Their early sound was a quirky, cabaret-inflected pop-rock with witty, literate lyrics from Blegvad. Their first two albums featured members of Faust in the backing band, although the second was later re-recorded with session musicians for Virgin records.
By 1975, they had been interleaved with the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, a union that produced two important works: a theatrical, Kurt Weill-esque set of songs entitled Desperate Straights and a much more daunting and avant-garde set entitled In Praise Of Learning.
The band has had fitful reunions ever since, sometimes just for the odd single, but often for major projects (the 1991 television opera Camera and the 1998 studio album Ça Va, for example).
Krause, Moore and Blegvad reformed Slapp Happy again in November 2016 to perform with Faust at the Week-End festival in Cologne, Germany. The two groups also played on 10–11 February 2017 at Cafe Oto in London. On 24 February 2017 Slapp Happy (without Faust) performed at Mt. Rainer Hall, Shibuya in Tokyo. In September 2017, Slapp Happy and Faust played at the 10th Rock in Opposition festival in Carmaux, France. They made a final appearance in November 2017 in Brussels, Belgium.
Riding Tigers
Slapp Happy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As our lives dissolve we revolve
Lonely & uninvolved.
Pencil thin, we're near done in, we're
masticating maize. An empty gaze,
sitting like that for days.
Try as we may, calendars
are scattered, furnaces go cold,
The lyrics to Slapp Happy's "Riding Tigers" paint a dark and melancholic picture of two individuals who are struggling to cope with the loneliness and isolation of life. The first two lines, "We're not well, dear. Toll the bell, dear." suggest that the singers are suffering from some sort of mental or emotional ailment, and that they are on the verge of giving up. The next line, "As our lives dissolve we revolve" reflects the sense of detachment that the singers feel from the world around them, as though they are watching their lives played out like a movie.
The following lines, "Lonely & uninvolved. Pencil thin, we're near done in, we're masticating maize" reveal the physical toll that their emotional state has taken on them. As they withdraw further into themselves, they become increasingly frail and disconnected from their bodies. The image of "masticating maize" suggests that they are barely able to sustain themselves, and are simply going through the motions of living.
Line by Line Meaning
We're not well, dear. Toll the bell, dear.
We are not in a good state, my dear. It is time to announce the end of our suffering, my dear.
As our lives dissolve we revolve
Our existence is disintegrating, and we are moving in circles without any clear direction.
Lonely & uninvolved.
We feel isolated and disconnected from the world around us.
Pencil thin, we're near done in, we're masticating maize.
We are frail and weak, almost at the brink of collapse, and we are mindlessly chewing on corn.
An empty gaze, sitting like that for days.
Our eyes convey no emotion as we remain motionless for days, lost in our thoughts.
Try as we may, calendars are scattered, furnaces go cold, wardrobes flap in tatters, you & I grow old.
Despite our efforts, our schedules are disorganized, our sources of warmth are diminishing, our clothes are torn and worn out, and we are aging with every passing moment.
Contributed by Adrian C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.