The band is a strong satire of the 70s and 80s heavy metal genre and scene, and their music reflects that, with blaring guitars, high vocals, and ridiculous lyrical themes, all of which take the stereotypes of the genre and exaggerate them to comedic extremes.
The first album of the band was a collection of songs made for the film, many of which were featured in the film itself. Their second album (Break Like The Wind) followed many years later, but was greeted with less enthusiasm, partially because people simply weren't interested in the band beyond their characters in the film, and partially because the heavy metal scene had already been killed by grunge by the time of the album's release. A third album, Back from the Dead, was released in 2009.
All three members of the band have continued to pursue their separate careers in film and television.
The first album (This is Spinal Tap) has a pure black cover, in reference to the movie, in which their latest album is forced to have a pure black cover ("none more black"). However, in the movie, the album is called "Smell the Glove," not "This is Spinal Tap."
Spın̈al Tap are played by Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer. The three also play a folk group called The Folksmen in the film A Mighty Wind.
Spın̈al Tap have appeared in The Simpsons when Homer takes Bart and Milhouse to one of their gigs.
They recently made a 'comeback' appearance at LiveEarth at Wembley in 2007, and appeared on the Main Stage at Glastonbury 2009.
All The Way Home
Spinal Tap Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I'm waitin' for that train to bring her back
If she's not on the five-nineteen
Then I'm gonna know what sorrow means
And I'm gonna cry, cry, cry all the way home
All the way home
All the way home
All the way home
Now her daddy never liked me, this he said
And he could never get it through his old gray head
That I loved his daughter so
I did not mean to see her go
Now I'm gonna cry, cry, cry all the way home
All the way home
All the way home
Yes, I'm gonna cry, cry, cry
All the way home
Here come
Here come
All the way home
All the way home
Yes, I'm gonna cry, cry, cry
All the way home
One more time
All the way home
All the way home
And I'm gonna cry, cry, cry
All the way home
The song "All The Way Home" by Spinal Tap is a bluesy ballad that tells the story of a man who is waiting for a train to bring back his love, who has seemingly left him. The lyrics are simple yet impactful, with the singer waiting anxiously for the train to arrive, hoping that his love will be on it. If she is not on the train, however, he knows he will experience great sorrow and be crying all the way home. Throughout the song, the singer expresses his love for his girlfriend and the obstacles he has faced, particularly her father not approving of their relationship.
The song's instrumentation adds to its emotional impact with the slow, mournful guitar and harmonica accompaniment, and the repeated chorus of "All the way home" further emphasizes the pain and sadness of the singer's situation. Overall, "All The Way Home" is a poignant and relatable song that speaks to the human experience of love and loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I'm sittin' here beside the railroad track
The singer is waiting for someone by the railroad track.
And I'm waitin' for that train to bring her back
The singer is waiting for a specific train that is bringing someone back.
If she's not on the five-nineteen
The train the singer is waiting for is the five-nineteen.
Then I'm gonna know what sorrow means
If the person the artist is waiting for doesn't show up, they will feel intense sadness.
And I'm gonna cry, cry, cry all the way home
The artist will cry on their way home if the person they're waiting for doesn't come.
Now her daddy never liked me, this he said
The singer's girlfriend's father didn't approve of their relationship.
And he could never get it through his old gray head
The singer's girlfriend's father was stubborn and couldn't change his opinion.
That I loved his daughter so
The artist truly loved their girlfriend.
I did not mean to see her go
The artist didn't intend for their girlfriend to leave.
Now I'm gonna cry, cry, cry all the way home
The artist will cry on their way home because their girlfriend left.
Here come
Something or someone is approaching.
One more time
The artist repeats their intention to cry on their way home.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tombstone Harry Studios
Actually you’re right!
The joke is that Tap CAN write good music, but their immaturity and need to chase whatever musical trend is popular has hindered their career
In the famous Stonehenge scene, we already know that it’s going to fail before we hear the band play
However, in contrast to their earlier efforts, Stonehenge actually shows that they can really sing and play ... the soaring harmonies, the virtuoso crosspicking on the mandolin, the complex time changes
We’re all waiting for the big (or not so big!) reveal of the Henge model, and it’s at that this point in the film we develop pathos for the band...if they’d pulled this off they’d surely have been back on the up
It’s brilliant writing and acting!
Joshua And The Ruins
I love this clip so much, especially the artistic timidity they absolutely nail. "Oof Maybe some black coffee." It's a phenomenal musical and acting performance for a fleeting bit in the film.
Mark Newbold
Acting? Tap are always real
enn bee
Everyone can be a film analyst now.
Nick
I've always thought that the genius of that scene is, the song they deride as simplistic and their first...is better than any of the ones they play as a band in the movie. lol GENIUS.
Ian Betzler
It‘s easy to overlook some of these great little moments so packed with humour and personality. They ooze substance. It’s so believable when they are trying to recollect the lyrics to the song, I have to constantly remind myself that these characters are just fictitious. Laugh every time 😅
Blue M. Hart
Love how well the improv nature of this scene works here. The actors are trying to make up a song on the spot (or more likely, they already had a vague idea and are trying to recall what they sang in previous takes), while the characters are trying to recall a song on the spot, and it comes across perfectly.
Pooch Patrol
Exactly 😀
Blue M. Hart
@abc xyz I was going off their claim that the movie is almost entirely improvised (and the fact that the song wasn't recorded until long after the movie came out). It sounded like something they might have made up on set. Of course, having now seen the short film they made to pitch the Spinal Tap concept, which featured a lot of the same jokes from the movie, I'm starting to doubt that as much of it was improvised on the spot as I was always led to believe!
Human Tacos
Musicians can come up with tunes and partial lyrics on the spot. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was improv
Frenjamin Banklin
@Blue M. Hartwell, they fleshed out their backstories beforehand. They had to know what their characters would do in any given circumstance. All of the “history” of the band was written, then improvised around