Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided By Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi, a style of indie-rock characterized by low-fidelity recording techniques, often on four-track machines. The band's early output, such as Weed Forestin (1990) and III (1992), was typical of this style, and wavered between Barlow's wry, introspective folk and Gaffney's psychedelic noise-rock experiments.
Following 1993's Bubble and Scrape, Gaffney left the band. His replacement, Bob Fay, appeared on the band's most acclaimed and consistent effort, 1994's Bakesale, which saw the emergence of the songwriting talents of multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein, and the follow-up Harmacy in 1996.
Fay left the band before the sessions for The Sebadoh (1999), to be replaced by Russ Pollard. Following the tour to promote this album (2000), the band went on hiatus, with Barlow concentrating on his other project, the Folk Implosion, and Loewenstein working on material for his debut solo album At Sixes and Sevens, released in 2002. The two reunited to play concerts in late 2003 and the spring of 2004.
In 2006, III was reissued with a bonus disc and expanded liner notes. In 2007, the band (reunited with Eric Gaffney) was touring.
In 2013, Defend Yourself was released followed by Act Surprised in 2019.
Discography:
* The Freed Man (1989)
* Weed Forestin' (1990)
* The Freed Weed (1990)
* III (1992)
* Rocking The Forest (1992)
* Sebadoh vs. Helmet (1990)
* Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock (1992)
* Bubble and Scrape (1993)
* 4 Song CD (1994)
* Bakesale (1994)
* Harmacy (1996)
* The Sebadoh (1999)
* Defend Yourself (2013)
* Act Surprised (2019)
Truly Great Thing
Sebadoh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm on a string dangled right in front of you
Make it hard and I'll run away
Keep tomorrow as I kill today
Trying to figure just what I deserve
Slashing lines all across the earth
Patience only makes the dream come true
Tell me, this is it
The truly great thing
The love you've hoped to find
Any doubt will simply wipe itself out
As we're rising deeper the first and last time
Lift me up and drop me down again
Every day I feel confusion, pain
Love is what we've all been waiting for
Something powerful to smash it all apart
Can't love if you're locked up tight
The dream of perfection, nothing ever seems right
All the world will tell you, "You're all wrong"
Big big deal if you're wrong
This is it
The truly great thing
The love you've hoped to find
Any doubt will simply wipe itself out
To rising deeper the first and last time
In Sebadoh's song "Truly Great Thing," the lyrics seem to be about the struggles of love and relationships. The first verse suggests that it's easy to hold onto something that is effortless, but hard to deal with when things get difficult. The singer states that they are on a string, implying that they are being played with or manipulated. The second verse mentions the idea of deserving something, but also recognizes the difficulty of figuring out what that might be. The line "patience only makes the dream come true" suggests that waiting and being patient is necessary to achieve what you want, while holding onto someone else in the process.
The chorus, "This is it, the truly great thing, the love you've hoped to find" suggests that the singer has finally found what they have been longing for. However, there is still uncertainty and doubt, "any doubt will simply wipe itself out as we're rising deeper the first and last time." This implies that they know that they may not get another chance at this kind of love, and need to embrace it fully while they can. The following lines in the chorus suggest that love can be painful and confusing, but it is something that we all need and want.
Line by Line Meaning
Make it easy and I'll hold it against you
If you make things too easy for me, I'll resent you for it.
I'm on a string dangled right in front of you
I feel like I'm being manipulated and led on by you.
Make it hard and I'll run away
If things get too difficult, I'll avoid them altogether.
Keep tomorrow as I kill today
I'm focused on the present and not worrying about the consequences of my actions.
Trying to figure just what I deserve
I'm struggling to determine my own self-worth.
Slashing lines all across the earth
I'm searching for answers and trying to make sense of my life.
Patience only makes the dream come true
Achieving success and happiness takes time and perseverance.
Everything I see, I hold to you
You're my anchor and I rely on you to make sense of my surroundings.
Tell me, this is it
I need reassurance that what I've found is truly what I've been looking for.
The truly great thing
The love I've been hoping to find is finally here.
The love you've hoped to find
You've found the love that you've always wanted.
Any doubt will simply wipe itself out
Any uncertainty or hesitation will disappear in the face of true love.
As we're rising deeper the first and last time
This moment of intense emotion and connection will never be repeated again.
Lift me up and drop me down again
Emotionally, I'm all over the place and feel like I'm on a roller coaster.
Every day I feel confusion, pain
I'm struggling to make sense of my feelings and they're causing me distress.
Love is what we've all been waiting for
Love is the missing piece that completes us and makes everything else worthwhile.
Something powerful to smash it all apart
Love's intensity can be overwhelming and shake up our whole world.
Can't love if you're locked up tight
You need to be open and vulnerable in order to love someone fully.
The dream of perfection, nothing ever seems right
The more we strive for perfection, the more we realize it's impossible and feel dissatisfied with our lives.
All the world will tell you, "You're all wrong"
There will always be people who criticize and doubt our choices and actions.
Big big deal if you're wrong
It's not the end of the world if we make mistakes or do something that others disapprove of.
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LOUIS KNOX BARLOW
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Nick Romero
Awesome song. Thanks for putting it up.
Ryan Miera
Make it easy and I'll hold it against you
I'm on a string dangled right in front of you
Make it hard and I'll run away
Keep tomorrow as I kill today
Trying to figure just what I deserve
Slashing lines all across the earth
Patience only makes the dream come true
Everything I see, I hold to you
Tell me, this is it
The truly great thing
The love you've hoped to find
Any doubt will simply wipe itself out
As we're rising deeper the first and last time
Lift me up and drop me down again
Every day I feel confusion, pain
Love is what we've all been waiting for
Something powerful to smash it all apart
Can't love if you're locked up tight
The dream of perfection, nothing ever seems right
All the world will tell you, "You're all wrong"
Big big deal if you're wrong
This is it
The truly great thing
The love you've hoped to find
Any doubt will simply wipe itself out
To rising deeper the first and last time
tannerin
my favorite thing about this song is the sound of that distorted drum
ivan galvez
1 of my favorite sebadoh songs i use to snort meth to this - I am The pluto underground
versnellingspookie
Are you okay now?
matsl iva
lou used to do meth too. lol
Joaquín Alvear
Lou you genius