Early band interviews showed them to be a fun-loving bunch in contrast to their dark, lyrically pessimistic pop music. Guitarist Graeme Naysmith and drummer Chris Cooper described themselves as enthusiastic football fans and were perpetually excited about touring. Lead vocalist Ian Masters was often known to gratuitously lie in interviews, helping the group to successfully build up a certain party reputation.
In late 1990, the band added Meriel Barham, the original vocalist from Lush, as second guitarist and vocalist.
Ian Masters departed the band in 1993. By most accounts, he became more and more disenchanted with pop music and wanted to go in a more experimental direction with minimal drums and ambient sounds. He also seemed to have lost all joy for touring and live performance.
Pale Saints added former Heart Throbs bassist Colleen Browne in 1993. Meriel Barham departed in September of 1995 and the band eventually came to an end in early 1996, partly as a result of weak label support and relative lack of interest.
Ian Masters formed Spoonfed Hybrid, a duo who released a self titled album on the Guernica Label. Challenging and more experimental than Pale Saints releases.
Following the Spoonfed Hybrid Ian Masters and Warren Defever made an album together in Livonia, Michigan called 'ESP Summer'.
Shortly after Ian Masters moved to Japan, where he still lives. Material under the name 'Two Sun Tears' (a collaboration with Cailan Burns of Pretty Boy Crossover) has been released and Masters has been collaborating with musicians in Japan (Luminous Orange), Brazil (Gerador Zero) and America (Dive Index).
A Deep Sleep for Steven
Pale Saints Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where everything is fine
And everything is mine (? )
I can see what's in your head
The things you haven't said
Are hiding in your head
Watch the planets change their shape
It's keeping me awake
It's more than I can take
The lyrics to "A Deep Sleep for Steven" by Pale Saints are about the ability to perceive what is going on beneath the surface. The singer discusses being able to recognize when someone is lying about everything being fine and when something is truly theirs. Furthermore, the singer can see what's going on inside someone's mind - the things they haven't said, the things they're hiding in their head. The rest of the lyrics are about the singer's difficulties dealing with this insight. Specifically, the planets changing shape are keeping the singer awake; the constant change is too much to handle.
These lyrics suggest that the singer is especially perceptive and sensitive to the subtle signs of emotion and meaning that most people miss. The allusion to planets changing shape and the idea of things that are half-said or hidden suggests that the singer sees beyond the surface level of things, peering beneath the layers of meaning to discern deeper truths. However, this heightened awareness also comes with a cost - the singer is so attuned to everything that's going on that it's more than they can handle.
Line by Line Meaning
I can recognize the lies(? )
I am able to distinguish falsehood from truth
Where everything is fine
In a place where everything appears well
And everything is mine (? )
And all things seem to belong to me
I can see what's in your head
I am capable of perceiving your thoughts
The things you haven't said
Things that remain unspoken
Are hiding in your head
Are concealed within your mind
Watch the planets change their shape
Observe the celestial bodies altering form
It's keeping me awake
This is preventing me from sleeping
It's more than I can take
It's overwhelming and unbearable for me
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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