In its earlier days, the band had duel vocals performed by De Marrais and Fischer; later, De Marrais would become the lead vocalist in the majority of their songs. The band's many tours and intimate live shows at venues such as Brooklyn's Northsix (now Music Hall of Williamsburg), Washington, D.C.'s The Black Cat, Bowery Ballroom in NYC, and Chapel Hill's Cat's Cradle helped to grow its fan base and fuel album sales.
On November 6, 2006, the band announced, through Pitchfork Media, that the December 16th show at New York City's Bowery Ballroom would be their last. They played one more show on December 17th at Northsix, which De Marrais referred to as "home" because it also served as the band's rehearsal space.
The band reformed in 2014 with a reunion show at Bowery Ballroom on December 31. Additional shows were added for February 14 and April 18, 2015 at Lincoln Hall in Chicago and Union Transfer in Philadelphia, respectively.
In 2017 the band released S/T, their first album in 11 years.
Sickbed
Rainer Maria Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
paint the window,
stain the ceiling feverish green.
my visitors smoked cigarettes
and ate all the things that had me feeling unwell.
everything that came out of me
was wrong-colored,
or wasn't at all.
the voices below rise through the window,
failing to make me well.
knocking on the door from the inside,
taking pictures of my room one last time.
i can't live, without.
The lyrics to Rainer Maria's song "Sickbed" are a vivid and harrowing depiction of illness and isolation. The opening line, "my eyes are becoming yellow curtains," creates an image of sickness taking over the singer's body, transforming them into a lifeless object. The singer's surroundings are also described as feverish and unpleasant, with yellow curtains and green-stained ceilings. It's evident that this is a space of suffering and pain.
Furthermore, we are given a glimpse into the loneliness and detachment of the singer's experience. The visitors who come to see them smoke cigarettes and eat in front of them, seemingly oblivious to the singer's illness. The singer's body is also betraying them, as everything that comes out of them is "wrong-colored," an indicator of the severe physical problems occurring internally. Even as the voices of others seep through the window, there is a sense that there is no way for those outside to truly save the singer or make them feel better.
The final line, "i can't live, without," is haunting and open to interpretation. It's unclear what the singer means by this statement – are they saying that they cannot live with the pain and sickness, or that they cannot live without the presence of others? Regardless, it's a gut-wrenching ending to a song that vividly depicts the experience of being ill and alone.
Line by Line Meaning
my eyes are becoming yellow curtains.
My eyes are slowly losing their color, turning yellow and fading away like curtains being drawn.
paint the window, stain the ceiling feverish green.
The room's appearance is being transformed to a sickly green, as if the colors of the walls and windows are meant to match my condition.
my visitors smoked cigarettes and ate all the things that had me feeling unwell.
Despite my illness, my visitors indulged in things that only made me feel worse, smoking cigarettes and eating foods that I know I cannot stomach right now.
everything that came out of me was wrong-colored, or wasn't at all.
My body is not functioning properly, and even my bodily fluids seem off-colored or nonexistent, a clear indication that I am not well.
the voices below rise through the window, failing to make me well.
Although I can hear the voices of people outside offering their support, they are not enough to make me feel better.
knocking on the door from the inside, taking pictures of my room one last time.
Knowing that the end may be near, I am taking one last look at my surroundings, and preparing for whatever comes next.
i can't live, without.
My illness has gotten to the point where I feel like I cannot live without some sort of assistance, whether it be a cure or simply the support of loved ones.
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
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