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.
Death To Death
Stars Lyrics
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Sipping cactus brandy from a China spoon
Coming in the morning and the afternoon
Forgetting
So tired waiting for the end to come
Fully dead already but forever young
Hello my dearest father, it's your favorite son
There's some things that I'm regretting
I am destroyer, I am lover
I am destroyer, I am lover
I love one thing, destroy the other
I am destroyer, I am lover
(Death to death, death to death)
A gypsy told my fortune, and I told her hers
I said, "You'll die in the mountains wrapped in silver furs
You'll be looking for your lover in the midnight sun
And you'll perish for your lover, when the frost has begun"
I have a way of seeing, and it's nearly gone
And nobody was listening, so I wrote this song
And when you know the chorus, you can sing along
You'll destroy the things you love even though you know it's wrong
I am destroyer, I am lover
I am destroyer, I am lover
Why love one thing and not the other?
I am destroyer, I am lover
I am destroyer, I am lover
I am destroyer, I am lover
Why love one thing and not the other?
I am destroyer, I am lover
I am destroyer, I am lover
I am destroyer, I am lover
And when I kiss, I like to smother
I am destroyer, I am lover
(Death to death, death to death)
(Death to death, death to death)
(Death to death)
(Death to death, death to death)
(Death to death)
(Death to death)
The lyrics to Stars's song "Death to Death" describe a contradictory and self-destructive character who both loves and destroys everything in his path. The first verse sets the scene of this character, wide-eyed and grinning in a darkened room, sipping cactus brandy from a China spoon. He's waiting for the end to come, fully dead already but forever young, and is addressing his father with some things he regrets. The second verse includes a fortune-telling session with a gypsy, in which the character predicts her demise and her lover's demise due to her searching for him in the freezing cold. He has a way of seeing things that is nearly gone, and nobody listened to him, so he wrote this song to communicate his inner turmoil. The chorus reaffirms that he is both a destroyer and a lover, and questions why we can't love both things equally. The song ends with the repeated refrain of "death to death," emphasizing the destructive nature of the character.
The lyrics of "Death to Death" can be interpreted in different ways, but most obviously point to the characters' destructive tendencies. He loves things, but also destroys them, unable to find a balance between the two. The song is a commentary on the human condition and the struggle to navigate the balance between love and destruction.
Line by Line Meaning
Wide-eyed, grinning in the darkened room
I am in a dark place, but I am trying to stay positive.
Sipping cactus brandy from a China spoon
I am consuming something exotic to try and escape my reality.
Coming in the morning and the afternoon
I am always around, but nobody seems to notice me.
Forgetting
I am trying to forget my troubles, but they keep coming back.
So tired waiting for the end to come
I am exhausted from constantly waiting for something to change.
Fully dead already but forever young
I feel lifeless, yet I still have so much potential and time ahead of me.
Hello my dearest father, it's your favorite son
I am reaching out to someone who will never respond to me.
There's some things that I'm regretting
I have made mistakes that I wish I could undo.
I am destroyer, I am lover
I have the capability to both build up and tear down.
Why love one thing and not the other?
I struggle to understand why I am drawn to both creation and destruction.
A gypsy told my fortune, and I told her hers
I tried to project my problems onto someone else, but it didn't work.
I have a way of seeing, and it's nearly gone
My perspective is fading, and I feel lost.
And nobody was listening, so I wrote this song
I am using music as a way to express myself when no one else is listening.
And when you know the chorus, you can sing along
I want to share my experiences with others and give them a voice.
You'll destroy the things you love even though you know it's wrong
We often sabotage ourselves, even when we know we shouldn't.
And when I kiss, I like to smother
I am intense and overwhelming in my love and passion.
(Death to death, death to death)
We must let go of the things that bring us down in order to truly live.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Amy E Millan, Christopher Allen Seligman, Evan Whitney Cranley, Torquil John Campbell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind