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/
You
TV on the Radio Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Stay drunk all night (That was a good one, he keeps a seat open at the bar)
Might not work out alright (Boy letting go, leave it alone, leave it alone)
Look to love someone
Look to love somebody, name you never heard of
Just a high night on the bridge, the one you're burning
Check the lost and found (You're getting older, keep getting slow, all the way down)
Feeling underground (Too many texts now, just be the one, yeah)
Could you love somebody?
Could you hold another's care above your bright lights?
Could you open up your heart or you too uptight?
Could you work to build something besides a wall?
Could you love somebody, anyone at all?
Now it won't be undone (Sleeping that off, leaving the pole, leaving the pole)
And it won't be too long ([?] at dawn, writing a song, writing a song)
You can feel it, come on (Breaking the bones, suck marrow down, suck marrow down)
It's a heartbeat, bump-bump (Biting the bullet, breaking me down, breaking me down)
Alright, yeah it's alright, for the ways, the world, all ending
But it's been done, yeah it's alright
But let's [?] looking forward
Could you love somebody?
Could you strip the ego bare, let love take flight?
Could you open up your heart?
Could you love somebody?
Could you hold another's care above your bright lights?
Could you open up your heart or you too uptight?
Could you work to build something besides a wall?
Could you love somebody, anyone at all?
The song "You" by TV on the Radio is a reflective track that encourages the listener to look at their past experiences with love and how they can learn and grow from them. The lyrics discuss the common pitfalls of modern relationships and the difficulty in finding genuine love. The first verse sets the tone with the lines "Shut down, give up the fight, stay drunk all night, might not work out alright" which highlights the feeling of hopelessness and how easy it is to turn to vices to cope.
The chorus asks the question "Could you love somebody?" repeatedly, as if challenging the listener to think about their own capabilities to love and to open their hearts to others. It also brings attention to the fact that love is often hindered by personal issues such as ego or fear of vulnerability. The following verses continue to explore the complexities of love and relationships with lines like "Feeling underground, too many texts now, just be the one" which suggests that modern communication can make it harder to connect with others on a deeper emotional level.
Eventually, the song concludes with a message of hope and resilience. The final lines, "Alright, yeah it's alright, but let's [?] look forward" leave the listener with a sense of optimism for the future, despite the challenges that come with relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Shut down, give up the fight
Feeling defeated and hopeless, unsure of where to go from here.
Stay drunk all night
Trying to avoid dealing with reality by numbing the pain with alcohol.
Might not work out alright
Recognizing that things may not turn out the way we want them to, and being uncertain of the future.
Look to love someone
Finding comfort and solace in the idea of loving another person.
Look to love somebody, name you never heard of
Being open to the idea of love with someone new and unexpected.
Just a high night on the bridge, the one you're burning
Taking a risk and embracing the unknown future by burning bridges and embracing new experiences.
A love walked out
Experiencing heartbreak and loss as someone we loved has left us.
Check the lost and found
Looking for a solution or a way to find what we have lost.
Feeling underground
Feeling isolated and alone in our sadness and pain.
Could you love somebody?
Challenging us to be open to the idea of love and caring for another person.
Now it won't be undone
Accepting that there are some things that cannot be undone, and that we have to live with the consequences of our actions.
And it won't be too long
Believing that even though things may seem tough in the moment, they will get better in time.
You can feel it, come on
Embracing the hope that change and better things are coming our way, and encouraging us to keep going.
It's a heartbeat, bump-bump
Symbolizing the rhythm of life and the ups and downs that come with it.
Alright, yeah it's alright, for the ways, the world, all ending
Accepting that the world is not always a perfect place, and that we have to make the best of what we have.
But it's been done, yeah it's alright
Acknowledging that whatever has happened in the past is now behind us, and that we have to move on with our lives.
Could you strip the ego bare, let love take flight?
Challenging us to be vulnerable and let love in, even if it means putting our own egos and pride aside.
Could you open up your heart?
Encouraging us to be open and honest with ourselves and others about our feelings.
Could you work to build something besides a wall?
Encouraging us to be proactive in our relationships, and work towards building bridges instead of walls that keep others out.
Could you love somebody, anyone at all?
Challenging us to be open to the idea of loving people from all walks of life, and to not judge people based on their past or their appearance.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Babatunde Omoroga Adebimpe, David Andrew Sitek, David Kyp Joel Malone, Jaleel Bunton, Kyp Malone, Tunde Adebimpe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@flippeditude1170
"Peanuts fan fiction led me into a larping community." — I friggin lost it. Best band in my adult lifetime.
@eVanDiesel
Thinking about Gerard and watching him in this video breaks my heart.
@marcelo.n
Simply put, this is one of the Greatest Bands in The Entire Universe. Period.
PS: Plus, they're funny & COOL!
@mellowillow
I just came back to this song years after I first saw it. I feel all the same emotions. This group is so pure.💗
@user-nc1yl5fy4l
You don't say it...you just look at it! hahahaha
@jaredwilson1249
RIP Prince. Thank you for this amazing homage, TVotR.
@JamesBongo
everyday I'm filled with the power of.. power
@jazzynyc_99
this song is just gorgeous
@raejae4375
there's no end to the amount of times I come back to this song.. and many others by TOTR
@ashleymonday298
This used to be funny to me, but seeing Gerard here breaks my heart. And the fact that they haven't made an album for so long.