While Pere Ubu have never been widely popular—usually categorized as "underground rock"—they have a devoted following, have been hugely influential on several generations of avant-garde musicians and are a critically acclaimed American musical group. To define their music, Pere Ubu coined the term Avant Garage to reflect interest in both avant-garde music (especially Musique concrète) and raw, direct garage rock.
When Cleveland-based band Rocket From The Tombs fragmented some members formed Dead Boys, while David Thomas and guitarist Peter Laughner joined with guitarist Tom Herman, bass guitarist Tim Wright, drummer Scott Krauss and synthesist Allen Ravenstine to form Pere Ubu in 1975. At the time the band formed, Herman, Krauss, and Ravenstine lived in a house owned by Ravenstine.
Pere Ubu's first single (their first five releases were singles on their own "Hearthan" label) was "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (inspired by the "Doolittle Raid" and named after a film depicting the raid), backed with "Heart of Darkness"; followed by "Final Solution" in 1976. One review noted that "30 Seconds..." "was clearly the work of a garage band, yet its arty dissonance and weird experimentalism were startlingly unique."
Of their second single, "Final Solution" (backed with "Cloud 149"), one reviewer wrote that Ubu's "call for a 'final solution' was the cry of teen angst run down in the decaying rust belt of America, and unlike the British punks who were looking around England the same year, seeing no future, and hating what they saw, Ubu reveled in it." They would rarely perform this song after some listeners misinterpreted it as being associated with the 'Nazi final solution'.
After "Street Waves", their third single, Pere Ubu signed to Blank Records, a short-lived imprint of Mercury Records.
Laughner left the group after their first two singles, and died soon afterward after a struggle with drug addiction. Tony Maimone signed on as bassist after Tim Wright left to join DNA.
In 1978 they released their debut album, The Modern Dance, which sold poorly but has proven influential. With the song "Sentimental Journey," the debut also introduced the practice of re-appropriating titles from well-known popular songs: Pere Ubu's "Sentimental Journey" has no obvious relation to the Doris Day hit song of the same name; "Drinking Wine Spodyody" has no apparent connection to the Sticks McGhee song (later revived by Jerry Lee Lewis). This practice has continued through 2006's Why I Hate Women, which has a song called "Blue Velvet" (again, no relation to the 1963 hit song by Bobby Vinton).
Special note should be made of Ravenstine's contributions to Pere Ubu. While most synthesizer players tended to play the instrument as they would a piano or organ, Ravenstine generally opted instead to make sounds that were reminiscent of spooky sound effects from 1950s science fiction films, or perhaps electronic music and musique concrète.
Dub Housing was released in 1978 and New Picnic Time in 1979. The group briefly disbanded in 1979, but reformed soon afterward with Tom Herman replaced by Mayo Thompson (of Red Krayola).
The Art of Walking was released in 1980, and by the release of Song of the Bailing Man in 1982, Krauss was replaced by Anton Fier. The group disbanded again soon afterwards; Krauss and Maimone formed Home and Garden, while Thomas worked on a solo career, notably with Richard Thompson and with members of Henry Cow.
By the late 1980s, one of Thomas' solo projects eventually featured much of Pere Ubu. The band was reformed again in 1987, with Jim Jones and Chris Cutler joining for the release of The Tenement Year in 1988, a far more pop-oriented album than ever before. The following year, the track "Waiting for Mary" (off the album 1989 Cloudland) appeared on MTV briefly. After the recording of Cloudland, Ravenstine left the group (although he made a guest appearance on Worlds in Collision in 1991) and later became an airline pilot. Eric Drew Feldman joined the band in time for the Cloudland tour and the recording of Worlds in Collision but left afterwards, joining Frank Black.
Story of My Life was released in 1993 on Imago Records; Maimone left (once again) to join They Might Be Giants, and Michele Temple and Garo Yellin joined the band for the Story of My Life tour and feature on Ubu's 1995 album, Ray Gun Suitcase. Robert Wheeler has played synthesizer and theremin with Pere Ubu since 1994. Krauss left the band during the Ray Gun Suitcase sessions. For the Ray Gun Suitcase tour, guitarist Jim Jones departed as a touring member (although he continued to contribute to recordings), founding guitarist Tom Herman replaced him for the tour.
Concurrent with the 1996 release of the Datapanik in Year Zero box set, Jim Jones retired due to health problems. Tom Herman returned to the band after a twenty year absence to tour with the band in 1995, and went on to record Pennsylvania in 1998 and St. Arkansas in 2002. Jim Jones contributed guitar tracks to each album as well, and guitarist Wayne Kramer of MC5 fame joined the band for their 1998 summer tour. Herman left again in 2005, being replaced by Keith Moliné, of David Thomas's "solo" group Two Pale Boys. The new lineup completed an album entitled Why I Hate Women, which was released on September 19th 2006.
On 18 February 2008, Jim Jones passed away at his Cleveland residence.
LOVE LOVE LOVE
Pere Ubu Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It called for common sense.
How on earth it ever failed!?
I want the evidence!
I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
I can't believe that I can't believe it.
And so she cried - had to be coincidence.
I want a second chance.
I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
I can't believe that I can't believe it.
I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
I can't believe that I can't believe it.
Was that a swinging door?
Who let all the bugs in?
How can a person think?
Back to the top. Again.
I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
I can't believe that I can't believe it.
I had a plan ready.
It called for common sense.
How it failed!?
I want the evidence.
I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
I can't believe that I can't believe it.
Oh I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
Oh I can't believe that I can't believe.
Oh I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
Oh I can't believe that I can't believe...
In Pere Ubu's Love Love Love, the singer is grappling with the failure of a plan that was supposed to be foolproof, a plan that involved common sense. Struggling to understand how the plan failed, the singer questions the evidence and contemplates the possibility of a second chance. Throughout the song, the singer repeats "I can't believe that I, I can't believe it," emphasizing their disbelief and confusion. The repeated line, "Was that a swinging door? Who let all the bugs in?" signifies the singer's frustration and confusion with the situation, as if everything that could go wrong did.
The lines "How can a person think? Back to the top. Again." suggests the singer is feeling defeated and overwhelmed. The sentiment is reinforced by the repetition of the chorus, emphasizing the singer's disbelief in their failure. The story of the song remains vague and open for interpretation, which is typical of Pere Ubu's music. The lyrics of Love Love Love leave it up to the listener to fill in the gaps with imagination and speculation.
Line by Line Meaning
I had a plan ready.
The singer had a well-thought-out strategy.
It called for common sense.
The plan was logical and sensible.
How on earth it ever failed!?
The singer is surprised and confused about the plan's failure.
I want the evidence!
The artist seeks proof or explanation for the plan's failure.
I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
The artist is in disbelief and shock about the situation.
And so she cried - had to be coincidence.
Someone is upset and thinks the plan's failure might be a coincidence.
How will I ever know?
The singer wonders how they can find the truth about what happened.
I want a second chance.
The artist desires another opportunity to make things right.
Was that a swinging door?
The artist questions whether a certain event was related to the plan's failure.
Who let all the bugs in?
The artist is using bugs as a metaphor to question how the situation got worse.
How can a person think?
The singer is frustrated by the lack of logic or reasoning behind the plan's failure.
Back to the top. Again.
The artist is ready to start over and try again.
Oh I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
The singer is repeating their disbelief and shock.
Oh I can't believe that I can't believe.
The singer is emphasizing their feelings of disbelief and shock.
Oh I can't believe that I, I can't believe it.
The singer is still stunned and processing the situation.
Oh I can't believe that I can't believe...
The artist cannot comprehend the events that have transpired.
Contributed by Christian A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Charley Farley
I can’t believe I finally found this piece of art. After all these years!
kdannelley
Even with that 1980's drum sound (very much of its time) Pere Ubu pull it off....
niklnikl1
One of my favorite Ubu tracks!
niklnikl1
One of my favorite songs. It rocks!
maandanser.nl
I love the drum sound in this song, hell yeah, I can't believe it!!!
Riley's Dad
I was playing in a reception band in the 90s. After the gig we watched Rage and this song came on. I said "I love this song! I'vegot the record!" And they looked at me like I was crazy.
Sam W
Rage was great for finding cool music
Jon Bilbao
David thomas´s voice is unique
Dee66 daniel
Sounds like a stomach upset again .. which is getting better.. but verry unique.. the stuff - Proto-Ubu .. also verry intresting .. cause - Peter Laughner sung there..
Alejandro Rochocz
Son geniales y sobre todo divertidos.