The band consists of Rachel Goswell (vocals/guitar), Neil Halstead (vocals/guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Christian Savill (guitar), and Simon Scott (drums, 1990-1994, 2014-present); additionally, Ian McCutcheon replaced Scott from 1994-1995. Goswell and Halstead had known each other since early childhood in Reading, Berkshire.
Initial demos were released as the Slowdive EP in late 1990; the band's sound was influenced by the Cocteau Twins and Creation labelmates My Bloody Valentine, featuring heavy use of guitar effects and muted vocals. Reviews in Melody Maker and the NME were enthusiastic, and two further well-regarded EPs followed in 1991 (Morningrise & Holding Our Breath). Their debut LP Just for a Day was written and recorded in six weeks, and was generally felt to be a disappointment at the time. At the same time, the UK music press had started to pick up on the American grunge scene, and the more introspective sounds of Slowdive, labelmates Ride, Chapterhouse and other "shoegazing" bands had fallen from critical favour. American label SBK pushed back the release of Just for a Day after a disastrous viral marketing campaign (involving vandalism of a public statue). In early 1992, the band toured the USA with Ride, and then returned to the UK to record a second album.
The band's second album, Souvlaki, would later become generally the band's most popular and well-received record. The album broke new ground for the band: two songs featured contributions from Brian Eno; "Souvlaki Space Station" was influenced by dub reggae; tracks such as "Dagger" and "Here She Comes" would become indications of the country-rock direction Halstead and Goswell would take a few years later; and several songs such as "When the Sun Hits" and "Alison" continued the style of the first album, but with improved songwriting. Initial copies of the UK version came with Blue Day, a compilation of most of the early EP tracks originally released as a separate album in Japan and some European countries. Later in the year, the band also released the 5 EP, containing four songs showcasing the influence of ambient techno; the lead track "In Mind" was also remixed by Bandulu and Reload (both then signed to Creation's dance label).
As with the first album, SBK delayed Souvlaki's release, and the band found themselves touring the USA in the summer of 1993 as Catherine Wheel's supporting act with no product to promote. The US version of Souvlaki was eventually released in early 1994, and included "Some Velvet Morning" (originally recorded for the Volume 7 compilation) and three of the tracks from the 5 EP. When Slowdive were finally able to tour America to support the album, SBK withdrew their funding halfway through; two further tours in 1994 were entirely funded by the band.
Simon Scott left amidst creative differences in 1994; he was replaced on drums by Ian McCutcheon. The band had almost become a Halstead solo project by the recording of their final album, 1995's Pygmalion. A critically misunderstood and widely-misinterpreted "ambient" record, Pygmalion took the dreamy guitar sound and warm-yet-solemn tone of earlier Slowdive to a newer, more minimalist extreme, similar to earlier dream pop bands such as A R Kane, or bands such as Labradford.
Slowdive was dropped by Creation in 1995 a week after the release of Pygmalion; Halstead had been warned before the recording of the album that the relationship with the label would end unless he delivered a "pop album". A legend arose that the band was dropped due to the Gallagher brothers refusing to sign Oasis to Creation if Slowdive and their counterparts remained on the label's roster, although Oasis had in fact released their debut single almost a year before Pygmalion.
After being dropped from Creation, Slowdive eventually went on hiatus later in 1995. Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell and Ian McCutcheon recorded an album of country-influenced songs, and were signed to label 4AD, changing the band name to Mojave 3. Halstead and Goswell have also both released solo albums for 4AD.
Christian Savill went on to form Monster Movie, a dream pop group that continued where Slowdive left off. They have released three albums thus far, Last Night Something Happened, To The Moon, Transistor, and—most recently—All Lost.
Simon Scott formed Televise in 2004, a group which developed the lengthy noise swells and experimental song structures that helped define shoegaze while (also) including a more electronic brand of indie rock.
Eventually, all of Slowdive's albums were reissued in late 2005. Just For a Day included a bonus disc with all tracks from the first three EPs, and the three songs recorded for a John Peel session on 26 March 1991. Souvlaki included a bonus disc with all the remaining EP tracks, as well as "Some Velvet Morning" (originally recorded for a compilation). Pygmalion—which had become a collector's item in the years since its release due to it never being issued in the USA—contained no extra material, however.
On January 28, 2014, following a 12-day countdown and the appearance of an official website and Twitter account for the band, Slowdive announced their reunion with the Just for a Day/Souvlaki-era line-up including Simon Scott as drummer. The band was confirmed the same day to be playing the 2014 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain. 2014 saw the band go on a 5 month, 40 date long tour. In January 2017, Slowdive released their first new single in 22 years on the Dead Oceans label. Another single and a self titled fourth album followed in May 2017, preceded by another single, "Sugar for the Pill".
In September 2020, Slowdive announced they had begun work on their fifth studio album. In April 2023, the band confirmed on a podcast that they had finished their new album. The lead single "Kisses" was released on 20 June 2023, and later that month the band played the Glastonbury Festival for the first time. The album's second single "Skin in the Game" was released on 18 July 2023, followed by "The Slab" and "Alife" in August, and the album Everything Is Alive, was released on 1 September 2023.
Summer Daze
Slowdive Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Know the lie you were told, that you know.
All the time I was not sure,
All you've seek it was love
Summer daze on the seven of March,
Then I'd think, you waited long
Its sure love, weren't beautiful like when I said hello
And if were lullaby let your life dive on
Its in more delight all they seek is fall in this love
A some of day that will get you gather an although glass of that
Summer daze under open light and I hoped it will dime
No, I know it will pass for shine like a gold
Let I throw your love,
Let you hide down here
And nothing here to know,
I throw my heart down here
The opening lyric, "Made sure I won't know," sets the tone for the ambiguity and uncertainty that runs through this entire song. It feels like someone is trying to cover up the truth or keep something hidden. The repetition of "know" and "not sure" further emphasize this feeling of confusion and lack of clarity.
The lines "All you've seek it was love" reveal the root of the problem - a desire for love that may not be reciprocated or fulfilled. The summer daze mentioned throughout the song are perhaps a metaphor for this fleeting, dreamlike state of being in love, where everything feels perfect and beautiful.
Despite these romantic notions, there is a sense of darkness and unease that runs throughout the lyrics. Lines like "Let you hide down here" and "nothing here to know" suggest a desire to escape or hide from something, while the final line "I throw my heart down here" feels like a final gesture of surrender or defeat.
Overall, "Summer Daze" is a haunting, atmospheric ode to love and all of the doubts and fears that come with it. The lyrics leave much open to interpretation, but the somber, introspective tone of the song makes it clear that this is a story of love lost or unfulfilled.
Line by Line Meaning
Made sure I won't know.
I intentionally made sure to remain ignorant.
Know the lie you were told, that you know.
Understand that you are aware of the lie told to you.
All the time I was not sure,
Throughout the duration, I was uncertain.
All you've seek it was love
All you ever desired was to love and be loved.
Summer daze on the seven of March,
In a state of mind, experiencing a summer day on the seventh of March.
Then I'd think, you waited long
At that moment, I believed you had been waiting for a prolonged period of time.
Its sure love, weren't beautiful like when I said hello
Although it was love, the beauty of the moment had faded.
And if were lullaby let your life dive on
If it were a lullaby, let your existence drift away.
And if were lost of life know way all we go
If we were to lose our lives, we wouldn't know the way forward.
Its in more delight all they seek is fall in this love
The search is for the joy of falling in love.
A some of day that will get you gather an although glass of that
A certain day that will bring us together and a glass of something to savor the moment.
Summer daze under open light and I hoped it will dime
In a summer day's daze, under the bright light, I hoped for it to dimmer down.
No, I know it will pass for shine like a gold
However, I'm aware it will end but shine brightly like gold while it lasts.
Let I throw your love,
Allow me to shower you with love.
Let you hide down here
Let you take refuge somewhere down here.
And nothing here to know,
There is no need to know anything about this place.
I throw my heart down here
I'm pouring my heart out here.
Contributed by Wyatt S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mypenisisunbelievablysmall5650
Made sure I won't know.
Know the lie you'd told, that you know.
All the time I was not sure,
All that you've seek it was love
Summer daze on the seven of March,
Then I'd think, you waited too long
Its sure love, weren't beautiful like when I said hello
And if were lullaby let your life dive on
And if were lost of life know way all we go
Its in more delight all they seek is fall in this love
A some of day that will get you gather an although glass of that
Summer daze under open light and I hoped it will dime
No, i know it will pass for shine like a gold
Let i throw your love,
Let you hide down here
And nothing here to know,
I throw my heart down here
@fairytale9422
Lyrics
Made sure I won't know.
Know the lie you were told, that you know.
All the time I was not sure,
All you've seek it was love
Summer daze on the seven of March,
Then I'd think, you waited long
Its sure love, weren't beautiful like when I said hello
And if were lullaby let your life dive on
And if were lost of life know way all we go
Its in more delight all they seek is fall in this love
A some of day that will get you gather an although glass of that
Summer daze under open light and I hoped it will dime
No, I know it will pass for shine like a gold
Let I throw your love,
Let you hide down here
And nothing here to know,
I throw my heart down here
@trisagfm3465
i’m spending the ‘best times of my life’ in doors because i don’t know anyone near me.
my friends don’t talk to me much anymore and my online friends are 6 hours behind me so we can rarely ever hang out.
life is nothing but pain now.
it has been for years.
now that i have all this time alone i finally realise that.
if god exsists he has a cruel sense of humour.
if he exsists i’d like to ask him why he made me.
i used to be christian as a kid, i stoped going to church when i started getting bullied.
i remember staying up late at night praying to god that i wouldn’t have to go to school the next day.
once i prayed i wouldn’t wake up.
time goes by and the more i think about life the less i want to take part in it.
the more time passes the more i realise i am not going to be remembered in 50, 60 years.
that scares me more than death.
when the body dies the soul lives on in other people.
when the soul finally dies, there is nothing.
@void3886
He isn't even speaking english he just talkin in reverb
@yeahyourerightheresmystupi5352
Underrated
@psychedelic_salad694
sounds good tho..
@OmegaSon
ghowz calm yourself we’re all here to chill lol
@calebd4669
@@hmmm413 relax dude..
@paidfiftysomyfacepretty
@@hmmm413 there is always one angry person in the comments of a slowdive song
@ArcanaC
I discovered this song at a very strange time in my life. It hits hard.
@kacakci5870
It is, indeed
@LifeGrindcore
Same, i still get tears in my eyes.
@michelmaiksurfhc
Me too