Said the Whale is a Juno Award-winning Vancouver based indie rock band star… Read Full Bio ↴Said the Whale is a Juno Award-winning Vancouver based indie rock band started by Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft in 2007. The band's current lineup is Ben Worcester (guitar, vocals), Tyler Bancroft (guitar, vocals), Jaycelyn Brown (keyboards), Bradley Connor (drums), and Lincoln Hotchen (bass).

Their debut EP Taking Abalonia was released in 2007. It was re-released with seven new songs on June 3, 2008, in Canada as a full-length LP under the name Howe Sounds / Taking Abalonia.

On July 1, 2009, Said the Whale released the EP The Magician to drum up anticipation for the release of their second full-length album Islands Disappear on October 13, 2009.

In the spring of 2011, Said the Whale toured the U.S. for the first time. During this time they were the subject of the CBC documentary "Winning America" directed by Brent Hodge and Thomas Buchan. The movie documented the band's trip and performances along the West Coast of North America on their way to and from Austin, Texas' SXSW Music Festival and culminated when Said the Whale won the Juno Award for New Group of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards. The documentary aired on July 23, 2011, in British Columbia, and on April 7, 2012, across Canada.

They released their EP New Brighton on November 8, 2011, in preparation for their third full-length album, Little Mountain, released internationally on March 6, 2012.

In early 2012, the band was awarded a spot on the Canadian music magazine Rockstar Weekly's list of the "Top 12 RockStars to Watch in 2012". The list also included Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, and Rush. The band performed at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in 2012 and 2013.

Said the Whale released their fourth studio album, titled hawaiii, on September 17, 2013.

On January 4, 2017, they announced their fifth album, As Long As Your Eyes Are Wide. At the same time, they announced the departure of Spencer Schoening, and that they would move forward as a trio. The album was released March 31, 2017. The first single was "Step Into The Darkness."

On March 5, 2017, they posted an Instagram video with an email address which fans could contact in order to listen to the whole album for free before its release. Fans could stream the whole album on a personalized, private SoundCloud account from the 10th until the 15th of March without leaking or sharing the link. From the 15th until the 26th of March, the fans could invite their friends to listen to the album in a "listening party" in order to promote it but still not sharing the link to the album, keeping it strictly limited to those who were sent the link.

In September 2018, Said the Whale signed to Canadian indie label Arts & Crafts, and announced a new record to be released in early 2019. The band released a new single "UnAmerican" on October 12, 2018. They released their sixth studio album, Cascadia, on February 8, 2019.

Throughout 2021, Said the Whale released a number of singles and music videos from their upcoming album, including "Honey Lungs," "Everything She Touches is Gold to Me," "Show Me Everything," and "99 to the Moon." In May, Bancroft announced he was launching a new record label called EVERYTHING FOREVER. Said the Whale's seventh studio album, Dandelion, was released on October 22, 2021, via that label.

My Government Heart
Said the Whale Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I am a secret government agent armed with lies
About secret government things
I have secret government documents that could knock you dead
From your regular citizen lives
And I'll break into your regular citizen homes with my government knives

I do regular citizen things, but that's where it ends
'Cause my secret government mind is a rare breed

I can't love, I can't feel or have passion but I don't mind
'Cause my secret government facts tell me
Despite what many normal citizens say
Love causes pain and pain hurts and now passion is dead

Before I became a secret agent spy
I was put on this earth with a regular life
Smiling and laughing and singing away
But I could not keep my curious mind at bay
I set out to answer a question of mine
About human heart versus rational mind
See, I thought if I planted my heart in the ground
I could grow a heart tree and spread my love around
I enlisted the help of a very close friend
And we ripped out my heart so the test could begin

And we watered my heart
And we let the sun feed it vitamins
And we waited for that sprout
And I dug up my heart and I found it was nothing but dirt
My heart had become the earth

Now I'm a secret government agent armed with a past
About regular citizen life
I can't love, I can't feel or have passion
But I don't mind, 'cause you can't break my government heart

You cannot break my secret agent heart ever again

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Said the Whale's "My Government Heart" explore the concept of detachment that accompanies being a secret government agent. The singer describes themselves as possessing secret knowledge that they can use to hurt or harm ordinary citizens, using government knives as an example. The government agent claims that they cannot love or feel passion, believing that love only brings pain and hurt. However, this is somewhat contradicted in the story of the heart tree. The singer, with the help of a friend, tried to grow a heart tree, believing that love could be spread through this growth. However, the heart turned into dirt, suggesting that the government agent's emotional detachment is unescapable.

It's worth noting that the lyrics of "My Government Heart" are abstract in nature and subject to interpretation. While it's clear that the song deals with the emotional ramifications of being a secret agent, it's up to the listener to decide what, if any, broader messages the song may contain. One possible interpretation is that the song critiques the government's reliance on secrecy and calls into question the costs of maintaining national security.

Line by Line Meaning

I am a secret government agent armed with lies
I am a government spy who uses deceit to accomplish my mission

About secret government things
I have information about top-secret government operations

I have secret government documents that could knock you dead
I possess documents that could ruin your ordinary citizen life

From your regular citizen lives
From the lives of common people

And I'll break into your regular citizen homes with my government knives
I will use my status as a government agent to intrude into people's homes and harm them

I do regular citizen things, but that's where it ends
I live a normal life superficially, but I am not like regular citizens

'Cause my secret government mind is a rare breed
I think differently due to my government training and experiences

I can't love, I can't feel or have passion but I don't mind
I am unable to experience emotions like love and passion, but I accept it as a necessary part of my duty

'Cause my secret government facts tell me
As a government agent, I prioritize facts and data over emotions

Despite what many normal citizens say
I disregard the beliefs of most common people

Love causes pain and pain hurts and now passion is dead
I believe that love brings suffering and that passion is a thing of the past

Before I became a secret agent spy
Prior to joining the government, I was a regular person

I was put on this earth with a regular life
My life began just like everyone else's

Smiling and laughing and singing away
I was happy and carefree

But I could not keep my curious mind at bay
But I was always curious and inquisitive

I set out to answer a question of mine
I began a quest to answer a question I had

About human heart versus rational mind
The question was related to the conflict between emotions and logic

See, I thought if I planted my heart in the ground
I had a theory that I could grow a tree by putting my heart in the soil

I could grow a heart tree and spread my love around
My goal was to cultivate love and spread it to others

I enlisted the help of a very close friend
I asked for assistance from someone I trusted

And we ripped out my heart so the test could begin
We removed my heart so that I could conduct my experiment

And we watered my heart
We tended to the soil, hoping to grow the tree

And we let the sun feed it vitamins
We exposed the soil to the sun to provide nutrients

And we waited for that sprout
We waited eagerly for the tree to grow

And I dug up my heart and I found it was nothing but dirt
But when I dug up the soil, I found that nothing had grown

My heart had become the earth
My pursuit of love had led to disillusionment and a realization that emotions are just like dirt

Now I'm a secret government agent armed with a past
I am now a government agent with a history of disappointment

About regular citizen life
I have knowledge of the lives of ordinary people

But I don't mind, 'cause you can't break my government heart
Despite my past experiences, I have a strong resolve that cannot be broken

You cannot break my secret agent heart ever again
I have learned from my experiences and am now resilient enough to deal with any challenges in the future

Contributed by Hudson R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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