Malkmus knew fellow Pavement songwriter Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs), of the Preston School of Industry, since childhood in Stockton, California. Malkmus attended the University of Virginia, where his father is also an alumnus. While at UVA, he also met Bob Nastanovich, another member of Pavement.
Malkmus currently resides in Portland, Oregon with his partner, artist Jessica Jackson Hutchins. In 2005, Hutchins gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter named Lottie.
In 2008 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks released the album, Real Emotional Trash — the group’s first album with new drummer Janet Weiss from Sleater-Kinney. In 2020, Stephen released Traditional Techniques. Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the album as "an amiably trippy and decisively mellow psych-folk adventure."
04. Church on White
Stephen Malkmus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you're hot you're hot
And when enough is enough
Do the fakers drop out?
Promise me
You will always be
Too awake to be famous
Too wired to be safe
Was everything
Plus everything
And the truth
I only poured you
Half a line
Carry on
It's a marathon
Take me off the list
I don't want to be missed
Carrion
Its what we all become
From small minds and tall trees
Away from the action
But all you ever wanted
Was everything
And everything
Plus the truth
I only poured you
Half alive
Half alive
I only poured you half a lie
In Stephen Malkmus's song Church on White, the lyrics revolve around the idea of wanting everything, of being too ambitious, and feeling like one is always on the brink of achieving greatness, but never quite getting there. The lines "Bleed the pot, when you're hot, you're hot" talk about taking risks and going all in when one is on the brink of success, and the question "Do the fakers drop out?" talks about the fake people who are unable to sustain their ambition and ultimately fail.
The chorus talks about the idea of being too awake to be famous and too wired to be safe. Here, the singer seems to be talking about the contrast between the self-destructive nature of ambition and the desire for safety and comfort. The line, "But all you ever wanted was everything, plus the truth" speaks to the fact that what one wants in life is not just material success or fame but also a deeper truth and meaning that can only be found if one is willing to take risks and go beyond conventional boundaries.
The final lyrics, "I only poured you half a line, half alive" highlight the idea that the singer has only given the listener (or perhaps a lover) half of the truth, the half that is comfortable, safe, and doesn't challenge the listener to take risks and push beyond boundaries. The song overall presents a compelling narrative about the costs and risks of ambition, the struggle to achieve success and fulfillment, and the importance of being true to oneself.
Line by Line Meaning
Bleed the pot
Take all the winnings from the pot in a game of chance
When you're hot you're hot
When you're successful, you're really successful
And when enough is enough
When you have achieved your goal, stop there
Do the fakers drop out?
Do people who have been pretending to be something give up when they realize they can't keep it up?
Promise me
Make a commitment to me
You will always be
You will never change
Too awake to be famous
You are too aware to want fame
Too wired to be safe
You are too energetic to play it safe
But all you really wanted
Your true desire was
Was everything
To have it all, achieve everything you ever desire
Plus everything
And then some more
And the truth
The fact of the matter
I only poured you
I only gave you
Half a line
Half of what you truly needed
Carry on
Keep going on
It's a marathon
The journey is long and hard
Take me off the list
Remove my name from the roster
I don't want to be missed
I don't want to be remembered after I'm gone
Carrion
The decaying flesh of dead animals
Its what we all become
It's what happens to all of us
From small minds and tall trees
From people with limited vision and from lucky people
Away from the action
Far from the center of activity
But all you ever wanted
What you truly wanted was
And everything
To have everything you ever wanted
Plus the truth
And the truth about yourself
I only poured you
I only gave you
Half alive
Half of what you needed to live life fully
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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