The original lineup consisted of vocalist Jason Cruz, guitarists Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos, bassist Jim Cherry and drummer Adam Austin. After releasing a self-titled 7" record, they became one of the first bands to be signed to Fat Wreck Chords, the record label owned and operated by Fat Mike of the band NOFX. Austin left the band in 1992 and was replaced by Brad Morrison who also left the band and was replaced on drums by Jordan Burns, formerly of fellow Simi Valley natives Ten Foot Pole. Their first album, Another Day in Paradise, was released in May of 1994. Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues followed in 1996. In 1998 they released The Skinny Years...Before We Got Fat, a compilation album of their pre-Fat Wreck Chords material.
The band showed notable musical growth on their 1998 album Twisted by Design, which was both speedy and technical but also punk-based and with darker overtones. The album established a mixture of the fast, poppy sound the band had established with Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues but mixed it with more atonality and more abstract song structures. Bassist Jim Cherry left the band in 1999 and went on to play in Pulley and Zero Down, but died of heart failure in 2002. He was replaced by Chris Aiken, whose musical background had a strong impact on the 2000 album The Element of Sonic Defiance, which continued in the fast, melodic punk tradition of the band while introducing more hard rock and metal elements.
In 2002 the band released their fourth full-length album An American Paradox, their first release to appear in the Billboard Top 200. The initial production run contained a bonus song entitled "Don't Look Back". A video was filmed for the song "Cemetery" and was included on several punk rock video compilations. In 2003 they recorded and released a live album as part of the Fat Wreck Chords Live in a Dive series. Exile in Oblivion, was released in 2004, with a video filmed for the song "Analog." Strung Out released their sixth full-length album, Blackhawks Over Los Angeles on June 12, 2007.
In March 2009, Strung Out released a compilation of B-sides, demos, and covers called "Prototypes and Painkillers" with material from all eras of the band's history. Many of these tracks have been on various punk compilations and/or were included in their "Live in a Dive" recording.
On September 29, 2009, Strung Out Released a their 7th studio album titled Agents of the Underground.
Cemetery
Strung Out Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
that if I don't keep moving, moving I'll get stuck in this place, where nobody gets out alive.
The dead all came out to play in this metropoloitian decay, a cemetarty called Los Angeles.
The sun holds no regrets, the natives sway under arrest as all the stars fall from the sky.
Now we've all sold our souls, we're just waiting for the show to begin here at the edge.
What the hell we doing here, we're everywhere
but no one's here, bodies in motion, desperate motion.
The angels have all gone insane I know I'll never be the same so let it ride, we're going for a ride.
The lyrics to Strung Out's Cemetery paint a picture of a dystopian, apocalyptic world where the living and the dead coexist in a decaying Los Angeles. The billboards warn the singer that he must keep moving or he will become stuck in this place where nobody gets out alive. The metropolis is described as a cemetery, implying that it is dead or dying. The sun holds no regret, indicating that there is no mercy or reprieve in this world. The natives are described as swaying under arrest, perhaps indicating that they are trapped or oppressed.
The singer reflects on the fact that everyone has sold their soul and is just waiting for the show to begin at the edge. It is unclear what "the show" refers to, but it could be a reference to the apocalypse or some other catastrophic event that is inevitable. The singer questions why they are here, and describes bodies in motion, desperate motion, which suggests that everyone is just trying to survive in this bleak world. The angels are described as having gone insane, implying that even the divine have been affected by the decay and corruption of the world.
Finally, the singer watches as zombies celebrate the burning of their favorite heretics and demigods. The burning of heretics and demigods implies that there is a sense of anarchy or chaos in this world, and that even those who are seen as powerful can be overthrown. The use of the word "zombies" to describe these celebrants suggests that they are not fully alive but are instead driven by some sort of unquenchable desire.
Overall, Cemetery paints a vivid and haunting picture of a world that is on the brink of destruction.
Line by Line Meaning
An electric concrete fantasy where the billboards keep on warning me,
The cityscape is a surreal and artificial world, full of flashing advertisements warning me of danger.
that if I don't keep moving, moving I'll get stuck in this place, where nobody gets out alive.
If I stay still, I'll be trapped in this city forever, unable to escape the cycle of life and death.
The dead all came out to play in this metropoloitian decay, a cemetarty called Los Angeles.
The city is a decaying graveyard, filled with lost souls and forgotten dreams.
The sun holds no regrets, the natives sway under arrest as all the stars fall from the sky.
The natural world is indifferent to the struggles of humans, and the people are oppressed by unseen forces.
Now we've all sold our souls, we're just waiting for the show to begin here at the edge.
We have sacrificed our integrity and identity in exchange for entertainment, and we are waiting for the inevitable end.
What the hell we doing here, we're everywhere
but no one's here, bodies in motion, desperate motion.
We are lost and directionless, surrounded by crowds of people but feeling completely alone in our endless pursuit of motion and progress.
The angels have all gone insane I know I'll never be the same so let it ride, we're going for a ride.
The forces of good have become corrupted and twisted, and I have been forever changed by my exposure to this dark world. But instead of fighting, we are choosing to surrender to the chaos and see where it takes us.
Now I watch those zombies celebrate the burning of their favorite heretics and demigods.
I observe the mindless masses rejoicing in the destruction of those who dared to challenge the status quo or challenge their beliefs.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Written by: CHRISTOPHER TRAVIS JR AIKEN, JACOB IRA KILEY, JASON ALEXANDER CRUZ, JORDAN LIEBERMAN, ROBERT J RAMOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Departed Productions
These guys were always way ahead of their time. They were doing this sound and image years before afi and avenged sevenfold
thumasta666
i would like to know how this doesn't have like any views.. i have loved this band for the last 10 years at least, and it seems nobody in the world has even heard of them, i also cant believe i'm the first comment on this video since this is one of my fav songs by strung out. kids these days i guess.....
Pink crew
Strungout. Is life boys
Anika Tahsin
They are punk legends to me… cemetery was the 1st song of theirs i hard on uk channel prock and it blew my mind and they got me respecting punk along with bad religion
Mr Trecherous
25yrs and still rocking !!!!!!
Subhash x Record
Went solo to many strung out shows times of my life
rogacien666
This riff... This solo... This scream...DAMN it's good!
Corrupted
Most creative punk band ever <3 no one is like them
¡Long live to Strung Out! \m/
LostOne
Favorite song when I was 18.....19 yrs ago now, still here! 🤘🏼
Rocky Dennis
Masters of their instruments..each and every one of them!!!