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.
Set Yourself On Fire
Stars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
House buried to the window sills in snow
In a prison yard at night
An Alsatian barking for the stars to go
In the attic of a house
In the slats of light which creep across the room
In a forest grove at dawn
On the 97th floor overlooking Tokyo
In Camden road in a second floor flat with
Dilworth down below
There is only one thing
There is only one thing
In a cancer ward where the patients sit
Waiting patiently to die
In an airplane high above the place
You finally left behind
In a cage where only one thing could be free
And it's not you and I
In a cage where only one thing could be free
And it's not you and I
In every single place that has ever, ever been
Hiroshima, Los Angeles and each town in between
There is only one thing
There is only one thing
One thing
In the darkest part of you that you have ever seen
In the smile of the child staring at the TV screen
In the diary of a priest, in the sheets that lie upon his bed
Out there amongst the waves and inside your lover's head
There is only one thing
There is only one thing
There is only one thing
There is only one thing
There is only one thing
There is only one thing
There is only one, thing
Twenty years asleep before we sleep, forever
Twenty years asleep before we sleep, forever
Ten years on the coast figuring out, the weather
Another decade getting high until you're free
There's nothing after that but you and I
Nothing after that but you and me
Twenty years asleep before we sleep, forever
Twenty years asleep before we sleep, forever
The lyrics to Set Yourself On Fire by Stars are both introspective and existentialist, exploring the concept of isolation and the search for a single, unifying truth. The song takes the listener on a journey through different spaces and places - from a village buried in snow, to a cancer ward, a cage, and even the depths of one's own psyche. However, despite the seemingly disparate nature of these locations, the song emphasizes that there is "only one thing" to be found in each of them.
The "one thing" referred to in the song is left open to interpretation, but it seems to point to a sense of interconnectedness - the idea that despite our differences, we are all searching for the same thing, perhaps even the same sense of freedom or meaning. This is highlighted by the repetition of the line "there is only one thing" and the way the song moves fluidly between different locations and states of being.
The final verses add a sense of urgency to the song, as it speaks of the finite amount of time we have to search for this elusive "one thing" - "Twenty years asleep before we sleep, forever... There's nothing after that but you and I, nothing after that but you and me." This can be interpreted as a call to action, urging us to make the most of our time and strive to find meaning and connection before it is too late.
Line by Line Meaning
In a village in the hills
In a remote place where the land is elevated
House buried to the window sills in snow
A house with snow all the way up to its windows
In a prison yard at night
In a place of confinement when it's dark outside
An Alsatian barking for the stars to go
A type of dog barking at the stars in the sky
In the attic of a house
In the topmost room of a house
In the slats of light which creep across the room
The light that shines through the spaces between long, narrow pieces of wood
In a forest grove at dawn
In a clearing surrounded by trees when the sun is rising
Where the animals sleep hidden in the gloom
Where the creatures of the forest rest in the shadows
On the 97th floor overlooking Tokyo
On a very high level, looking out to a famous Japanese city
In Camden road in a second floor flat with Dilworth down below
In a building's second story on Camden road, with Dilworth street located underneath
There is only one thing
There is one single thought or experience
In a cancer ward where the patients sit
Inside a place where people with a disease are waiting
Waiting patiently to die
Staying calm and accepting the end of life coming
In an airplane high above the place you finally left behind
In a flying machine far above the location where you used to be
In a cage where only one thing could be free
Inside a confined space where there's only one thing that can move around
And it's not you and I
You and me are not capable of freedom in this space
In every single place that has ever, ever been
In every location that has ever existed
Hiroshima, Los Angeles and each town in between
In cities both famous and unknown
In the darkest part of you that you have ever seen
In the most hidden, frightening part of your own psyche
In the smile of the child staring at the TV screen
Inside the expression of a kid watching television
In the diary of a priest, in the sheets that lie upon his bed
In the private writings and bedding of a religious figure
Out there amongst the waves and inside your lover's head
In the ocean tides and in the thoughts of your significant other
Twenty years asleep before we sleep, forever
Twenty years of unawareness before we're fully gone
Ten years on the coast figuring out, the weather
A decade spent near the ocean, trying to understand the climate
Another decade getting high until you're free
A different ten years spent using drugs until you're released from constraints
There's nothing after that but you and I
The only thing left is the two of us
Nothing after that but you and me
No future beyond the two of us together
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Amy E Millan, Torquil John Campbell, Christopher Allen Seligman, Evan Whitney Cranley, Patrick McGee
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@elisabeth1443
Their songs gave me a different view of the world. Especially Calendar girl,Elevator love letter and dead hearts
@jessicaprado7955
"20 years of sleep before we sleep...forever.
20 years on the coast figurin' out...the weather."
These lines explain how people are living life these days. Beautiful song
@HVYMETL
Jessica Prado
20 years.....what haunting lyrics!
@elizabethbennet4791
how do you mean?
@matthewjamal
20 years of sleep, before we sleep forever. once i heard that part, i was sold.
@midwestemxn
I love the ending when it slows down.
@Mirage52
This is their masterpiece IMO.
@197669666
What a great song. The last half, the lyrics are just beautiful and haunting. So glad I found this.
@milktea1994
3:30 and onwards is like, an entire emotion. and it's one i get a lot.
@johnnyboy5491
One of the greatest songs. Ever!