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).
Sight of You
Pale Saints Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The sight of you
Makes me feel blue
Makes me feel blue
The things you said
The things you said
Make me feel bad
My heart is sad
I think of him
Soaked all in red
I wish him dead
You say that he
You say that he's
Nothing like me
But how can that be?
What can I do?
What can I say?
The world was large
And I felt very small
What's gonna happen?
How will I know
When things are back
The way they used to be before?
The sight of you
The sight of you
Makes me feel blue
I feel so blue
The things you said
The things you said
Make me feel bad
My heart is sad
The Pale Saints' "Sight of You" is a song that expresses the heartache and pain of unrequited love. The lyrics are simple yet effective, as they convey a sense of loneliness, despair, and longing that many people can relate to. The opening line of the song, "The sight of you, makes me feel blue," sets the tone for the rest of the track, letting the listener know that the song's protagonist is feeling down and out.
The next few lines deal with the hurtful things the person they love has said to them, causing their heart to be filled with sadness. The idea of thinking of the one they love soaked in red and wishing them dead suggests a deep level of pain caused by unreturned love. The singer then responds to the object of their affection, arguing that the person they love claims that their current partner is nothing like them, which confuses the singer, as they don't understand why the one they love would be with someone who isn't like them.
The chorus repeats the same lines, "The sight of you makes me feel blue, the things you said make me feel bad, my heart is sad," emphasizing the singer's feelings of heartbreak and despair. The song ends with the same questions the singer has been grappling with throughout the song, "What's gonna happen? How will I know when things are back the way they used to be before?" suggesting that they still hold on to hope that things will change.
Line by Line Meaning
The sight of you
Seeing you makes me feel a certain way
The sight of you
Seeing you makes me feel a certain way
Makes me feel blue
It makes me feel melancholic and down
Makes me feel blue
It makes me feel melancholic and down
The things you said
The words you spoke to me
The things you said
The words you spoke to me
Make me feel bad
They make me feel negative and upset
My heart is sad
I am deeply saddened by this
I think of him
My thoughts are consumed with him
I think of him
My thoughts are consumed with him
Soaked all in red
Blood is covering and saturating him
I wish him dead
I want him to no longer be alive
You say that he
You express that he
You say that he's
You express that he is
Nothing like me
We have nothing in common
But how can that be?
Why can't we have anything in common?
What can I do?
What is within my power to change this situation?
What can I say?
What words can I use to alter this circumstance?
The world was large
The world seems vast and overwhelming
And I felt very small
My sense of self is diminished
What's gonna happen?
What will be the outcome of this?
How will I know
How can I be certain
When things are back
When things return to the way they were
The way they used to be before?
The way we were previously
The sight of you
Seeing you makes me feel a certain way
The sight of you
Seeing you makes me feel a certain way
Makes me feel blue
It makes me feel melancholic and down
I feel so blue
I am very melancholic
The things you said
The words you spoke to me
The things you said
The words you spoke to me
Make me feel bad
They make me feel negative and upset
My heart is sad
I am deeply saddened by this
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CHRIS COOPER, IAN MASTERS, GRAEME NAYSMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Stephen
Beautifully tender and emotive song. First heard it during college years (back in the day) and am still listening to it today. Some great, great bands back then… Pale Saints, MBV, House of Love, Lush, etc
João Inácio
This is the first Pale Saints song that I've heard on the radio, on a Brazilian indie show called Novas Tendências by DJ José Roberto Mahr (the Brazilian version of John Peel). It was the year my father died, after a long battle with cancer, this caused a huge financial debacle on my family, it was my first year at university, Brazil was in a middle of a tragic economic and political crisis, my childhood beloved friends flew away to live in Germany.... My den was my room, my vinil records and some CDs (at the time VERY expensive). I have the original "the Comforts of Madness" . It still one of my old discs that I've listen almost in a weekly basis ("The Colour of Spring" , by Talk Talk; the first House of Love album, "Whirlpool" , Chapterhouse; "Grace", from Jeff Buckley, "The Pink Opaque" compilation, by the Cocteau Twins and "the Sensual World", Kate Bush are the others).
MrDLOC11
You have excellent taste in music 🎶
I was lucky enough to see pale saints back in the day - once in London ( w opening act slowdive) & once in Los Angeles years later, they were sublime both times...it's amazing how great music travels the world 🌐🗺️🌎👍🎶
Ryan Graham
@MrDLOC11 I would have loved to see them live. If only I had a Pale Saints t-shirt.
Resíduos Orgânicos
O nome desse estilo é shoegaze, certo? Que nem My Bloody Valentine e Ride?
Fabio
@Resíduos Orgânicos sim.
Samo
João Inácio Great story. Thanks for sharing.
Shoegazer 93
I know a reunion isn't on the cards, but this is good enough. Ride, Chapterhouse, The Stone Roses, Moose. Top bands. Top era
budy bradley
I love Moose.
PersonNonRegatta
@budy bradley The first version I ever heard of this song was Ride's cover