The band originally consisted of Damon Tutunjian (vocals, guitar), Seana Carmody (vocals, guitar), Andy Bernick (bass) and Ben Drucker (drums), with second bassist Morgan Andrews joining in 1992. Andrews and Drucker left in 1993, and Carmody left to form Syrup USA in 1994.
Currently, the band consists of Tutunjian, Bernick, Rob Laakso (guitar), Deborah Warfield (vocals) and Adam Pierce (drums).
The band has released four albums since their formation: "Blonder Tongue Audio Baton" (1993), "They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days in the Glittering World of the Salons" (1996), "The Yes Girls" (2000) and "Cats of the Wild, Volume 2" (2003).
Sarah Sitting
Swirlies Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Painting each nail like it's a watercolor
All day i sit here waiting
For my fastidious flower
Her life is filled with perfect pictures
Reds and blues
In the upstairs room
But i'm far too shy to try them too
Tossed and turned all night long
And in the morning my mind's as good as gone
She is filling up my head with song
But she won't tell the words
So i can't sing along
In the song "Sarah Sitting in 2-3" by Swirlies, the singer admires Sarah, who is sitting at home painting her nails with great precision. The singer finds himself waiting all day for Sarah, who he describes as his "fastidious flower." He admires the beauty of her pictures and the colors she uses, but is too shy to try them himself. The singer is troubled, tossing and turning all night, with Sarah's song filling his head, but he can't sing along because she won't tell him the words.
The lyrics describe a sense of longing and admiration for someone who seems to have it all together. Sarah is presented as an ideal of perfection, with her beautiful pictures and precise nail-painting. The singer is enamored with Sarah, but also feels intimidated by her talents and abilities. The song captures the feeling of being in awe of someone, but also feeling like you don't quite measure up.
Overall, "Sarah Sitting in 2-3" is a hauntingly beautiful song that captures the complexities of admiration, longing, and insecurity.
Line by Line Meaning
Sarah sitting in her house
Observing Sarah, sitting in her house
Painting each nail like it's a watercolor
Sarah is meticulously painting each of her nails like they are a work of art
All day i sit here waiting
The singer is just waiting around all day
For my fastidious flower
The flower the artist is waiting for is notable for being very careful and precise
Look here at her table
The artist is looking at Sarah's table and its contents
Her life is filled with perfect pictures
Sarah's life appears to be filled with pictures of perfection
Reds and blues
The colors in Sarah's pictures include reds and blues
In the upstairs room
The pictures are located in an upstairs room
But i'm far too shy to try them too
The artist is too timid to try to recreate the pictures on their own
Tossed and turned all night long
The artist had a restless night, tossing and turning
And in the morning my mind's as good as gone
The singer's mind is foggy or absent the next morning
She is filling up my head with song
Sarah's presence is making the artist think about a lot of things
But she won't tell the words
Despite this, Sarah is not sharing information with the singer
So i can't sing along
As a result, the singer is unable to fully participate or engage
Contributed by Tristan K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.