TV on the Radio is an American indie rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, … Read Full Bio ↴TV on the Radio is an American indie rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York.

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/

Keep Your Heart
TV on the Radio Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

In the dark of the night I found
Without my love, my love
these words are not a bit profound
if it's just another cheap line flung

Outside ecstatic love
what did we think we'd find?
Over that broken road

out past the land mines

I'm gonna keep your heart
I'm gonna keep your heart
With the world all falling apart
I'm gonna keep your heart

Can I coax it out its shell
Brush the dust off
Get its wings on
In this little bell
We will also feel the singing, oh

Shine on, light of love
On all these bruises and scars
Ruins in every less
But it can't cancel out the stars

Dropped all your clothes and life
Wonder who won mine
Kneeling above this playful body
Teach Superman to fly

How'm I gonna keep your heart?
How'm I gonna keep your heart?
If the world all falls apart
How'm I gonna keep your heart?

Time alone will tell
If you're the kind who keeps the veil on
Biding time will tell us
When and if to sail on

All these blues I have cried
Seem to have come undone
Tried all the new designs
Still ended up in love

Still we're kind of shy
You've nothing to be ashamed of
Though its hard to tell
If I'll ever feel the same love

I'm gonna keep your heart
I'm gonna keep your heart

If the world all falls apart
Still, I'm gonna keep your heart

Overall Meaning

The first few lines of the song Keep Your Heart by TV on the Radio speaks about the fear of losing someone or not having them in one's life. The dark of the night represents the unknown and without the presence of the singer's loved one, the words uttered lose their significance. The singer questions the point of superficial words if they do not hold any weight or meaning. However, the purpose of these lines changes when the singer contemplates keeping their loved one's heart. They become a promise of love and devotion, despite the world falling apart. The lyrics "I'm gonna keep your heart" are repeated throughout the song to emphasize its importance and to solidify the promise of the singer.

As the song progresses, it becomes apparent that the singer is unsure of how to make good on their promise. They wonder how to coax their loved one out of their shell and help them spread their wings. The singer wants both of them to feel alive and happy in each other's company, represented by the imagery of a little bell and singing. The lyrics "Shine on, light of love" refers to the hope and happiness that love brings, even in the midst of pain and suffering.

The song ends on a note of uncertainty, with the singer questioning whether they will ever feel the same love as their loved one. However, they remain steadfast in their promise to keep their heart, even if the world falls apart.

Line by Line Meaning

In the dark of the night I found
I discovered something when there was no light.

Without my love, my love
In the absence of my love.

these words are not a bit profound
The words are shallow and unimportant.

if it's just another cheap line flung
If it's just a cliche.

Outside ecstatic love
If I'm not in love.

what did we think we'd find?
What did we expect to discover?

Over that broken road
Despite the hardships we've encountered.

out past the land mines
Through risky terrain.

I'm gonna keep your heart
I will hold your heart dear.

With the world all falling apart
Despite the chaos of the world around us.

Can I coax it out its shell
Can I encourage you to open up emotionally?

Brush the dust off
Removing the debris of the past.

Get its wings on
Helping it take flight.

In this little bell
In this small cocoon.

We will also feel the singing, oh
We will experience the happiness together.

Shine on, light of love
Continue to radiate love.

On all these bruises and scars
Despite our emotional wounds.

Ruins in every less
Things may not always go as planned.

But it can't cancel out the stars
But it won't diminish the beauty and wonder of the world.

Dropped all your clothes and life
You let go of your defenses.

Wonder who won mine
I'm curious about who captured my heart.

Kneeling above this playful body
Admiring and loving the physical form.

Teach Superman to fly
Helping someone achieve the impossible.

How'm I gonna keep your heart?
How can I maintain your affection?

Time alone will tell
Only time will reveal.

If you're the kind who keeps the veil on
If you're someone who is guarded and secretive.

Biding time will tell us
Waiting patiently will help us understand.

When and if to sail on
When to move forward, or not.

All these blues I have cried
All the sadness I have experienced.

Seem to have come undone
Seem to have faded away.

Tried all the new designs
Attempted different approaches.

Still ended up in love
Still ended up with feelings of affection.

Still we're kind of shy
We're still somewhat hesitant.

You've nothing to be ashamed of
You have nothing to feel embarrassed about.

Though its hard to tell
Even though it's difficult to predict.

If I'll ever feel the same love
If I'll ever experience the same depth of emotion.

Still, I'm gonna keep your heart
Regardless, I will cherish your heart.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BABATUNDE OMOROGA ADEBIMPE, DAVID ANDREW SITEK, DAVID KYP JOEL MALONE, GERARD ANTHONY SMITH, JALEEL BUNTON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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