"Passion Pit" was a vocabulary word used in a class Michael took in school. The band called their name from the Variety Slanguage Dictionary, a glossary of Variety's frequently-used slang, which was provided by the Hollywood Insider publication to help not-so-savvy readers decipher its content. The magazine used the term to refer to drive-in theatres, because of their privacy and romantic allure for teenagers.
The first Passion Pit songs, which would later become the Chunk of Change EP, were written by Angelakos at Emerson College as a belated Valentine's Day gift to his then-girlfriend. At first, he wrote and performed all his material alone using a laptop. These sets of songs were passed around Emerson and caught the attention of many blogs.
Michael played his first shows alone sitting with his laptop and a microphone. After one of these solo shows in the Boston area, Ian Hultquist, who was attending Berklee at the time, approached Angelakos and expressed interest in creating and playing music collaboratively. After a few line-up changes, Passion Pit was born. They formed a group that consisted of Angelakos, Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy, Thom Plasse (bass), and Adam Lavinsky (drums). The band spent a considerable amount of time trying to flesh out a collaborative format and structure that would work best for them. Jeff Apruzzese and Nate Donmoyer joined the band shortly after they signed to Frenchkiss in 2008, replacing Plasse and Lavinsky, respectively. In 2012, Adhamy was replaced by Xander Singh.
The band's debut EP, "Chunk of Change", was released on September 16, 2008. The first four tracks were those that Angelakos had written as a gift for his girlfriend, which had already become popular throughout Emerson where he had been passing out his own, self-produced copies. Two tracks, "Better Things" and "Sleepyhead", were added for the commercial release of the EP. The same year of their debut EP's release, the band was chosen as "Best New Local Act in 2008" in the WFNX/Boston Phoenix best music poll.
The first and only single to be released from the EP, "Sleepyhead", received a good deal of exposure through its use in numerous media campaigns and advertisements, while the video for the song, directed by The Wilderness, was included on Pitchfork's Top 40 Music Videos of 2008 list. The song contains samples of "Óró Mo Bháidín" by Irish singer and harpist Mary O'Hara.
Other songs from the EP received some exposure as well. "Cuddle Fuddle" was featured in E4's second series of The Inbetweeners and "I've Got Your Number" was used in an advertisement for the cash card from O2, Money in the UK.
The band's first full-length studio album, Manners, was released on May 18, 2009 in the UK and May 19, 2009 in the United States and Canada. In celebration, the band played their record release party on the 18th in New York City on a Rocks Off boat cruise. In a preview article, ClashMusic.com commented that the album "has every chance to rank as one of the year's best" and that "it reveals additional nuances with each visit: a sure-fire sign of an album with true longevity".
In order to obtain a specific background vocal accompaniment the band was looking for on Manners, Passion Pit enlisted the help of the PS22 chorus, who recorded vocals in-studio for three of the album's songs: "The Reeling", "Little Secrets", and "Let Your Love Grow Tall".
Passion Pit made their television debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 performing their song "The Reeling" from the album.
"The Reeling" was the first single to be released from the album and found success on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the fall of 2009, where it peaked at number 34 in October. "Little Secrets" was the third single to be released and had success on the chart as well, topping out at number 39. "Let Your Love Grow Tall" was never released as a single but had some exposure being used in the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the TV series Ugly Betty.
The album's second single, "To Kingdom Come", was used in the Rhapsody commercial for its iPhone application.
"Sleepyhead" was the only track from Chunk of Change to be included on the album and was made available from iTunes for free as a discovery download in 2009. The song continued to receive additional exposure through its appearances in advertisements. It was used in a season 3 episode of the teen-drama, Skins, and most recently in the debut trailer for LittleBigPlanet 2, which led to the band's increased popularity amongst fans and players of the game, who eventually created an in-game instrumental version of the song to listen to in the first game. When the sequel was released, it came with the song's actual instrumental version used in the trailer. This song has also been used in an advertisement for the Palm Pixi and the Canadian PSP.
The song "Moth's Wings" was used in the fourth episode of the third season of the CW teen drama Gossip Girl and in the closing credits of episode 36 of HBO's Big Love. It appeared in the FIFA 10 video game and was featured in the film Life As We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. Additionally, the track has been used as a background theme for Sky Sports' coverage of the UEFA Champions League and as the music for a dance routine in Episode 5, Season 8, of the US television show So You Think You Can Dance (United States), which received a standing ovation from the show's judges. It was also featured in MTV's show Awkward.
On April 13, 2010, the band reissued Manners in a deluxe edition format which contained new artwork and three additional tracks: stripped-down versions of "Sleepyhead" and "Moth's Wings" and a cover of The Cranberries' song "Dreams". The deluxe release coincided with the extension of their North American headlining tour.
The band released another cover in June 2010, this time offering up their take on The Smashing Pumpkins hit song "Tonight, Tonight" as part of a promotion with Levi's called "Pioneer Sessions".
In September 2010, Passion Pit toured with the English band Muse as their opening act for eight shows during their fall tour through parts of the U.S.
In an August 2010 interview with NME, Angelakos stated that work had already begun on the follow-up to Manners and that the band intended to release the album in the spring of 2011. He then said that it will be released early in 2012.
On April 24, 2012, Angelakos announced the title of the album, Gossamer, and that it would be released on July 24, 2012.
On May 7, the first track from Gossamer was released, called "Take a Walk".
On June 12, the second track from Gossamer was released, called "I'll Be Alright". The track leaked early on June 11th and was released as an NME premiere on June 8.
On July 9, a third track from Gossamer, called "Constant Conversations", was reviewed and featured as "best new track" by Pitchfork. It was released with the review as streamed content.
Passion Pit officially released their second album, Gossamer, on July 20, 2012 to critical acclaim.
On July 16th, Angelakos posted on the Passion Pit website that the band has cancelled the remaining July tour dates and suspended the tour in order for Angelakos to seek ongoing treatment for bipolar disorder. A Rolling Stones interview stated that Angelakos was diagnosed at 17, undergoing therapy, hospital care, and medication ever since.
On October 13, they performed on Saturday Night Live. They played "Take a Walk" and "Carried Away".
On September 24, Passion Pit released the Constant Conversations EP, exclusively available on Spotify. The EP featured an alternative version of Constant Conversations from their 2012 album Gossamer, in addition to a formerly unreleased b-side called Ruin Your Day. The final track on the EP was a remix of Carried Away by Dillon Francis.
Passion Pit's third studio album, Kindred, was released on April 17, 2015, preceded by the lead singles "Lifted Up (1985)", "Where the Sky Hangs", and "Until We Can't (Let's Go)". In anticipation of the release, the band posted several coded images to various social networking platforms. Soon after the release of the Morse code image, the official Passion Pit website, which had been under construction since the end of the 2013 tour, came back up as "KindredTheAlbum.com" (The website has since returned to "passionpitmusic.com".)
During February and March of 2017, several new Passion Pit songs were uploaded on YouTube on the account for The Wishart Group (from the name of a project started by Michael Angelakos and dedicated to supporting musicians by providing them with legal, educational and healthcare services, with a focus on mental health, a topic on which Angelakos has been especially forthcoming), foreshadowing a fourth album for 2017.
All of the videos for those new songs have the same background photo (a woman wearing a white dress, located in the middle of the sea, turning around as though she had sensed she was being secretly observed from behind), as does the front cover of the album. The songs were taken down, but Angelakos announced that he will give a downloadable copy of the album for free to anyone who retweets neuroscientist Michael F. Wells' tweet on the importance of science and research. The profits from the album will be donated to a psychiatric research institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
On July 11, Passion Pit's fourth album, Tremendous Sea of Love, was announced to be released on July 28 on all streaming services.
The band embarked on a North American tour between January and February 2018 to promote Tremendous Sea of Love as well as their EP Chunk of Change's 10th anniversary.
Cry Like a Ghost
Passion Pit Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You were caught up in somebody else's mess.
And yes, I drank all those drinks on my own,
My life's become some blurry little quest.
And the cloud came deep and slowly
At the end of all, you'd ask me
If I even had a clue where I was.
And I'm bringing by the tooth calls
In the night and in they stole, they never was.
It'd all begin if you sing,
I wanna know to keep the rain.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough is enough.
Sick to the bone on my steps to my home,
The moon shines through the drapery and leaves.
To her to ignore everyone on my own,
My true love just to feel so made of bricks.
But as my body crumble, you walked as I just stumble
We spoke only of things made in my head.
You never once controlled me, what all the others told me
But if I kept on going I'd be dead.
It's not just you that they blame
Now tell me where they keep the rain.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough's always too tough.
See what I've done now, I don't understand
She says I'm screaming and I raise my hand.
But I never meant to, wasn't even there,
I never meant to, I would never dare.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough's always too tough.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough is enough.
The lyrics to Passion Pit's song "Cry Like a Ghost" are about a narrator who is struggling to move on from a past relationship. The song begins with the singer alone, having found their former partner in "somebody else's mess." They begin to drink heavily to try and cope with the situation, but their life becomes "some blurry little quest." The cloud in the second verse refers to the singer's confusion and disorientation as they try to understand their new reality. They don't know where they're going or what they want, and they feel lost without their former partner. The lyrics suggest that the singer's former partner was a stabilizing force in their life, and without them, they're struggling to find their way.
The chorus of the song is directed at Sylvia, who may be the singer's ex-partner. Sylvia is described as a pendulum, swinging back and forth between heartbreak and numbness. The singer acknowledges that Sylvia is broken-hearted, but no one is going to tell her when "enough's enough." The repetition of this phrase suggests that the singer and Sylvia are stuck in a cycle of pain, and neither of them knows how to break free.
The third verse of the song introduces a new element to the story. The singer becomes physically sick and stumbles home, where they are visited by Sylvia. They speak only of "things made in [the singer's] head," which suggests that the relationship was built on false hopes and dreams. Sylvia never controlled the singer, but the singer was influenced by what "all the others told [them]." The lyrics suggest that the singer is struggling to find their own voice and make their own decisions.
Overall, "Cry Like a Ghost" is a song about a broken relationship and the aftermath that follows. The singer is struggling to find their way forward without their former partner, and Sylvia appears to be equally lost. The repetition of the phrase "enough's enough" suggests that the two of them are stuck in a cycle of pain and heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm on my own where I found you alone
When I met you, you were alone, caught up in someone else's problems, and I was alone too.
And yes, I drank all those drinks on my own,
I've been searching for meaning in life, and I've been doing it alone, drinking to numb the pain and confusion.
My life's become some blurry little quest.
My life feels like a blur, a search for something that I can't find, a quest without a clear purpose.
And the cloud came deep and slowly
I fell into a deep depression that came on slowly, like a cloud that covers everything in darkness.
At the end of all, you'd ask me
When there is nothing left, you ask me a question that I cannot answer.
If I even had a clue where I was.
You wonder if I have any idea where my life is headed or what my purpose is.
Well, I don't know your truth flows
I don't understand your perspective or your truth, and it feels like it's flowing away from me, like a river that I can't catch.
And I'm bringing by the tooth calls
I feel like I'm trying to hold on to something that's slipping away, like holding onto a tooth that's about to fall out.
In the night and in they stole, they never was.
There are things that steal into my life in the darkness, that were never there before, and they seem to be taking over.
It'd all begin if you sing,
If you start singing, it feels like it could all begin, like we could find meaning in life and move forward.
I wanna know to keep the rain.
I want to understand how to hold on to something as fluid as rain, to keep it from slipping away and leaving everything dry.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
Silvia, go back to where you started, before things got complicated and heartbreak took hold.
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
You're like a pendulum that swings back and forth between heartbreak and healing, and it's taking a toll on you.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
You're on your own, and no one can tell you when it's time to move on and let go of the pain.
Enough is enough.
It's time to move on and let go of the pain, enough is enough.
Sick to the bone on my steps to my home,
I feel sick to my core every time I go home, as if everything that defines me is in decline.
The moon shines through the drapery and leaves.
Even in the midst of my depression, the beauty of the world still shines through, like the moon shining through the drapes and the leaves outside my window.
To her to ignore everyone on my own,
I'm trying to ignore everyone else's opinions and just find my own way in life.
My true love just to feel so made of bricks.
The weight of depression and confusion makes it feel like even my true love is heavy and hard to carry, like a pile of bricks.
But as my body crumble, you walked as I just stumble
As my body starts to break down under the weight of my depression, you walk away and I stumble through life on my own.
We spoke only of things made in my head.
Our conversations are only in my head, and I feel like I'm losing touch with reality.
You never once controlled me, what all the others told me
You never tried to control me, to force me to do things a certain way, even though others have suggested it.
But if I kept on going I'd be dead.
If I keep going down this path of depression and confusion, I feel like I might as well be dead.
It's not just you that they blame
Others are quick to blame you for my problems, but it's not just you that's the issue.
Now tell me where they keep the rain.
I'm asking for someone to explain the meaning of life to me, to show me where to find something as intangible as rain.
See what I've done now, I don't understand
I can see the damage I've caused, but I don't understand why I did it or how to fix it.
She says I'm screaming and I raise my hand.
It feels like I'm losing control, like I'm screaming and lashing out even though I don't want to.
But I never meant to, wasn't even there,
I never meant to hurt anyone or lose control, it's like I'm not really there in those moments where I lose it.
I never meant to, I would never dare.
I would never intentionally hurt or harm anyone, I just feel like I'm not in control of my own emotions and reactions.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MICHAEL ANGELAKOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@stargazing_gazer2847
The video is CLEARLY about a girl in an abusive relationship[s] her boyfriends are alcoholic. She continues to end up in the same type of relationship even when she moves on. —pay attention to the visual AND the lyric .
Look at the lyrics
The whole first set of lyrics describe the dizzy feeling of having a bad memory after drinking to much
“yes I drank all those drinks on my own”
“She says I'm screaming and I raise my hand.”
The narrator is saying his lover is saying something- but he can’t remember
“But I never meant to, wasn't even there,
I never meant to, I would never dare.”
He simultaneously acknowledge that he was the one that hurt his lover but also denies that it happen. He can’t remember clearly because he is an alcololic
“Silvia” the abused lover is a “Pendulum going back and forth into abusive relationship and no one is stepping in to say “ this enough/ you have to stop/ these types of relationships are unhealthy” so the process repeats .
@luciendepeiro7456
I'm on my own where I found you alone
You were caught up in somebody else's mess.
And yes, I drank all those drinks on my own,
My life's become some blurry little quest.
And the cloud came deep and slowly
At the end of all, you'd ask me
If I even had a clue where I was.
Well, I don't know your truth flows
And I'm bringing by the tooth calls
In the night and in they stole, they never was.
It'd all begin if you sing,
I wanna know to keep the rain.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough is enough.
Sick to the bone on my steps to my home,
The moon shines through the drapery and leaves.
To her to ignore everyone on my own,
My true love just to feel so made of bricks.
But as my body crumble, you walked as I just stumble
We spoke only of things made in my head.
You never once controlled me, what all the others told me
But if I kept on going I'd be dead.
It's not just you that they blame
Now tell me where they keep the rain.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough's always too tough.
See what I've done now, I don't understand
She says I'm screaming and I raise my hand.
But I never meant to, wasn't even there,
I never meant to, I would never dare.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough's always too tough.
Silvia, right back where you came from,
You're a pendulum, heartbroken in number.
Silvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough is enough.
@lauratrejos1528
https://genius.com/Passion-pit-cry-like-a-ghost-lyrics
[Verse 1]
Oh on my own, where I found you alone
You were caught up in somebody else's mess
And yes, I drank all those drinks on my own
My life's become some blurry little quest
And the clock kept ticking slowly
And you leaned over and asked me
If I even had a clue where I was
Well I lied down on your wood floors
And my brain and body took course
And the night ended as though it never was
It all began to feel insane
I wanna know where they keep the rain
[Chorus]
Sylvia, right back where you came from
You're a pendulum, heartbroken and numb but
Sylvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough is enough
[Verse 2]
Sick to the bone on the steps to my home
The moon shined through the drapery of leaves
To hurt, to ignore everyone on my own
But you love just to feel some made-up breeze
But as my body crumbled, you walked as I just stumbled
And we spoke only of things made in my head
You never once controlled me while all the others told me
That if I kept on going, I'd be dead
It's not just you who felt the pain
Now tell me where they keep the rain
[Chorus]
Sylvia, right back where you came from
You're a pendulum, heartbroken and numb but
Sylvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough is enough
[Bridge]
See what I’ve done now, I don’t understand
She says I screamed and I that I raised my hand
But I never meant to, wasn’t even there
I never meant to, I would never dare
[Chorus]
Sylvia, right back where you came from
You're a pendulum, heartbroken and numb but
Sylvia, no one's gonna tell you when enough's enough
Enough is enough
@jeffsafran6477
I just saw the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once. I recognized the name of the Directing duo, Daniels, but couldn’t place it until Wikipedia mentioned this music video among their earliest works. I witnessed the filming of this video having worked for a now defunct music service Sony once ran that funded it, (Music Unlimited, it’s in the end credit). It was an amazing shoot to watch, the entire thing recorded over a full day and night in a section of woods within Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. All the “indoor” scenes were shot using props setup in the woods and you can see trees and dirt within the frames of what otherwise might look like an indoor environment, (purposely I’m sure, as the natural surroundings adds a level of continuity and mood through the entire video). The Dan’s were really excited about their vision and it’s so cool to see how they have grown into film superstars. Everything Everywhere All At Once is simply phenomenal and unlikely any film I’ve seen before.
@greghuffman3061
I don't know how they are even going to attempt to top it in their next film. Hopefully they get a massive budget to work with.
@snarp408
That's a really neat look behind the scenes
@anirvinakarnala8876
This is hands down amongst some of the best music videos I've ever seen. Is no one going to talk about how GREAT that actress is? Such a raw performance, crazy dynamics, I am in total awe. Been a Passion Pit fan since 2013 <3
@dawankilywait123
Yea I started to search for her on the internet and she starred in a couple of movies and she's awesome
@romilrosal4976
2022 and I'm still listening to this classic. I know I'm not the only one!
@karlil8165
I’ve come back to this music video again & again over the last 10 years. It’s been my favorite for so long. When I first saw it, it resonated with me, but I didn’t fully understand. I’ve always loved the movement & lighting of this video, there’s smoke, water, wind, & earth, so many elements. I perceive this now as a girl who had a difficult time finding her identity, longing for connection, happiness, & warmth but not knowing where to find it or herself, so she just keeps spinning & running out of control until she couldn’t run any further & had to go back home to herself. I love that moment where she touched her face & smiled, like she saw & felt her own spirit for moment. That part where she casted out all those relationships from her body & how she was moving really reflected all that conflict & tension she was detangling her body from. The fight was never with the other men, it was always with herself.
@GalacticXpress999
honest, this is one of my favorite videos of all time! I love the concept, the story, and the way lyrics fits in. The choreography, the continuous setting, Perfect video for an awesome song.
@joslenpettit5350
Guys, this song is about a girl who bounces between many relationships. Some unhealthy, some abusive, and some that she will regret because the guy was actually great. Its about remembering people like ghosts. Ghosts are very commonly symbols for people who you used to know.
@PatrickCaesar
thanks