The lineup first consisted of vocalist Jack Grisham (who has been credited as Jack Greggors, Alex Morgan, Jack Ladoga, Jim Woo and James DeLauge), guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes, the band's first release was a harshly political eponymous T.S.O.L. EP featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love," "World War III" and "Abolish Government."
After their debut EP, they released Dance With Me, their first full-length record. A departure from the entirely political nature of the previous release, Dance With Me was far darker and more macabre, featuring such themes as necrophilia, and the song "Silent Scream," which is made up entirely of horror movie clichés. Their most popular release, both then and to this day, the album earned them the title of the "West Coast Misfits" (a reference to Glenn Danzig's band the Misfits on the East Coast), and has made the band a favorite amongst horror punk fans.
They later signed to independent label Alternative Tentacles, for which they released the Weathered Statues 7" EP and the Beneath the Shadows album which featured, for the first time, keyboard player Greg Kuehn who added a new dimension to the band. Around this period their style had changed further, becoming highly experimental and varied, featuring art punk and psychedelic leanings, as well as their customary horror themes.
In 1983 amid personal turmoil, Jack Grisham and Todd Barnes left the band and were replaced by singer Joe Wood (who was Grisham's brother-in-law) and drummer Mitch Dean. This new line-up (with Joe Wood and Mitch Dean) released the album named Change Today? in 1984 on Enigma Records.
The group changed their sound entirely for their next release Revenge, adopting a punk metal sound. Their music was featured in the 1984 movie Suburbia, the 1985 version of popular horror movie Return of the Living Dead and Dangerously Close in 1986.
The band became friends with Guns N' Roses and T.S.O.L. t-shirts can be seen in the "Sweet Child o' Mine" video. They followed up with an album in a similar style, titled Hit and Run. Before it was released, original guitarist Ron Emory quit the band, leaving Mike Roche as the sole original member.
T.S.O.L. were joined briefly by guitarist Scotty Phillips, who quit before the band started recording the follow-up to Hit and Run. They eventually hired guitar player and actor Marshall Rohner. They released a blues-metal album titled Strange Love in 1990. Mike Roche quit shortly before the album release, leaving no original member in the band. A compilation album entitled Hell & Back Together: 1984-1990 was issued in 1992 with an emphasis on their metal era. Murphy Karges, later of Sugar Ray, briefly replaced Roche on bass as did Dave Mello.
Meanwhile, the original members had started playing shows featuring the band's early material under the name T.S.O.L., often playing the same cities, the same nights as the other T.S.O.L. Since Joe Wood and Mitch Dean now owned the rights to the name T.S.O.L., they threatened to sue the original members, who released a live album of their early material under the name "Grisham, Roche, Emory and Barnes" but stopped playing together soon after because of drug problems.
In 1996, most of the original members settled down and realized that they still had a passion for their music and that fans wanted them to reunite. In 1999, they fought with Wood for rights to the name and won before joining the Vans Warped Tour, playing for the first time in years under the name T.S.O.L.
Todd Barnes had died on December 6th, 1999 of a brain aneurysm at the age of 34. The remaining members recruited drummer Jay O'Brien and released the Anticop single and the Disappear and Divided We Stand albums on Nitro Records, the latter of which featured Greg Kuehn back on keyboards. The Original T.S.O.L. recorded two more full length albums. In September of 2007, Cider City Records released the posthumous live album Live From Long Beach, recorded in November 2006 on the weekend of the band's two "farewell" performances.
Their departure was short-lived, however, with a couple of local shows in late 2007. They also headlined the "F**k the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit in February of 2008, held to help with cancer treatment bills for guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett of D.I.
They are an independent band under the Nitro Records banner, which was started by the Offspring vocalist Dexter Holland, for whom T.S.O.L. is cited as an influence.
In December 2008, the band, in cooperation with Hurley, entered the studio to record Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads which was, as the title suggests, made available as a free download through Hurley's website on January 8, 2009.
The late eighties T.S.O.L. version apparently are popular enough to invite bookings in Brazil & Argentina, where the Grisham led band hold no legal rights to prevent Wood from gigging as T.S.O.L. Since 1996, Wood has been joined by guitarists including Mike Martt and Drac Conley, drummers Steve "Sully" O’Sullivan and Mitch Dean and bassist Dave Mello, who joined the band near the end of its Enigma years run. Additionally, Wood has pursued musical work in Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones & Cisco Poison.
Members
* Jack Grisham - vocals
* Ron Emory - guitar
* Mike Roche - bass
* Antonio Val Hernandez - Drums
* Greg Kuehn - piano, synthesizers
Former members
* Todd Barnes - drums
* Murphy Karges (born Matthew Murphy Karges) - bass
* Dave Mello - bass
* Joe Wood - vocals, guitar
* Mitch Dean - drums
* Marshall Rohner - guitars
* Jay O'Brien - drums
* Travis Johnson - drums
* Billy Blaze - drums
* Frank Agnew - guitar
* Scotty Phillips - guitar
* Tiny Bubbz - Drums
Flowers By The Door
T.S.O.L. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
An endless nightmare it seems
Tonight's the night, yes this is the end
You've heard it before, this is what I said
I think about gone yesterdays
All the things that people would say
Tonight's the night, I'm gonna find the truth
[Chorus:]
Because I can't take it anymore
No, I can't make it anymore
Don't say nothing cause baby there ain't no more
Just leave your flowers by the door
You can't see me now, cause I'm in the day
It's all over, no one left to pay
I'm finally happy with no yesterday
I'm still alive, but I'm in the grave.
The opening line of T.S.O.L.'s "Flowers by the Door," "All my life has been a dream, An endless nightmare it seems," lays the groundwork for the song's bleak and mournful tone. The lyrics reveal an individual who has experienced a life of disappointment and frustration with the world around them. The singer's desire to uncover the truth about their existence is highlighted in the lines, "Tonight's the night, I'm gonna find the truth, Tonight's the night. goodbye to you."
As the song progresses, the chorus becomes an anguished cry for release from the singer's inner turmoil: "Because I can't take it anymore, No, I can't make it anymore, Don't say nothing cause baby there ain't no more, Just leave your flowers by the door." The song's final lines, "You can't see me now, cause I'm in the day / It's all over, no one left to pay / I'm finally happy with no yesterday / I'm still alive, but I'm in the grave," suggest a final surrender to the singer's despair, with the imagery of the "grave" providing a stark contrast to the earlier "flowers by the door."
In essence, "Flowers by the Door" is a song about the unyielding pain of existence and the futility of trying to find meaning in a world that often feels indifferent to human suffering. It's a powerful and poignant statement from a band known for their provocative and politically charged music.
Line by Line Meaning
All my life has been a dream
My life has been a fantasy, an imaginative world that feels unreal
An endless nightmare it seems
It feels like my dream has been a never-ending bad dream or a series of misfortunes
Tonight's the night, yes this is the end
This is the final moment, the climax of everything that has happened before
You've heard it before, this is what I said
I've already mentioned this before; this is just a reminder
I think about gone yesterdays
I reminisce about my past, the days that have faded away
All the things that people would say
The memories of the words that people said in the past
Tonight's the night, I'm gonna find the truth
I'm going to uncover the truth tonight, whatever it might be
Tonight's the night. goodbye to you
Tonight is also the time for me to say goodbye to the past and to you
Because I can't take it anymore
I'm at a breaking point, I can't handle it anymore
No, I can't make it anymore
I don't have the strength to continue dealing with my troubles
Don't say nothing cause baby there ain't no more
Don't try to console me because there is nothing left to say or do
Just leave your flowers by the door
Just leave your flowers as a symbol of your leaving, I will be okay without you
You can't see me now, cause I'm in the day
I am present and alive in reality, not lost in a world of fantasy and nightmares
It's all over, no one left to pay
All my troubles are gone, no more people left to take responsibility for their actions
I'm finally happy with no yesterday
I am content now without focusing on the past or dwelling on regrets
I'm still alive, but I'm in the grave.
Although I am physically alive, I have metaphorically let go of my past self and my past life
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management
Written by: Joseph Lee Wood, Michael Paul Roche, Mitchell Dean Margolin, Ronald Lewis Emory
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ahmetkelle7366
All my life it has been a dream
An endless nightmare so it seems
Tonight's the night, yes this is the end
You've heard it before, this is what I said
All I think about gone yesterdays
All the things that people would say
Well tonight's the night, I'm gonna find the truth, oh yeah
Tonight's the night, goodbye to you, goodbye, goodbye
I can't take it anymore
No, I can't make it anymore
No don't say nothing 'cause baby there ain't no more
Just leave your flowers by the door, leave 'em by the door
Leave 'em by the door
Girl you can't see me now, 'cause I'm in the day
It's all over, no one left to pay
I'm finally happy with no yesterday, no
I'm still alive, but I'm in the grave, I'm in the grave
Because I can't take it anymore
No, I can't make it anymore
No don't say nothing 'cause baby there ain't no more, oh
Just leave your flowers by the door, leave 'em by the door
Leave 'em by the door
@patrickbertlein620
"probably the best "post" punk song of that era."
Val-Christopher Tekaucic
@tvduete6954
do you read silmarillion?
@bobsburgers1795
HAHA
@tmsplltrs
Why is this so funny
@luizconte838
make american punk great again!
@zaxxx1975
Haha
@arthurdiniz7469
That's like The Doors and Ramones together. Loved it!
@jasonjerusalem
The Doors and The Cure I say
@BangTaoBeach
@@jasonjerusalem add the Cult to the list.
@blueblousedesigns
Reminds me of Danzig