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
other side
T.S.O.L. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No you can not roll with us I'm rolling with my other guys
Somebody bout to fold on us like Jesus said at supper time
Here's my body drink my blood, this the last we'll reunite
Not allowed to slide with us if you can't prove your innocent
Caught your ahh on the camera had the nerve to plead a second chance
Well ahh shall never ever trust again
Shoulda cut your tongue to demonstrate how far my insolent
Tell em' play it back
You got greedy bet I'll be that nigga that was wrong for that
If there is a problem fucking solve it I'll be done with that
While I peep you niggas hating, man I hate it
Had to mark the nigga who weren't there participating
Hard to be myself when people always say I'm changing
So I had to switch it up cause what's the point if nigga hate it
WHILE I PEEP YOU NIGGAS HATING, on the other side
No you can not roll with us I'm rolling with my other guys
Somebody bout to fold on us like Jesus said at supper time
Here's my body drink my blood, this the last we'll reunite
Not allowed to slide with us if you can't prove your innocent
Caught your ahh on the camera had the nerve to plead a second chance
Well ahh shall never ever trust again
Shoulda cut your tongue to demonstrate how far my insolent
Ignorant and stubborn huh got that from my mother yeh
Love has been a burden I don't know who I could love again
No matter you my parents I ain't taking no belittlement
Handle me with care I'm truly fragile but not limited
Please get out my way if you ain't plan to come this way with me
I've been out the way within my lane ain't no one cutting me
And ahh am never in reality
Never get to sleep I'm chasing dreams within my fantasy
Can't wait to see my future me become what I was meant to be
Hold up wait pour my Hennessy
Open up you know you got it, baby why you tempting me
Neighbors in the back you know they hear you breathing heavily
WHILE I PEEP YOU NIGGAS HATING, on the other side
No you can not roll with us I'm rolling with my other guys
Somebody bout to fold on us like Jesus said at supper time
Here's my body drink my blood, this the last we'll reunite
Not allowed to slide with us if you can't prove your innocent
Caught your ahh on the camera had the nerve to plead a second chance
Well ahh shall never ever trust again
Shoulda cut your tongue to demonstrate how far my insolent
Infinite my instrument I'll play it till the strings detach
Tell em' play that back
You got greedy bet I'll be that nigga that was wrong for that
If there is a problem fucking solve it I'll be done with that
The lyrics to T.S.O.L.’s song Other Side speak to the rapper’s experiences with betrayal and the difficulty of trusting others. The line “While I peep you n***as hating on the other side” suggests that the artist is aware of others’ negative intentions and is surrounded by fake friends. This is reinforced by the lyric “Not allowed to slide with us if you can’t prove your innocent,” which implies that trust must be earned, not given freely.
Throughout the song, the rapper grapples with the weight of past betrayals and expresses a sense of detachment from reality. The line “Can’t wait to see my future me become what I was meant to be” reveals an underlying hope for the future, despite the current feelings of mistrust and disappointment. This is also highlighted by the lyric “Hold up wait pour my Hennessy, Open up you know you got it, baby why you tempting me,” which suggests a desire to escape into alcohol and escape reality.
Finally, the phrase “Here’s my body drink my blood, this the last we’ll reunite” takes on a spiritual connotation, and serves as a metaphor for trust in relationships. The artist is willing to give everything to maintain friendships, even though the outcome is uncertain. Overall, T.S.O.L.’s song Other Side can be interpreted as a personal and emotional reflection on the difficulty of navigating relationships in a world where betrayal is prevalent.
Line by Line Meaning
WHILE I PEEP YOU NIGGAS HATING, on the other side
I see that you are jealous and talking negatively about me, from a distance
No you can not roll with us I'm rolling with my other guys
You are not welcome to be with me and my close friends, only those I trust and feel comfortable with
Somebody bout to fold on us like Jesus said at supper time
Someone is going to betray us, just like Judas did to Jesus during the Last Supper
Here's my body drink my blood, this the last we'll reunite
I am willing to sacrifice myself for the group, and this could be the final time we are together
Not allowed to slide with us if you can't prove your innocent
If you cannot prove that you are not guilty, you cannot join us
Caught your ahh on the camera had the nerve to plead a second chance
I have video evidence of you doing something wrong, and yet you are still asking for forgiveness
Well ahh shall never ever trust again
I have lost faith in you and will never trust you again
Shoulda cut your tongue to demonstrate how far my insolent
You should have cut out your own tongue to show how much you regret what you did
Ignorant and stubborn huh got that from my mother yeh
I inherited my stubbornness and close-mindedness from my mother
Love has been a burden I don't know who I could love again
Having been hurt before, I am finding it hard to trust and love someone else
No matter you my parents I ain't taking no belittlement
Even if you are my parents, I will not tolerate being spoken down to
Handle me with care I'm truly fragile but not limited
I may be sensitive, but that does not mean I am weak or not capable
Please get out my way if you ain't plan to come this way with me
If you are not ready to support me and my dreams, please do not get in my way
I've been out the way within my lane ain't no one cutting me
I have been working hard and staying focused on my goals, and no one can stop me
And ahh am never in reality
I often find myself lost in my own thoughts and fantasies
Never get to sleep I'm chasing dreams within my fantasy
I am too busy chasing my dreams to get enough sleep, and sometimes I feel like it is all just in my head
Can't wait to see my future me become what I was meant to be
I am excited to see how I will grow and develop into the person I am meant to be
Hold up wait pour my Hennessy
Wait a moment, I need to pour myself some alcohol
Open up you know you got it, baby why you tempting me
You have what I want, and it is hard for me to resist the temptation
Neighbors in the back you know they hear you breathing heavily
Our neighbors can hear us and they know what we are doing
Tell em' play that back
Please replay that music
You got greedy bet I'll be that nigga that was wrong for that
You were too focused on getting more than you deserved, and I will be the one blamed for it
If there is a problem fucking solve it I'll be done with that
If there is an issue, let us deal with it and move on from it
Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Jah Lafleur
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Shane Stinnard
Probably my favorite T.S.O.L. track from ANY era. Still gets me going crazy.
chortleboy
Skate Rock!