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
Timeline
Parts & Labor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Imbue meaning force scheming confined we carry
And I'll see you on down the timeline
Go on chains unlinked fearless thinkers confronters
Go dismantle clocks vandalized their calendars
We can't stay here trapped on a timeline.
We can't stay here trapped on a timeline.
The lyrics of Parts & Labor's song Timeline seem to be commenting on the human experience of being tied to the flow of time. The first two lines seem to suggest that we as individuals assign meaning to specific moments in our collective history, but ultimately we can only view these moments from a fixed position in time. The repetition of "timeline" underlines the idea that time is a constraining force that we are all subject to.
The next two lines suggest a desire to break free from this constraint. "Go on chains unlinked fearless thinkers confronters" perhaps is a call to action to challenge the status quo and the societal constructs that limit us. The last two lines seem to be a plea to transcend the restrictions of the timeline entirely.
Taken together, the song is a commentary on the human desire for freedom and individual expression in a world that seems to box us in with the limitations of time. It's a commentary on how we as humans can transcend these limitations if we have the courage and determination to do so.
Line by Line Meaning
A light frozen point chosen fixed arbitrary
There's a specific moment that we've cemented in time, without any particular reason why.
Imbue meaning force scheming confined we carry
We've placed a lot of significance on this one moment and it's affecting us in ways we may not even be aware of.
And I'll see you on down the timeline
I'll continue to experience life and move forward, and at some point, I'll meet up with you again in the future.
Go on chains unlinked fearless thinkers confronters
It's time to break free from constraints, challenge the status quo, and fearlessly pursue our ideas.
Go dismantle clocks vandalized their calendars
Let's abandon the notion of keeping time and schedules and instead live in the present moment, rejecting the idea of rigid structure.
We can't stay here trapped on a timeline.
We must let go of our fixation on time and the past in order to move forward, because staying in the present is the only way to truly live.
We can't stay here trapped on a timeline.
We must let go of our fixation on time and the past in order to move forward, because staying in the present is the only way to truly live.
Contributed by Jason K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.