Our Lady Peace (also known as OLP) is an alternative rock band formed in To… Read Full Bio ↴Our Lady Peace (also known as OLP) is an alternative rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1992.

The band has sold over five million albums worldwide, won four Juno Awards, and ten MuchMusic Video Awards. OLP has released eight studio albums to date, with "Clumsy" often being considered the most popularized of the set. The Heavyweight Songfacts reports that their eighth studio album Curve was recorded from 2010 through 2012 at vocalist Raine Maida's home recording studio. It was released on April 3, 2012.

Full circle: a theme that eagerly resonates with each member of multiplatinum survivors, Our Lady Peace. As the band approached the release of their seventh studio album, a feeling of renewal and excitement washed over Toronto’s favorite sons in a manner not felt since their earliest days.

Self-produced in lead singer Raine Maida’s Los Angeles home studio, the 10-track Burn Burn (in stores July 21 2009), marks the longest period between studio albums for Our Lady Peace. It also signifies a sonic and philosophical rebirth. The band now enjoys a creative and professional freedom that they haven’t experienced since the release of their now classic debut. “I think about the way we made Naveed,” Maida recalls. “We were just starting, we knew nothing about the business and we had no expectations. It was four guys in a room just trusting their instincts. We went back to that. ‘Liberating’ doesn’t really even sum it up.”

Burn Burn is a triumphant return to what Maida terms “a proper, mature rock album,” steeped in the kind of raw intensity that drove their early material. Blinding rays of anthemic light make way to the tender poise and precision of a band that was looking for a way out and found a satisfying new way in.

With caution thrown to the wind, tracks such as the stunningly arranged “Dreamland” and the overpowering first single, “All You Did Was Save My Life,” soar above angry clouds of confusion and insecurity with an ascending clarity that can only come from experience and growth.

The pounding affirmation of “The Right Stuff” and the vigilant build of band favorite “Refuge,” also reinforce the notion that OLP now occupy a unique and enviable mindspace. “We’re not looking back with any kind of regret,” Maida points out, “but we’ve been doing this long enough now that we know what we want to say. We didn’t want to compromise a thing.”

Having scattered in different directions after the release of 2005’s Healthy In Paranoid Times, all four members took on projects of their own, ranging from solo records, production and songwriting work, tours and guest performances. Over the last two years, Raine Maida, guitarist Steve Mazur, bassist Duncan Coutts and drummer Jeremy Taggart sporadically reconvened and lived at Madia’s home, creating what he calls their best effort to date.

Members would leave each session without tapes, giving themselves a much fresher perspective on the material they created when they returned. Producing themselves and an adherence to rolling tape off the floor gave birth to an urgent, natural body of work. “We didn’t put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” Coutts confirms. “We left things alone and haven't done that in a long time."

“For us,” adds Maida, “a big part of this band is playing live. It has to be something that we’re going to enjoy; a real dynamic collection of songs. When we really started to understand that, the record took on this whole other life.”

This work ethic allowed room for guitarist Steve Mazur, who joined the band in 2002, to blossom on Burn Burn. “On this album I really felt comfortable with my role and what I sound like as the guitarist of Our Lady Peace.” Mazur shines on tracks such as “Escape Artist” and “Paper Moon,” a song where Mazur’s solowork was nailed on the first go-round.

Our Lady Peace is also striking out on their own professionally this time around, opting for what the band terms a “true partnership” with both North American record labels. “We’ve never been this prepared for an album,” adds OLP founding member Jeremy Taggart. “In the past, we’ve never had the foresight to have maybe two or three singles in the can already with videos, etc.”

“Nobody knows us better than ourselves,” Taggart continues. “We didn’t over think a good song or idea or under think anything. The good songs really picked themselves.”

Everyone's A Junkie
Our Lady Peace Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm not waiting for the answers
On a Sunday afternoon
I'm just too drunk to remember
Why I always slip through

The drugs and fake ambition
Have been helping me to hide
But it's the endless television

That has kept me inside

Where does it stop?
Where does it end?
Where do we go?
Why am I always complaining?

I can be good
I can be bad
I can be loved

But everything's gone black
You're looking for that sun
You're looking for that light
Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way

Black, you're looking for that sun
You're looking for that light
Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way

Big green monkey, everyone's a junkie

I'm not asking for forgiveness
For the things that I don't know
But I'm really not that different
You just made me think so

Where does it stop?
Where does it end?
Where do we go?
Why am I always complaining?

I can be good
I can be bad
I can be loved

But everything's gone black
You're looking for that sun
You're looking for that light
Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way

Black, you're looking for that sun
You're looking for that light
Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way

Big green monkey, everyone's a junkie

Big green monkey, everyone's a junkie..
Big green monkey, everyone's a junkie..
Big green monkey, everyone's a junkie
Big green monkey, everyone's a junkie
You're the big green monkey, everyone's a junkie

Black
You're looking for that sun
You're looking for that light
Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way

Black, you're looking for that sun
You're looking for that light
Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way
And I'll remember this someday

Black, you're looking for that sun
You're looking for that light
Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way

Black, you're looking for that sun
You're looking for that light
Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way

Big green monkey, everyone's a junkie

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Our Lady Peace's song "Everyone's A Junkie" explore the themes of addiction, depression, and the search for meaning in life. The singer is struggling with substance abuse and feelings of isolation, using drugs and "fake ambition" to hide from the world. The endless cycle of TV and the search for answers on a Sunday afternoon are symptomatic of the singer's lack of direction and dissatisfaction with their life. They ask where it stops, where it ends, and where they go, as they feel trapped in their own patterns of behavior.

The repeated refrain of "Black, you're looking for that sun, you're looking for that light" speaks to a desire for something more, a longing for hope and purpose. The suggestion that "everyone's a junkie" and the reference to a "big green monkey" could be interpreted as a commentary on the ways in which we are all searching for something to fill the void, whether it be drugs, material possessions, or some other form of distraction.

Overall, the lyrics to "Everyone's A Junkie" paint a picture of a world in which we are all struggling, trying to find our way and make sense of our lives. It offers a glimmer of hope that we are not alone in our struggles, and that we can all find our way to the light if we keep searching.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm not waiting for the answers On a Sunday afternoon I'm just too drunk to remember Why I always slip through
I am too intoxicated to contemplate my unanswered questions and recurring mistakes on this lazy Sunday afternoon.

The drugs and fake ambition Have been helping me to hide But it's the endless television That has kept me inside
Drugs and false aspirations have aided me in concealing my true self, but excessive TV consumption has kept me confined indoors.

Where does it stop? Where does it end? Where do we go? Why am I always complaining?
Why does this cycle never cease to exist? What is the ultimate outcome? Where do we ultimately end up? Why do I constantly lament my situation?

I can be good I can be bad I can be loved
I have the ability to exhibit virtuous or immoral behavior, and to be cherished.

But everything's gone black You're looking for that sun You're looking for that light Lonely, you're not the only one to feel this way
My life is currently bleak and desolate. You too are searching for a beacon of hope and companionship, and you are not alone in this pursuit.

Big green monkey, everyone's a junkie
We are all captives of our own vices, like a big green monkey on our backs.

I'm not asking for forgiveness For the things that I don't know But I'm really not that different You just made me think so
I don't expect absolution for my ignorance, but the notion that I am fundamentally different is a falsehood that you have instilled in me.

And I'll remember this someday
I will eventually recollect this instance.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MAIDA

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS