lyrics into the verse.
@diydiscover
And the old one rift of go gos -we got the beat
@heylamma2
Holy shit I love this. Sorry about the swearing, but fuck! I fucking love this
@yxdgcfwasergthj7461
love it
@BarbadosBeerFestival
To Shelly
@Trendiver
My kind of rock music. Not even close enough praise and attention for Nada Surf. Just saying
@cesarjinzo8275
Xbox Game exhibición