Hailing from Brooklyn, Parts & Labor are a boisterous bunch of art kids that combine sparse electronics, wiry guitars and pop hooks into uplifting experimental noise rock.
Forming in 2002 after bassist BJ Warshaw and keyboardist Dan Friel met at the knitting factory, the band have toured relentlessly with Christopher Weingarten on drums, finding that their avant-garde noise rock fit in very well with the scenes being carved out by TV on the Radio and Deerhunter.
After the departure of Weingarten to pursue a blogging career, the band recruited Joe Wong for their Autumn 2007 dates. Finding second guitarist in renowned sound artist Sarah Lipstate, their sound had become more experimental, but still retained enough of that noisy pop magic to keep it accessible.
Parts and Labor has been called "the best band nobody's heard of, and yeah, the new stuff completely rules" (See feature article, linked below).
Members
* Dan Friel – keyboards, guitar, voice
* B.J. Warshaw - bass, voice
* Joe Wong - drums
* Sarah Lipstate - guitar, noise
Official Site: http://www.partsandlabor.net
Official Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/partsandlabor
Death
Parts & Labor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The past few years went on too long
You don't know where you've gone
You don't know what you did
To get to a place like this
You don't know what you did
The bright lights shone right through
Carved by poisons you were fed
Another eighteen miles until the end of Idaho
The only place you'll ever know
You always say you wish it would come sooner
An end to this decay of place and time
Returning to a home you won't remember
This tank of gas won't get you very far
The song "Death" by Parts & Labor is a poignant reflection on life and the inevitability of death. It speaks of the confusion and disorientation that can arise from the passage of time and the accumulation of experiences. The opening lines "You don't know where you've gone, the past few years went on too long" express the feeling of being adrift, of having lost one's bearings, and of being unable to make sense of one's life. This sense of dislocation is reinforced by the repetition of the phrase "You don't know where you've gone", which underscores the feeling of being lost, both physically and emotionally.
The second stanza of the song speaks to the physical and psychological toll that life can take on a person. The metaphor of the "holes that grew inside your head, carved by poisons you were fed" is a powerful one, suggesting a kind of erosion or decay of the self that results from the stresses and pressures of life. The image of "another eighteen miles until the end of Idaho" is a potent one, evoking a sense of journey towards an inevitable and irrevocable end.
In the final stanza of the song, the singer expresses a desire for the end to come quickly, to bring an end to the decay of place and time. The final image of the "tank of gas" that won't get you very far is a poignant one, suggesting that no matter how hard one tries to escape one's fate, it is ultimately inescapable.
Overall, "Death" is a powerful meditation on life and the human condition, expressed through hauntingly beautiful lyrics and a mesmerizing musical arrangement.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't know where you've gone
You have no clue where you currently are in life
The past few years went on too long
You feel like the previous years took too long to pass
You don't know what you did
You do not remember the actions you took that led you to this point
To get to a place like this
Whatever it was that you did, resulted in you ending up in this undesirable situation
The bright lights shone right through
The metaphorical spotlight revealed the flaws in your character
The holes that grew inside you head
These flaws created weaknesses within you, which became larger over time
Carved by poisons you were fed
These flaws were caused by negative influences in your life
Another eighteen miles until the end of Idaho
You are currently in a place that you feel trapped in, with no clear way out
The only place you'll ever know
You feel like you are destined to be stuck in this situation forever
You always say you wish it would come sooner
You constantly wish for an end to this situation
An end to this decay of place and time
You want to stop feeling like you are slowly wasting away in this current situation
Returning to a home you won't remember
You long for a place of familiarity, but are unsure if such a place exists anymore
This tank of gas won't get you very far
You are aware that the options available to you are limited and will not allow you to make significant progress
Contributed by Elizabeth H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.