The group has released several EPs including their debut Young Liars (2003), and five studio albums: Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004), Return to Cookie Mountain (2006), Dear Science (2008), Nine Types of Light (2011), and Seeds (2014).
For most of the band's existence, the core TV on the Radio lineup has been Tunde Adebimpe (vocals/loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars/keyboards/loops), Kyp Malone (vocals/guitars/bass/loops), Jaleel Bunton (drums/vocals/loops/guitars) and Gerard Smith (bass/keyboards) as official members.
The band's Bio from their website:
TV on the Radio gets to do anything. Like a small platoon whose pleasing impenetrability is their core, the band consistently confounds expectations while managing to balance respect from critics and peers alike. The result is TV on the Radio gets to do anything they want. This freedom is their engine.
“It’s about doing what feels right,” says singer Tunde Adebimpe. “I really feel like this band is something that is expansive and always changing and growing. If we wear our influences on our sleeve, it’s a pretty crowded sleeve.”
It’s no different with Seeds, the new and fifth proper studio album that Adebimpe has made along with Jaleel Bunton, Kyp Malone, and David Andrew Sitek (who also produced it). Having long outlasted that early 2000s fascination with all things Brooklyn to which the hip willfully succumbed, they continue to conquer music on their own terms. This album serves as another step in continuing to heed their reputation as “the most vital, current band in America” (Associated Press).
This go-round the songs are immediate and triumphant, textured with storytelling hooks and possibly the most honest music this band has ever composed. They’ve hit a point where they’re OK being straight-up beautiful without having to manipulate prettiness into whatever unforeseen shape.
Slate says Seeds has “TV on the Radio’s best songs in years. They are sounding sharper than ever.” And the band knows it. Adebimpe has already said this is the band’s best record. Not a boast, just an observation.
“I feel like I knew it before we were done,” he says immediately. “I was so excited by the songs while we were making them, I wanted to get more and more and more into it. The general feeling going into it was, 'We're still here. Our friendship with each other is so strong. Being in a band, at its best times, is like being... well, let’s say whenever things are going really well, we're like ‘cool, Voltron's back together.’“
The TV on the Radio guys are the type of people who go on hiatus and focus on music. They may take time between albums for their other endeavors, but they know when it’s right to come together – especially when the music comes as easily and passionately as it did with case Seeds. The band found themselves collected in David Sitek’s Los Angeles studio last year and recorded a couple of songs – “Mercy” and “Million Miles” and didn’t want to stop.
“Those were just songs that we wrote because we hadn't written songs together in a while,” says Sitek “They came out really fast and inspired us to do it again – and then ‘again’ turned into the record.”
Adebimpe and Sitek live in Los Angeles, Bunton and Malone reside in New York, but make no mistake: TV on the Radio is a quartet. To attempt to parse out exactly what each member does in the group would be to dismantle the fundamental essence of what makes TV on the Radio the monolithic anomaly they have been careful to cultivate and protect for more than a decade. They permeate beyond a wall of sound, and instead create a planetarium of music with every song. They embody many voices. Most of them can play just about anything. And sing too. They are equal partners in the creation of a type of noise that appeared seemingly out of nowhere over 10 years ago.
Throughout the years, TV on the Radio has been consistent in the standard they set for themselves. Earlier records, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes and Return To Cookie Mountain stole the hearts of fans and critics alike just the same, winning the Shortlist Music Prize and Spin's Album of the Year respectively. Their breakout release Dear Science was named best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Spin Magazine, The New York Times, The Onion AV Club, MTV, even Entertainment Weekly. An embarrassment of riches, really. Their last album, 2011's Nine Types of Light, was deemed "pure heaven" by the cherubs at Rolling Stone, and earned the band a Grammy® nomination. The band has also graced the stages of Saturday Night Live and The Colbert Report.
“The band is it’s own ‘self.’ It has to be that way,” Adebimpe says. “That's been the goal for a long time. Nobody really wants to be the focal point for the band; the band should be the focal point. Not even the band: the music. We can show up and take credit for it, but ultimately it's something that maybe we helped shape and facilitate coming into the world. But that’s all.”
They happily recruit likeminded associates to help prop up this invention of theirs in the studio and on stage. (Kelis, for instance, appears on “Lazzeray”). The band has recorded and performed with other artists who’ve conquered the music world on their own terms just as much as they have. Fellow mavericks like Trent Reznor, Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame, Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy, Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, Martin Perna of Antibalas, Katrina Ford of Celebration, and David chuffing Bowie have all romped in the sandbox with TV on the Radio.
“If you share a material thing, it dissipates,” Adebimpe says, recalling a fragment of philosophy he once heard, or might be improvising on the spot. “If you share a spiritual thing, it just increases. It becomes more and more and more. I'm already thinking about the next record.”
Seeds is an expression of everything this band has been through in the last three years and more. They’re influential, in their prime, they’re TV on the Radio, and they’ve proven themselves to be one of the most important bands of this generation. It clicks, as it always does, and TV on the Radio is brand new again, again.
“No matter what you go through individually and collectively, when you step away from each other, you're kind of like, "I know that if we get together we can fire this thing," says Adebimpe. “It's definitely in the spirit of the punk rock we all grew up with. If you win, you're still a punk. If you lose, you're still a punk, and honestly, it's not about anybody else.”
http://www.tvontheradio.com/
Ambulance
TV on the Radio Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your eager eyes
And your wild mane
Oh they keep me where I belong
All wrapped up in wrong
You're to blame
For wasted words of sad refrain
Oh let them take me where they may
Believe me when I say
Oh I will be your accident
If you will be my ambulance
I will be your screech and crash if you will be my crutch and cast
I will be your one more time if you will be my one last chance
So fall for me
Your slim frame
Your simple stare
And your wrong wrong name
They keep me where I belong
All strung out in song
While I so tamed
Where we can shoot other vines through your good name
Sip sweet from nights deep wells
And watch are garden swim as our seeds are soaked
While overgrown
You will see
Hearts colors change like leaves
Oh sweet sweet dream fall for me
Fall fast fall free fall for me
Because
Oh I will be your ambulance
If you will be my accident
I will be your screech and crash if you will be my crutch and cast
And I will be your one more time if you will be my one last chance
So sweet dream fall with me
Fall fast fall free fall with me
The song "Ambulance" by TV on the Radio is a love song that starts with the singer's admiration towards a person's physical features - their slim frame, eager eyes, and wild mane. The person, in turn, makes the singer feel like they belong, even when they are wrapped up in wrong. The lyrics suggest that this person is to be blamed for wasted words of sad refrain, yet the singer wants to follow them wherever they may take them. The chorus implies that the singer is willing to be the accident, the screech and crash to be the person's crutch and cast. They want this person to fall for them, promising to be their one last chance.
The song's lyrics seem to be about a person who is so important to the singer that they are willing to go to any lengths to be with them. They want this person to fall for them, and the use of the metaphor of an ambulance and accidents suggests that the singer is willing to be there for the person in times of need, to help them through any situation that may arise. The song's chorus is particularly powerful, with the repeated phrase "fall for me" indicating the singer's desperation for this person's love.
Line by Line Meaning
Your slim frame
The physical appearance of the person being addressed
Your eager eyes
The person being addressed is enthusiastic and actively interested
And your wild mane
Refers to the person being addressed having untamed, unruly hair
Oh they keep me where I belong
The person being addressed is the artist's anchor and source of comfort
All wrapped up in wrong
The relationship between the artist and the person being addressed is seen as unconventional or unacceptable by society
You're to blame
The singer assigns responsibility to the person being addressed for the emotions and actions that result from their relationship
For wasted words of sad refrain
The singer feels that their words expressing sorrow or regret about the relationship are futile
Oh let them take me where they may
The artist is willing to accept the consequences of their emotions for the person being addressed
Believe me when I say
The artist wishes for the person being addressed to trust their sincerity
Oh I will be your accident
The artist is willing to cause chaos or harm to themselves for the person being addressed
If you will be my ambulance
The person being addressed is seen as the solution or aid to the singer in times of trouble or self-inflicted harm
I will be your screech and crash if you will be my crutch and cast
The artist is willing to be destructive or harmful if the person being addressed provides them with support and assistance
I will be your one more time if you will be my one last chance
The singer is asking for another opportunity to be with the person being addressed, in return for being the last chance for them
So fall for me
The singer desires for the person being addressed to have feelings for them
Your simple stare
The way the person being addressed looks at the singer with uncomplicated expression
And your wrong wrong name
The person being addressed may have a name that is unconventional or inappropriate, yet the artist is still drawn to them
They keep me where I belong
The person being addressed is again referred to as the artist's anchor and source of comfort
All strung out in song
The relationship between the singer and the person being addressed inspires the events and lyrics in their life and music
While I so tamed
The singer is willing to be submissive or obedient for the person being addressed
Where we can shoot other vines through your good name
The artist wants to create new things or ideas with the person being addressed, but also wishes to protect their reputation or image
Sip sweet from nights deep wells
The artist wants to enjoy the pleasures of life and love with the person being addressed
And watch are garden swim as our seeds are soaked
The products of their relationship are growing and developing, like a garden, fueled by their love and passion for each other
While overgrown
Their relationship has grown so much that it is now out of control or overwhelming
You will see
The artist is confident that the person being addressed will appreciate the positive change that their relationship has brought them
Hearts colors change like leaves
Their relationship has changed the emotions and personalities of both parties, much like the changing colors of leaves in autumn
Oh sweet sweet dream fall for me
The singer is dreaming about a perfect, beautiful love between them and the person being addressed
Fall fast fall free fall for me
The singer desires for the person being addressed to fall in love with them quickly and without hesitation
Because
The reason for the person being addressed to fall for the artist is about to be explained
Oh I will be your ambulance
The artist will give their all to support and assist the person being addressed
If you will be my accident
The person being addressed may be someone who creates chaos or trouble in the singer's life, but the singer is willing to look past that and still love them
And I will be your one more time if you will be my one last chance
The singer is telling the person being addressed that they will always try again and be there for them, if the person being addressed will give them another chance to be with them
So sweet dream fall with me
The artist is asking the person being addressed to join them in their dream of love and passion
Fall fast fall free fall with me
The artist desires for the person being addressed to join them in experiencing love without hesitation or reservation
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: BABATUNDE O ADEBIMPE, DAVID SITEK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@brume1938
i’ll never forget the first time i heard this masterpiece, but it never gets old hearing it
@ghassedir
This was the first TVOTR song I ever heard. I was in a local cool kid vintage store, and I stopped dead in my tracks, staring up at the speakers. I cried out, WHO IS THIS? The workers calmly told me, maybe a little concerned for my sanity. I immediately bought the album and listened to this probably five hundred times in a row. Just so damn good.
@windowzombie
It's haunting and beautiful. For years this song has held such a feeling within in me that I can't describe, some sort of ideal.
@solitudefreak
Strangely, listening to this song so close to Christmas makes all the sense in the world to me. Amazing song from an amazing band indeed!
@Miggy290
Thanks for this. I love this song, and I'm glad someone put up the album version. TV on the Radio is amazing.
@jazzinator87
Amazing song. My man made me a cd with this on it. I'm in love with it!
@gregkern6621
Such a beautiful song. Amazing lyrics. It makes me feel so sentimental. Reminds of that sweet summer love.
RIP Gerard Smith
@maccorf
This song singlehandedly proves that TV on the Radio were more effective when they were underproduced and raw. It doesn't get any more straightforward and excellent than this album.
@DarrinStarkJr
Thank you so much for posting the studio version!!!!! Made my night!
@morealternative
Amazing band ! ! !