Stephin Merritt (born 1966 in New York City, United States) is a singer-son… Read Full Bio ↴Stephin Merritt (born 1966 in New York City, United States) is a singer-songwriter. He has created and played principal roles in the following bands: The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, The Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes.

He briefly used the name The Baudelaire Memorial Orchestra as an attribution for a song written for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, entitled "Scream and Run Away". Further music was recorded for the audiobook versions of the series and is attributed to The Gothic Archies.

Under his own name, he recorded and released the soundtracks to the films Eban and Charley and Pieces of April. The soundtrack to the late Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete & Pete featured many of his songs.

He and director Chen Shi-Zheng have collaborated on three pieces of musical theatre; Orphan of Zhao (2003), Peach Blossom Fan (2004), and My Life as a Fairy Tale (2005). Select tracks from these works have been released on Nonesuch Records under the title Showtunes.

Merritt is openly gay. His lyrics are known for bending and blurring the gender line; examples include the song When My Boy Walks Down The Street, sung by a male vocalist, which contains the lyric "and he's going to be my wife". He is fascinated with the undead, often making veiled or explicit references to vampires. Other frequent motifs in his lyrics include trains and railroads, the moon, dancing, eyes, and, of course, love.

Merritt has a Chihuahua named Irving, after Irving Berlin. He was raised Buddhist by his counter-culture mother. He attended the progressive Massachusetts high school, The Cambridge School of Weston and briefly attended NYU before moving back to Boston. He is a smoker, and is known to light a cigarette while performing on stage. He has worked as a copy editor for Spin Magazine and Time Out New York.

One of Merritt's most notable quirks is that, when interrupting his speech for thought, he does not use linguistic placeholders such as "uh" or "er" to indicate that he is not done speaking, but instead simply stops speaking. This leads many interviewers unfamiliar with this behavior to cut him off before he has finished answering a question.

In a September 2005 interview conducted by The Onion's AV Club, alternative rock musician Bob Mould was reminded of an interviewer who once referred to Mould as "the most depressed man in rock." Mould's response was, "He's never met Stephin Merritt, obviously."

And He Would Say...
Stephin Merritt Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm not afraid
Because I know
You'll come again
Through wind and rain
Or falling snow
When they invade

And he would say:

"don't leave without me!
Don't run away
Then where would I be?"

And I/he would say:
"I'll wait for you
Till my last day."

My love is pure
And will abide
For time untold
You're young and bold
But we must hide
Where, I'm not sure

And he would say:
"here, we have no chance
Let's steal away
No time for romance!"

And I/he would say:

"I'll run with you
Till our last day."

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Stephin Merritt's song 'And He Would Say...' tell the story of two individuals who have feelings for each other, but their love is obstructed by circumstances beyond their control. The first verse establishes that the singer is not afraid of the threat of invasion, and they know that the person they love will come back to them through all adversities - "through wind and rain or falling snow." They believe that their love can withstand anything and that they will always be together.

However, the second verse paints a picture of the difficulties they face. They cannot live out their love openly because of societal expectations, which necessitates that they live in hiding. Even though the object of their affection is young and brave, there is nowhere they can be themselves. The person they love suggests to run away to find solace, but the singer reminds them that they do not have any time to indulge in romance.

The chorus of the song has a call-and-response pattern, where the person they love implores them never to leave without him/her. The singer assures the person they love that they will always be there, waiting until their last day for them. The lyrics of 'And He Would Say...' are poignant, conveying the pain of wanting to be together but unable to do so.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm not afraid
I am not frightened

Because I know
As I am certain

You'll come again
You will return once more

Through wind and rain
No matter the conditions

Or falling snow
Even within the snowfall

When they invade
During their invasion

And he would say:
Then he would speak:

"don't leave without me!
"Do not depart without me!

Don't run away
Please do not escape

Then where would I be?"
For I would be stranded?"

And I/he would say:
And I/he would respond: