Tegan and Sara are an indie pop/indie rock duo which formed in Calgary, Alb… Read Full Bio ↴Tegan and Sara are an indie pop/indie rock duo which formed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1995. The band consists of identical twin sisters Tegan Quin and Sara Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both sisters play the guitar and keyboards, and write their songs. They tour with a backing band and they're notorious for their stage banter.

The duo has released nine studio albums so far: Under Feet Like Ours (1999), This Business of Art (2000), If It Was You (2002), So Jealous (2004), The Con (2007), Sainthood (2009), Heartthrob (2013), Love You to Death (2016) and Hey, I'm Just Like You (2019). They also issued the live album/DVD Get Along in 2011 and their memoir High School in 2019.

Tegan and Sara initially played as Plunk in 1995, and lacked a drummer and bass player. In 1997, they used their school’s recording studio to record two demo albums: Who's in Your Band? and Play Day.

In 1998, they made an early breakthrough by winning Garage Warz Battle of the Bands, a local music competition in Calgary. Since then, the two have toured with Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, Kaki King, The Pretenders, Ben Folds, The Killers, Rachael Cantu, Vivek Shraya, Cake, Gogol Bordello, Hot Hot Heat, Ryan Adams, Veda Hille, Little Birdy, Iron On, Little Brazil, Bryan Adams, and Weezer, and they performed a show at Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair.

They are signed to Neil Young's Vapor Records in Canada, and to Sire in the United States as their previous label, Sanctuary Records, is no longer releasing new music in the United States.

When they were competing in Garage Warz, they were known as "Sara and Tegan" because that is how their mother registered them on the competition forms. Their first album, Under Feet Like Ours, was initially released under the name "Sara and Tegan". While both twins are similarly involved in vocals and playing instruments, the singing of the lead melody usually goes to whichever twin wrote the particular song. The two hardly sang together in the recordings of their early records, but they started to more on their later records and when live.

On their 2004 album, So Jealous, the two lend their unusual voices and simple guitar riffs to power pop ballads about love and emotional, haunting songs such as "Walking With a Ghost".

The fifth album, The Con, released July 24, 2007, showed a shift in style towards darker tunes compared to the relatively upbeat indie pop of So Jealous. The singles "Back in Your Head", "The Con" and "Call It Off" were issued to support the album. The twins toured the album for over a year and a half.

Their sixth studio album, entitled Sainthood, was released on October 27th, 2009, to generally positive reviews. The album included the singles "Hell", "Alligator", "On Directing" and "Northshore".

Tegan and Sara also collaborated with many other artists, including Tiësto for the single "Feel It in My Bones" (from the album Kaleidoscope, 2009), and Morgan Page for the single "Body Work" (from the album In the Air, 2012).

"Closer", the first single from their seventh album was produced by Californian pop producer Greg Kurstin. The song was made available for download September 25, 2012. On 29 January 2013, Tegan and Sara released their seventh studio album, Heartthrob.

The duo's eighth studio album, titled Love You To Death, was released on 3 June 2016. The lead single Boyfriend was released on 8 April. Greg Kurstin returned as the producer.

On October 20, 2017, the duo released a compilation album titled Tegan and Sara Present the Con X: Covers, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of The Con. The compilation contains covers of each song performed by various artists, as well as a previously unreleased demo “Miami Still”, performed by the duo. The proceeds of the record and subsequent tour benefitted the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which raises money for self-identified women and girls in the LGBTQ community.

The duo released their memoir, High School, on 27 September 2019. It recounts their childhood and adolescence growing up in Alberta in the 1990s as well as their musical beginnings. The book debuted at number fifteen on The New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction best-sellers list. Along with the book, Tegan and Sara's released their ninth studio album, Hey, I'm Just Like You, which contains re-recordings of unreleased demo songs that the duo recorded as teenagers. The record was produced by Alex Hope and is the first Tegan and Sara record produced, performed, engineered, mixed, and mastered by a team of all women. The band embarked on a US, Canada and UK tour to promote the book and album, playing mostly acoustically, reading excerpts from the book and incorporating old video footage from the band's teenage years.

The current live touring band members include Ted Gowans (guitar; 2004-present), Jasper Leak (bass; 2012-present), John Spence (keyboards; 2012-present), and Adam Christgau (drums; 2013-present). Former live touring band members include Johnny Andrews (drums; 2006-2010), Shaun Huberts (bass; 2007-2010), Dan Kelly (bass; 2007), Chris Carlson (bass; 2001-2005), Rob Chursinoff (drums; 2001-2005) and Jason McGerr (drums; 2012).

Official site: http://www.teganandsara.com

Northshore
Tegan and Sara Lyrics

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Don't bend
Don't blink
Don't beg
Don't scream
Don't whine
Don't fight
Don't tell me, don't tell me, don't tell me

Don't feel
Don't tear
Don't kiss
Don't care
Don't touch
Don't want me, don't want me, don't want me

Somethings so sick about this
My misery is so addictive
I'm halfway there with your Northshore from the floor singing to you over my shoulder

Don't run
Don't hide
Don't hurt
Don't lie
Don't breathe
Don't try
Don't find me, don't find me, don't find me

Don't cringe
Don't clinch
Don't look
Don't flinch
Don't know, don't go
Don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me

Somethings so sick about this
My misery is so addictive
I'm halfway there with your Northshore from the floor singing to you over my shoulder

Don't sing
Don't talk
Don't yell
Don't laugh
Don't think, don't speak
Don't save me, don't save me, don't save me

Don't stay
Don't plan
Don't heal
Don't mend
Don't take, don't send
Don't love me, don't love, don't love me

Somethings so sick about this,
My misery is so addictive
I'm halfway there with your Northshore from the floor singing to you over my shoulder
I'm halfway there with your Northshore from the floor singing to you over my shoulder

I'm halfway there with your Northshore from the floor singing to you over my shoulder
I'm halfway there with your Northshore from the floor singing to you over my shoulder

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Tegan and Sara's song 'Northshore' seem to convey a sense of desperation, as if the singer is clinging on to someone or something with a tenacious grip. The repetition of commands such as "Don't bend, don't blink, don't beg" suggests that the singer is trying to impose some kind of control over themselves and others, perhaps as a way of dealing with the underlying pain they feel. Similarly, the list of things they should not do seems to be a way of pushing away any potential sources of relief, as if they don't trust themselves to handle anything positive.

The line "Somethings so sick about this, my misery is so addictive" suggests that the singer is aware that their behavior is unhealthy, but can't stop themselves from indulging in it. The reference to the Northshore - which could be a place or a person - implies that they are fixated on something external to themselves, and that this fixation is both comforting and harmful.

The repetition of the final lines "I'm halfway there with your Northshore from the floor singing to you over my shoulder" suggests that the singer is almost on the verge of a breakthrough, but is still struggling with their pain and attachment to whatever the Northshore represents.

Line by Line Meaning

Don't bend
Don't compromise

Don't blink
Don't miss a thing

Don't beg
Don't plead for mercy

Don't scream
Don't raise your voice

Don't whine
Don't complain

Don't fight
Don't resist

Don't tell me, don't tell me, don't tell me
Don't say a word

Don't feel
Don't show emotion

Don't tear
Don't cry

Don't kiss
Don't show affection

Don't care
Don't be concerned