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/
Red Dress
TV on the Radio Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fuck your war
Cause I'm fat and in love
And no bombs are falling on me for sure
But I'm scared to death
That I'm living a life not worth dying for
And your plow shear
And its wide arcing swing chops the heads off of many things
Mono crops... Laughter roars
Oh high hilarity
Oh muck bury me
Oh standard bearer carry me burning home from another tour
Go ahead put your red dress on
Days of white robes have come and gone
Come and gone
Oh you rivers, oh you waters run
Come bear witness to the whore of Babylon
"Hey Slave" They called
And we caved
We answered
To a new name
Shout it loud shout it lame
But black face it
You're such a good dancer
Oh you're a star
You're carnival
Jacaranda petals fall
Mix with the blood of the saints
Shot down in the square
Don't track it in on the soles of your shoes
When you're dragged into the back of this car
Go ahead put your red dress on
Days of white robes have come and gone
Come and gone
Oh you rivers, oh you waters run
Come bear witness to the Whore of Babylon
It's a trap
That much is plain
Still,maybe send snapshots
Of all your sweet pain
Playing tortuous games
It goes: Lense, light, fame
Read my names on your lips
When the man cracks the whip
And you'll all shake your hips
And you'll all dance to this
Without making a fist
And I know that it sounds mundane
But it's a stone cold shame
How they got you tame
And they got me tame.
So go ahead put your red dress on
Days of white robes come and gone
Come and gone
Oh you rivers, oh you waters run
Come bear witness to the Whore of Babylon
The lyrics to TV on the Radio's song "Red Dress" are a commentary on war and its impact on society, particularly on the lives of people who are not directly involved in it. The singer addresses someone called "Jackboot" who represents the militaristic mindset and the propaganda of war. The singer states that he is "fat and in love," and therefore, he is not going to participate in the war, nor are the bombs going to fall on him. However, he is afraid that he might be living a life that is not worth dying for. The plow shear is a symbol of agriculture, which is supposed to be peaceful, but it has been transformed into a weapon of war. It signifies the loss of innocence and the destruction of nature that war entails. The laughter refers to the humor that people use to mask the horrors of war, whereas the muck refers to the filth and the ugliness of war that people try to bury.
The second verse describes the dehumanizing effect of war on society. The singer refers to the slaves who were given new names as a way of stripping them of their identity and making them subservient. The dancer refers to the vaudeville performers who put on blackface to entertain the troops. The jacaranda petals represent the beauty that is sacrificed in the name of war, and the blood of the saints represents the innocent people who are killed in the crossfire. The Whore of Babylon is a biblical figure who symbolizes the corruption and downfall of society. The singer invites the rivers and the waters to bear witness to this corruption, as they have seen it all before.
Overall, "Red Dress" is a powerful critique of war and its effects on society. It highlights the destruction and loss that war entails and examines the dehumanizing impact it has on the people who participate in it, as well as those who are affected by it.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey Jackboot
Addressing those in power and command
Fuck your war
Opposing war and violence
Cause I'm fat and in love
Being content with oneself without conforming to societal beauty standards
And no bombs are falling on me for sure
One's privilege and comfort in not directly being affected by the consequences of war
But I'm scared to death
Expressing fear and apprehension towards the future
That I'm living a life not worth dying for
Questioning the purpose and value of one's existence
And your plow shear
Referencing traditional tools of agriculture and labor
It's a sword
The use of tools and labor for violent purposes
And its wide arcing swing chops the heads off of many things
The destruction and loss that comes with the use of weapons
Mono crops... Laughter roars
Referencing industrial agricultural practices that harm the environment and society
Oh high hilarity
Sarcastically commenting on the absurdity and irony of the situation
Oh muck bury me
A desire to escape the corrupt and bleak reality
Oh standard bearer carry me burning home from another tour
Referencing the danger and violence experienced by soldiers
Go ahead put your red dress on
Encouraging individuality and defiance against societal norms
Days of white robes have come and gone
The end of a period of oppressive normativity
Oh you rivers, oh you waters run
Calling upon nature to bear witness to the changing times
Come bear witness to the whore of Babylon
Referencing the metaphorical figure of the whore of Babylon representing corruption and decadence
"Hey Slave" They called
Referencing the dehumanization of marginalized communities
And we caved
The societal and psychological pressure to conform
We answered
Submitting to societal demands
To a new name
The loss of identity and individuality when conforming
Shout it loud shout it lame
The futility and hollowness of conforming and fitting in
But black face it
Acknowledging and confronting racialized and oppressive experiences
You're such a good dancer
The societal pressure to put on a facade and perform
Oh you're a star
Sarcastically commenting on the idolization of conformity
You're carnival
The inauthenticity and superficiality of conforming
Jacaranda petals fall
The beauty and fragility of life
Mix with the blood of the saints
The violence and loss of life at the hands of oppressive systems
Shot down in the square
Referencing protests and revolutions met with violence and oppression
Don't track it in on the soles of your shoes
Warning against complacency and ignorance towards oppressive systems and realities
When you're dragged into the back of this car
The inevitability of facing oppressive systems and being forced into submission
It's a trap
The futility and hopelessness of the situation
That much is plain
Acknowledging the obviousness of the situation
Still,maybe send snapshots
A call to document and expose the injustices and oppression
Of all your sweet pain
The pain and suffering experienced at the hands of oppressive systems
Playing tortuous games
The psychological manipulation and mind games played by oppressive systems
It goes: Lense, light, fame
The steps taken to create propaganda and manipulate people
Read my names on your lips
The co-opting and appropriation of marginalized communities and their struggles
When the man cracks the whip
The institutionalized violence and oppression
And you'll all shake your hips
The societal pressure to conform and pretend as if everything is alright
And you'll all dance to this
The societal pressure to submit and follow along
Without making a fist
The loss of collective resistance and struggle against oppressive systems
And I know that it sounds mundane
The frustrating and banal nature of the situation
But it's a stone cold shame
The tragedy and injustice of the situation
How they got you tame
The loss of freedom and individuality in society
And they got me tame
The universality and inevitability of societal conformity and oppression
So go ahead put your red dress on
Encouraging defiance and individuality despite societal pressures
Days of white robes come and gone
The end of a period of oppressive normativity
Come and gone
The inevitability and cyclical nature of societal change
Oh you rivers, oh you waters run
Calling upon the natural world to bear witness to the changing times
Come bear witness to the Whore of Babylon
Referencing the metaphorical figure representing corruption and decadence
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: BABATUNDE OMOROGA ADEBIMPE, DAVID ANDREW SITEK, DAVID KYP JOEL MALONE, GERARD ANTHONY SMITH, JALEEL BUNTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Paul Jewson
I come here and thought that there'd be more love for this version, and I'm amazed at the number of people that are just like "oh the Glitch Mob version is better;" it's really not. It's a different genre that you may like more, but based on what the lyrics are addressing, this version is way more powerful. It's got that frenetic energy and focus on trying to communicate something that the lyrics are specifically talking about, with lines like "And you'll all dance to this without making a fist and I know that it sounds mundane, but it's a stone cold shame how they got you tame and they got me tame."
The Glitch Mob version, as cool as it may be, has the entire power and presence of it removed, much like if you slowed down Hey Ya! (which is a critique on the surface level romance that has been increasing since the early 2000s) and removed it's verses where it says that message. It just leaves it very distilled. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Glitch Mob's version because they did make such a different song out of it, and that takes some serious talent. But the TVotR version is way more powerful and is more align with the Gil Scott-Heron attitude of being part of a resistance instead of just letting people walk all over you, and that I personally love far more.
Splenduh
This just demonstrates how creative Glitch Mob are. The original is good too tho.
Daniel Peralta
exactly!
Frogspawn_Johnson
these are incredibly sharp lyrics. can see the influence harlem renaissance poetry i think
Pax
Sorry, “glitch mob” lovers. This is far superior. It’s nice that they were inspired by it, though.
HugeTVProductions
Wow, it's rare to go on a song and see people hating it. I think it's an alright song, personally.
Querilla223
No, I've never held a guitar. I play the voilin, that's how I actually got into electronic music. I wanted to make my music sound more dynamic, then I heard Warrior Concerto by Glitch Mob. I tried to make something like this myself, but I'm not patient enough. That's why I'm respectfull for dubstep and electronic music producers, especially INexus and Glitch Mob.
kenektik
It blows my mind Glitch Mob came up with what they did just using this version.
Ruthier Rivera
i love the beat ohmygod
tod4y
Have known the Glitch one since ever and love it. This one is... disturbingly fast.