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/
New Cannonball Blues
TV on the Radio Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No don't mind the noise
It's just the sound of being dragged to hell
It's just a pornographic adulation ship
As we watch the spider's web eat itself
Oh there's ?
Thing we share
Turn your touch keys off
And start harvesting
We see if they jump
Very soon
It's got me singin'
Blues that hit you like a cannonball
Loud enough to break your bones
But it was written in blood
Before they wrote it in stone
So sing it with me
Like it's your own
It's got me fucked up and dried up
And fed up to get up
And bleeding and crying
Like I'm mad at the song
I'm a carbon copy
Now they get me
Uh, I don't get where we're going
It's got you strung out and bothered
And caught up and drownin'
And failin' and shot up
And feelin' you gotta run
You're a carbon copy
Now they get me
Uh, I don't get where we're going
You're gettin' backwards stayin' low luck
On the "four hundred blows"
Makes you feel like you're all by yourself
So when the chance comes along
Where you could help right a wrong
The bullshit's got you stuck up on the shelf
But it's heavy
I'm not ready
Do you feel like you're swimming in the moat?
Well baby follow the sound
That's shootin' our of your crown
There's only one way up from the floor
It's got me fucked up and dried up
And fed up can't get up
And bleeding and crying
Like I'm mad at the song
I'm a carbon copy
Now they got me
Uh, I don't get where we're going
It's got you strung out and bothered
And caught up and drownin'
And failin' and shot up
And feelin' you gotta run
You're a carbon copy
Now they got me
Uh, I don't get where we're going
Now, gonna tiptoe
Gonna run right forward
No, not the first time
We've been run like dogs
Oh, feel the flat bed
In the foreign ward
Oh raise your fist up
Brush the dust off
Boy it's got, got,
It's got me singing
Blues that hit you like a cannonball
Loud enough to break your bones
But it was written in blood
Before they wrote it in stone
So sing it with me
Like it's your own
Those blues that hit you like a cannonball
Loud enough to break your bones
But with the rising in love
Before we take in the song
So sing it with me
Like it's your own
Baby zip up and get up
Get ready to push up
Hey baby get ready 'cause
Yeah yeah it's gonna come
If we want to see what's possible for her
Won't move away right now
You better dust off and get up
Get ready to push up
Hey baby get ready 'cause
Yeah yeah it's gonna come
When the truth is spoken
Love's a workin'
Nothing's gonna weigh us down
The lyrics of TV on the Radio’s “New Cannonball Blues” describe a feeling of disillusionment and frustration with the state of the world. The song speaks to a sense of powerlessness and anger in the face of systemic problems that leave people feeling trapped and unable to effect change. The opening lines of the song suggest both a sense of chaos and inevitability: “Hey girls, hey boys / No don’t mind the noise / It’s just the sound of being dragged to hell.” The use of the word “just” suggests that the sense of chaos and dread is something that people have come to accept as normal.
The song uses the metaphor of a “pornographic adulation ship” to describe the media’s role in perpetuating and amplifying this sense of disillusionment, as well as the sense of helplessness that comes with it. The idea of a ship suggests a sense of direction or purpose, but the addition of the word “pornographic” suggests something that is inherently exploitative and ultimately unsatisfying. The line “As we watch the spider’s web eat itself” is a metaphor that suggests a sense of entrapment and futility. It suggests that people are trapped in a system that is self-destructive and that there is no easy way out.
The song goes on to speak to the idea of being a “carbon copy” – of feeling like there is no escape from the problems of the world and that one is just going through the motions. The chorus of the song speaks to the idea of singing the blues “like it’s your own” – a call for people to recognize and empathize with the struggles of others. The song suggests that there is hope in coming together and recognizing that everyone is struggling. Despite the bleakness of the lyrics, the song ultimately speaks to the idea that love and truth can overcome even the most entrenched problems.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey girls, hey boys
Addressing everyone listening
No don't mind the noise
Disregard any distractions in the world
It's just the sound of being dragged to hell
Life's hardships may make it seem like we're being pulled into a fiery abyss
It's just a pornographic adulation ship
The world promotes excessive desire and indulgence
As we watch the spider's web eat itself
We observe the world's self-destructive tendencies
Blues that hit you like a cannonball
The music's emotional weight is like a heavy weapon
Loud enough to break your bones
The music's force impacts the listener physically and emotionally
But it was written in blood
The song has a history of pain and hardship
Before they wrote it in stone
It has yet to be formalized or given permanent form
So sing it with me
Join in the shared experience of music
Like it's your own
Make the song a part of yourself
I'm a carbon copy
I am like everyone else
Now they get me
The world understands who I am and what I want
Uh, I don't get where we're going
However, the direction of the world is unclear
It's got you strung out and bothered
Life's difficulties weigh on you
And caught up and drownin'
You're overwhelmed and struggling to stay afloat
And failin' and shot up
You're experiencing setbacks and obstacles
And feelin' you gotta run
You feel like you need to escape or distance yourself from it all
Now, gonna tiptoe
Taking small and careful steps
Gonna run right forward
Moving forward with certainty and determination
No, not the first time
This isn't the first time we've faced challenges
We've been run like dogs
Life has treated us like animals
Oh, feel the flat bed
A sense of detachment, like being transported on a flatbed
In the foreign ward
In a place that feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable
Oh raise your fist up
Show your strength, defiance, and willingness to fight
Brush the dust off
Cleanse yourself, both metaphorically and literally
When the truth is spoken
Honesty and authenticity are expressed
Love's a workin'
Love is an ongoing task that requires effort
Nothing's gonna weigh us down
We will overcome and rise above our burdens
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
James Gaudette
I’ve been listening to this song for 9 years... and I need to hear it every once in a while to remember where I came from and who I want to become.... I already became that person... but I can always become somthing more, and this song always reminds me.... it’s not over.
Druddha Mann
I cannot stop listening to this song.
Like for the rest of my life!
xmz
What a gem
Maryam Eslam
The originals 💕
Jacinto Rodriguez
I love this song
PSExposed
My ace taste in tunes brought me here. I love TV on the Radio.
A Person
My fav song <33
Elizabeth Norris
But it's heavy, I'm not ready
hayden
Who else found this song from the Originals? #Klaus
jacob blair
Me!