1. A popular indie pop ba… Read Full Bio ↴There are several artists which use this name:
1. A popular indie pop band from Canada
2. A rock band from the United Kingdom featuring Syd Barrett
3. A rock band from Australia
4. A country rock band from Australia
For the Japanese psychedelic group, please see The Stars
1. Stars is a Canadian indie pop band signed to the Arts & Crafts label. Originally formed in Toronto in 1998 by vocalist Torquil Campbell and keyboardist Chris Seligman, the band relocated to New York City and then subsequently to Montreal. The band also includes singer-guitarist Amy Millan and bassist Evan Cranley. Drummer Pat McGee has toured with the band for years, despite not appearing on their albums until the release of Set Yourself On Fire.
The band’s breakthrough single was Ageless Beauty, from their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire. While released to minimal fanfare in Canada in October of 2004, Set Yourself on Fire slowly gained a strong following and critical praise soon after its 8 March 2005 U.S. release.
Millan, Campbell and Cranley are also members of the indie band Broken Social Scene; Seligman, although uncredited, has contributed to past Broken Social Scene albums. Millan has since embarked on a solo career, releasing a record entitled Honey From the Tombs in July 2006. Campbell has a side-project with friend Chris Dumont entitled Memphis; their latest album, A Little Place In the Wilderness, was released in August 2006.
On their website, they have noted that their name was chosen, by coincidence, without prior knowledge of the short-lived project by Syd Barrett. They have cited a wide variety of musical likes and influences ranging from Berlioz to Outkast, citing among others Barrett, Paddy McAloon, New Order, The Smiths, Brian Wilson and Momus. They covered The Smiths’ This Charming Man on 2001’s Nightsongs and The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York in 2005. Other indie artists have been guest collaborators on many of their tracks, especially for an early period including the release of their first LP.
2. The Stars is a Japanese psychedelic rock band. It consists of ex-members of the legendary band White Heaven including Michio Kurihara (Ghost, Boris, Ai Aso) on guitar and You Ishihara on vocals. For more information see The Stars.
3. Stars, a short-lived British band in 1972. Its members were Syd Barrett on guitar, Twink on drums, and Jack Monck (of Delivery) on bass. They played three live concerts in Cambridge before Barrett left the group, thus (essentially) ending it. Shortly thereafter Syd Barrett left music altogether and began a life in seclusion, and this project is sometimes seen as the so called 'straw that broke the camel's back'. Recordings of their performances remain lost, though it has been attested that all three performances contained early Pink Floyd songs and different versions of tracks from Barrett's 1970 solo album The Madcap Laughs. It has also been stated in multiple accounts that in each show Barrett entered one of his somewhat trademark catatonic trances, the worst coming in their second concert, where Barrett became almost completely frozen and had to be carried off stage. This was not unusual, having happened many times while Syd was still a member of Pink Floyd.
According to Twink, the band ended when Barrett approached him in the street, carrying a scathing review of their third concert. He waved the paper in Twink's face and said, essentially, "That's it."
4. Stars, an Australian country rock band from the late 1970s, most noted for the songs 'Mighty Rock' and 'Look After Yourself'. The band's main songwriter, Andy Durant, died tragically from cancer at age 25, marking the demise of the band. Fellow band members and many other luminaries in the Australian music scene at the time including Jimmy Barnes and Renee Geyer played a memorial concert, the Andy Durant Memorial Concert, to raise money for cancer research in mid-1980.
Celebration Guns
Stars Lyrics
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For the one who had a name
Desert wind and a perverse desire to win
History buried in shame
All the beating drums
Celebration guns
The thunder and the laughter
All the beating drums
Celebration guns
The thunder and the laughter
The last thing they remember
And then the next day, how will you know your enemy?
By their color or your fear?
One by one you can cage them in your freedom
Make them all disappear
Six hundred sixty-six hundred sixty days
Two guards for one uncharged
This morning's paper's ink stains my fingers
My hands grow darker everyday
All the beating drums
Celebration guns
The thunder and the laughter
The last thing they remember
All the beating drums
Celebration guns
The thunder and the laughter
The last thing they remember
All the beating drums
Celebration guns
The thunder and the laughter
The last thing they remember
All the beating drums
Celebration guns
The thunder and the laughter
The last thing they remember
Goodnight, sleep light, stranger
Goodnight, sleep light, stranger
Goodnight, sleep light, stranger
The lyrics of the song "Celebration Guns" by Stars highlight darker themes of violence and oppression. The opening lines set the tone, as the singer suggests that tomorrow will bring another casualty or victim - another number. The person being referenced is also given anonymity, reduced to a single number rather than a name, emphasizing the dehumanization that is common in situations of violence and oppression. The next line invokes imagery of a desert wind and perverse desire to win, evoking a sense of a battle or conflict being waged.
The chorus speaks to the noise of celebration in the face of this violence, with beating drums and celebration guns. This celebration, however, is not necessarily joyful or righteous; it may simply be a masking or disregard of past traumas. The lines "the last thing they remember" almost suggest a kind of mass amnesia, where the pain of the past is forgotten or ignored in the pursuit of some present pleasure.
The second verse continues this exploration of oppression, with lyrics referencing the caging of enemies and the "disappearance" of those deemed undesirable. The use of "six hundred sixty-six hundred sixty days" creates a sense of endlessness, suggesting that this kind of situation is part of a much larger cycle of abuse and control. The final lines about the ink-stained paper and the singer's growing darkness touch on the idea that this violence and oppression ultimately impacts everyone involved, even those who are complicit in it.
Line by Line Meaning
And so tomorrow there will be another number
There will be another victim, yet another casualty.
For the one who had a name
The victim was a real person with a name and identity.
Desert wind and a perverse desire to win
The sense of victory and power is twisted and warped, like a hot wind in the desert.
History buried in shame
The past is overshadowed by guilt and wrongdoing that has been suppressed and hidden.
All the beating drums
The resounding percussion is a symbol of celebration and excitement.
Celebration guns
The weapons add to the jubilance and festivity, but also hint at the darker side of the situation.
The thunder and the laughter
The noise of merriment and the sound of the firing guns combine to create a fearsome and unforgettable atmosphere.
The last thing they remember
In the midst of the chaos and exhilaration, the final memories are precious and poignant.
And then the next day, how will you know your enemy?
The lines between friend and foe are blurred and uncertain in the aftermath of this violence.
By their color or your fear?
Will someone's appearance or your anxiety determine how you perceive them?
One by one you can cage them in your freedom
By exercising your own liberty, you can restrict someone else's or trap them in a confined state.
Make them all disappear
To annihilate or erase all traces of a person or group.
Six hundred sixty-six hundred sixty days
The long passage of six and a half years, or 6660 days, emphasizes the weight and gravity of the situation.
Two guards for one uncharged
Someone who is innocent or unproven guilty is taken into custody with excessive force and vigilance.
This morning's paper's ink stains my fingers
The physical reminders of the news of yesterday's tragedy are still fresh and tangible.
My hands grow darker everyday
The darkness of the events seems to infect and taint everything, even the artist's own hands.
Goodnight, sleep light, stranger
The final lines, a lullaby of sorts, reveal the lingering sadness and unease beneath the surface.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Amy E Millan, Christopher Allen Seligman, Evan Whitney Cranley, Patrick McGee, Torquil John Campbell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind