Featuring Stefan Babcock on vocals and guitar, Steve Sladkowski on guitar and vocals, Nestor Chumak on bass and vocals, and Zack Mykula on drums and vocals, all longtime friends who met in elementary school, PUP formed in 2010 under the name Topanga. The original name was a reference to Topanga Lawrence, a character played by Danielle Fishel on the '90s sitcom Boy Meets World, but when the members learned Fishel would be reviving the character in 2014 in a spin-off titled Girl Meets World, they chose to change the name to PUP, standing for "Pathetic Use of Potential." Topanga released a digital EP titled Oceans, and positive press and attention from other bands helped create a buzz about the group. In 2013, they became PUP, releasing their self-titled debut album through the Royal Mountain label. The album was a hit with both critics and fans, with the group being named Best Live Show and Best New Artist by CBC Radio 3. The band toured extensively, playing throughout Canada and making their way to England and the United States. By the end of 2013, PUP had signed a record deal with the well-established punk label Side One Dummy, and spent much of 2014 and 2015 touring in support of Side One Dummy's reissue of their debut LP, launching their first headlining tours of the United States and Canada, as well as making their Australian debut.
In February 2016, PUP teased a new single called "DVP" in advance of their second full-length album, The Dream Is Over. Released in May of that year, the album's title is a reference to a prognosis Babcock received from his doctor: he'd severely damaged his vocal cords after enduring years of non-stop touring. In true punk fashion, PUP used the doctor's glib comment as the rallying cry for another set of hard-hitting, self-deprecating punk tunes. The band promoted the effort with an international tour over the next year before returning to the studio to write and record a follow-up. They spent most of 2018 working on the album, which saw release in April 2019. Titled Morbid Stuff, the record was produced with Dave Schiffman (the Mars Volta, Weezer) and lyrically focused on Babcock's struggles with depression. A year later, PUP offered up their commentary on the state of the world with This Place Sucks Ass, a six-song EP whose title referenced one of their long-standing touring inside jokes. With COVID-19 putting a halt to live performances, the group returned to the studio in 2021 to record their fourth album. Produced by Peter Katis (the National, Frightened Rabbit), 2022's wild The Unraveling of Puptheband saw the group augmenting their normally guitar-based sound with synthesizers, piano, and horns.
Biography by Mark Deming
There is another artist using the same name:
2) PUP is a Chinese-Korean rapper.
Yukon
PUP Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where I spent my summer past
I was alone in the bush where
The tide's slow and the river moves fast
And, oh that golden temptress
That golden witch
We were on the tundra
In a land where the sun don't set
In the Yukon valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the Athabasca Delta
We retraced our tracks
All through the woods where we found
A compass and a prospector's mound
And I pushed off in my boat
With the gold prospector's ghost
Search forever
But you won't ever find your gold
The river swallowed it whole
In the Yukon valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the great slave river
To the West
To the West, I'm headed East
In the Yukon Valley
To the West
I watched you dying
As the temperature was rising
In the Yukon Valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the great slave river
To the West
To the West, but I'm headed East
In the Yukon valley
To the West
To the West
But I'm headed East
The lyrics of PUP’s song Yukon portray a sense of loss, longing and reminiscence. The song is about a past summer spent in the remote Yukon Valley in Canada. The singer of the song recounts his experiences alone in the bush where the tides are slow and the river is fast. The extended metaphor of a “golden temptress” and “golden witch” highlights the allure of the wilderness and the duality of its beauty and danger. The location's uniqueness, where the sun doesn't set, is also referenced throughout the song.
The second verse of the song references retracing tracks in the Athabasca Delta and finding a compass and prospector’s mound, bringing up the image of prospecting gold mines where the river swallowed it whole, once again highlighting the difficulties and risks of the "golden temptation". This verse also references the gold prospector's ghost, showing the resignation that the lure for riches, both metaphorical and real, has long been part of this area's history.
The chorus brings the singer back to his sense of loss and relinquishment, remembering the person who left him on his knees in the valley, while he watches them dying as the temperature rises. The final verse reaffirms his resolve, moving on from his past and heading towards the east, leaving behind the place that once held him in the depths of the “golden witch”.
Line by Line Meaning
In the Yukon valley
Where I spent my summer past
I was alone in the bush where
The tide's slow and the river moves fast
The singer is reminiscing about spending time in the wilderness in the Yukon valley. They were alone and experienced the strange phenomenon of a slow-moving tide and a fast-moving river.
And, oh that golden temptress
That golden witch
We were on the tundra
In a land where the sun don't set
The singer encountered a tempting, witch-like figure in the wilderness. They were in a remote area where the sun doesn't set, likely in the summer months of the far north.
In the Yukon valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
The singer is lamenting being abandoned by someone in the Yukon valley who left them in a difficult position.
On the Athabasca Delta
We retraced our tracks
All through the woods where we found
A compass and a prospector's mound
And I pushed off in my boat
With the gold prospector's ghost
Search forever
But you won't ever find your gold
The river swallowed it whole
The singer and someone else explored the Athabasca Delta and found some artifacts from a prospector. The singer imagines being accompanied by the ghost of the prospector and warns that the river likely claimed any gold the prospector may have discovered.
On the great slave river
To the West
To the West, I'm headed East
The singer is traveling on the Great Slave River, heading eastward despite being on the western side of the river.
I watched you dying
As the temperature was rising
The singer witnessed someone else's death as the temperature increased, possibly indicating the harshness and unpredictability of the environment.
In the Yukon Valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the great slave river
To the West
To the West, but I'm headed East
In the Yukon valley
To the West
To the West
But I'm headed East
The singer continues to reflect on their experiences in the Yukon valley and the Great Slave River. Despite being left behind and witnessing death, they are traveling onward towards the east, leaving the west behind.
Contributed by Micah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@luxpjamer
In the Yukon valley
Where I spent my summer past
I was alone in the bush where
The tide's slow and the river moves fast
And, oh that golden temptress
That golden witch
We were on the tundra
In a land where the sun don't set
In the Yukon valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the Athabasca Delta
We retraced our tracks
All through the woods where we found
A compass and a prospector's mound
And I pushed off in my boat
With the gold prospector's ghost
Search forever
But you won't ever find your gold
The river swallowed it whole
In the Yukon valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the great slave river
To the West
To the West, I'm headed East
In the Yukon Valley
To the West
I watched you dying
As the temperature was rising
In the Yukon Valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the great slave river
To the West
To the West, but I'm headed East
In the Yukon valley
To the West
To the West
But I'm headed East
@luxpjamer
In the Yukon valley
Where I spent my summer past
I was alone in the bush where
The tide's slow and the river moves fast
And, oh that golden temptress
That golden witch
We were on the tundra
In a land where the sun don't set
In the Yukon valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the Athabasca Delta
We retraced our tracks
All through the woods where we found
A compass and a prospector's mound
And I pushed off in my boat
With the gold prospector's ghost
Search forever
But you won't ever find your gold
The river swallowed it whole
In the Yukon valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the great slave river
To the West
To the West, I'm headed East
In the Yukon Valley
To the West
I watched you dying
As the temperature was rising
In the Yukon Valley
Where you left me
You left me on my knees
On the great slave river
To the West
To the West, but I'm headed East
In the Yukon valley
To the West
To the West
But I'm headed East
@itchyshizle
Thanks for the effort of posting the lyrics on multiple songs. You're the best.
@jwal1992
Criminally underrated album
@mikeausdenmoore3913
These guys absolutely kill live
@Marz997
yes....yes they do. So much energy
@andrewcavallo1877
They’re coming to my town in February, absolutely can’t wait
@damienkern6446
One of the best punk rock songs of all time
@subscribtomy4044
How is it possible that a band is this good?
@FIRSTNAMELASTNAME-zt4kf
Man there first album was a banger.
@justhello7017
Such a raw emotional song, fell in love on the first listen.