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.
Scarecrow
Strung Out Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
in the absence of something better
if it doesn't fit then its out of reach for me
i'm a tightly wound mess
neatly perched inside my own distress
and you talk of freedom
that means nothing to me
and then you say
how we ever gonna know if there's something better
is the only way to know ourselves to go too far
i spend my days in a fear
one day a wind will blow me away
the only thing that keeps me here
are these strings of mine that hold me down
i watch the rise and fall of a thousand days
it means nothing to me
cause i've been promised redemption
for a life time wasted in these golden fields
so far so good so many promises
swinging in the wind directions something that i can't control
creation eludes me its all just waiting time here in this field
nothing but a scarecrow waiting for the world to tear me down
how we ever gonna know
if there's something better
how are we gonna come to be the same
if we come to fair to realise
how we ever gonna become
something better then what we've become
or are we just scarecrows just waiting?
or are we just...
The lyrics of Strung Out's song Scarecrow speak of the singer's struggle with faith and hope. He puts his trust in something that is not necessarily better because it is the most accessible to him. He feels confined, trapped in his own distress, and unable to perceive the freedom that others talk about. The fear of being blown away by the wind, leaving everything behind, is what keeps him bound, attached to his strings that hold him down. He watches as days pass, and the rise and fall of time means nothing to him because he feels he has been promised redemption for a lifetime spent in these golden fields, waiting.
The lyrics convey a sense of resignation, of being content with just the promise of something better rather than actively seeking it out. The fear of the unknown or the risk of failure holds him back, and he wonders how we will ever know if there is something better if we don't go too far. The final lines express the uncertainty of whether we are just like Scarecrows, waiting for the world to break us down or if there is something better that we can become.
Overall, the song Scarecrow talks about the conflict between staying within one's comfort zone while still yearning for something better. It highlights the tension between the fear of letting go of what we know and the possibility of discovering something greater beyond it.
Line by Line Meaning
i put my faith
I place my trust
in the absence of something better
because there is no alternative
if it doesn't fit then its out of reach for me
If it doesn't seem right then it's unattainable
i'm a tightly wound mess
I am highly strung and anxious
neatly perched inside my own distress
I am comfortable within my anxiety
and you talk of freedom
You speak of liberation
that means nothing to me
But it has no significance to me
and then you say
And after that you speak about
how we ever gonna know if there's something better
How can we determine if there is a superior option?
is the only way to know ourselves to go too far
Do we need to exceed our limits to learn about ourselves?
i spend my days in a fear
I spend most of my time being afraid
one day a wind will blow me away
A day will come when I will be gone like the wind
the only thing that keeps me here
The sole reason why I am still present
are these strings of mine that hold me down
Are the constraints that keep me in place
i watch the rise and fall of a thousand days
I have observed the ebb and flow of countless days
it means nothing to me
But it holds no significance for me
cause i've been promised redemption
Because I have been guaranteed salvation
for a life time wasted in these golden fields
For a lifetime expended in these fields of luxury
so far so good so many promises
Thus far, everything has been fine with many assurances
swinging in the wind directions something that i can't control
Until the direction changes, without my say
creation eludes me its all just waiting time here in this field
I am not creative, so it's merely waiting for me
nothing but a scarecrow waiting for the world to tear me down
A scarecrow waiting for the world to destroy me
how we ever gonna know
How are we ever going to discover
if there's something better
If something superior exists
how are we gonna come to be the same
How are we going to become identical
if we come to fair to realise
If we are unwilling to recognize
how we ever gonna become
How can we ever transform into
something better then what we've become
Something more exceptional than what we are now
or are we just scarecrows just waiting?
Or are we merely scarecrows waiting to be destroyed?
or are we just...
Or are we simply...
Contributed by Eva A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.