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.
The Hollow Earth
Pere Ubu Lyrics
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And the moon won't arrive in the evening, too
Then we start to get a kind of picture
Of how it would be to
Baby, to live without you
There's a hole in the bucket
There's a rock in my shoe
I'm working up a set of notions of how it would be to
Warning! Warning!
Here we have the deep water
Danger, strange feelings
Danger, strange feelings
Five o'clock in the morning
And there's something happening here
Why, I finally get a kind of picture
The point is coming through
Clouds of mystery clear
I drop down a hole
I find a hollow earth
I wake up in a land of extremes
To find the worst that could be
That everything would be just what it seems
Warning! Warning!
Here we have the deep water
Danger, strange feelings
If the sun won't arrive in the morning.
And the moon won't arrive in the evening, too
Then we start to get a kind of picture
The light is coming through
Clouds of mystery clear
I drop down a hole
I find a hollow earth
I wake up in a land of extremes
To find the worst that could be,
That everything would be just what it seems
Warning! Warning!
There we have the deep water
Danger, strange feelings
The lyrics of Pere Ubu's song "The Hollow Earth" are enigmatic and open to interpretation, but they appear to speak about the loss of a loved one and the resultant sense of disorientation and peril. The opening lines "If the sun won't arrive in the morning / And the moon won't arrive in the evening, too / Then we start to get a kind of picture / Of how it would be to / Baby, to live without you" suggest that the absence of the sun and the moon would indicate a world turned upside down, in which the singer struggles to envision life without their partner. The metaphorical "hole in the bucket" and "rock in my shoe" symbolize a sense of discomfort and unease that accompany this experience.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become more surreal and fragmented, suggesting a descent into a kind of madness or dream state. The repeated warnings of "danger, strange feelings" and "here we have the deep water" suggest a sense of imminent danger or threat, while the image of dropping down a hole and awakening in a "land of extremes" suggests a journey into uncharted territory or the depths of the subconscious. The final lines, "To find the worst that could be / That everything would be just what it seems" suggest a sense of disillusionment and existential despair, in which the discovery of the truth only reinforces a sense of bleak hopelessness.
Line by Line Meaning
If the sun won't arrive in the morning
If the world goes dark and lightless, leaving us stranded amidst the shadows of darkness.
And the moon won't arrive in the evening, too
If even the comforting moon decides to abandon us, leaving us to navigate through the night without any guide.
Then we start to get a kind of picture
We begin to understand the harsh reality of living without the ones we love, and the magnitude of the loss starts to dawn on us.
Of how it would be to Baby, to live without you
A bleak picture of life without our beloved partners, as the very thought invokes a sense of sorrow and emptiness within us.
There's a hole in the bucket
The feeling of emptiness that permeates through our lives and refuses to leave, much like an unwanted hole in our everyday belongings.
There's a rock in my shoe
The minor but persistent irritations in life that bring us discomfort and dissatisfaction, much like a pebble stuck in one's shoe.
I'm working up a set of notions of how it would be to Baby, to live without you
We are mentally and emotionally trying to comprehend a life without our partners, struggling to articulate the depth of our feelings and the intensity of our emotions.
Warning! Warning!
A sense of alarm and unease that something dangerous and unexpected is about to happen, perhaps the loss of our loved ones.
Here we have the deep water
We've reached a point where we feel as if we are drowning in our sorrows, with no escape or respite in sight.
Danger, strange feelings
An eerie feeling of danger and uncertainty that has enveloped us, as we come to terms with our fears and insecurities.
Five o'clock in the morning
The early hours of the morning, when despair and loneliness often hit us the hardest.
And there's something happening here
There's a shift happening within us, as we start to realize the depth of our emotions and the severity of our loss.
Why, I finally get a kind of picture
We've had an epiphany that has helped us see through the fog of our emotions and brought clarity to our thoughts.
The point is coming through
We've finally understood what we stand to lose, and the gravity of the situation has hit us hard.
Clouds of mystery clear
The veil of uncertainty and doubt that has obscured our vision has finally been lifted, enabling us to have more clarity and insights into our emotions.
I drop down a hole
We've metaphorically hit rock bottom, and it seems like we're heading toward a downward spiral.
I find a hollow earth
We've discovered a new reality that is devoid of emotions and love, a metaphorical hollow earth of sorts.
I wake up in a land of extremes
We wake up to the realization that the world is full of intense feelings, ranging from profound love to devastating loss.
To find the worst that could be
We discover the depths of sorrow and despair, which is the worst-case scenario of losing a loved one.
That everything would be just what it seems
We realize that life would be dull and insipid if it were devoid of intense emotions, whether good or bad.
Warning! Warning!
The sense of danger and uncertainty resurfaces, reminding us that the loss of a loved one is always lurking around the corner.
There we have the deep water
We're once again in a situation where we feel as if we're drowning in our sorrows, unable to reach the surface of calm and peace.
Danger, strange feelings
The danger and uncertainty of life without our loved ones continue to simmer beneath the surface, leaving us vulnerable and exposed to our emotions.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: DAN PHELPS, MATT CHAMBERLAIN, VIKTOR KRAUSS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind