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
One Second
Tegan and Sara Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I try my best to scream
And when I find myself outside your house
I'm trying hard to figure where you're at
Oh oh oh
I just need a second
I feel the burn inside my inner thigh
And so I figure run and hide
Oh oh oh
I just need a second
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Where do you go
When you're not here with me?
And when I cry I do it all alone
And on the floor
I get myself into the moment
Lose myself completely on it
Oh oh oh
I just need a second
I like to think you think about me like
I like to think about you
Later I'll be thinking of this moment
And I'm waiting
Oh oh oh
I just need a second
And when the spell is cast
I feel myself, I'm falling fast
I get myself into the way
Of the things I wanna say to you
Oh oh oh
I just need a second
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
What do you do
When I'm not there with you?
And when I cry I do it all alone
And on the floor
I get myself into the moment
Lose myself completely on it
Oh oh oh
I just need a second
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Where do you go
When your not here with me?
The lyrics of Tegan and Sara's song "One Second" describe the desire for a moment or a second to process one's feelings and emotions. The singer attempts to express her feelings, but finds it difficult to do so. She feels a burn inside her inner thigh, which suggests a physical and emotional desire for the person she is thinking of. The singer is outside the person's house, trying to figure out where they are, and seems to be lost and unsure of what to do next. She feels like she needs just one second to process all of these emotions and thoughts.
The chorus of the song repeats the question "Where do you go when you're not here with me?" and "What do you do when I'm not there with you?" suggesting a preoccupation with the absence of this person from the singer's life. The song describes a sense of loss and confusion when the person is gone, yet also highlights the intense emotional and physical attraction that the singer feels towards them.
Overall, "One Second" is a song about longing and desire, as well as the struggles of expressing those emotions to another person. The lyrics are open to interpretation, but the emotion they convey is unmistakable.
Line by Line Meaning
I cram it in
I force this intense feeling inside of me
I try my best to scream
I attempt to express my overwhelming emotion
And when I find myself outside your house
When I end up physically near you
I'm trying hard to figure where you're at
I am struggling to understand where you are emotionally
Oh oh oh
Expressing the urgency of the situation
I just need a second
I need a moment to gather myself and process my emotions
I feel the burn inside my inner thigh
I experience a physical reaction to my emotions
I feel the slightest touch and I might die
Even the smallest interaction with you is overwhelming
And so I figure run and hide
To protect myself from these intense feelings
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Expressing the intensity of the situation
Where do you go
Wondering where your emotions lie when you're not with me
When you're not here with me?
When we're not physically together
And when I cry I do it all alone
I deal with my emotions by myself
And on the floor
I'm brought down to my lowest point
I get myself into the moment
I fully immerse myself in my emotions
Lose myself completely on it
I am consumed by how I feel
I just need a second
I need to take time to process and deal with these intense feelings
I like to think you think about me like
I hope that you feel the same way about me
I like to think about you
You're always on my mind
Later I'll be thinking of this moment
I'll replay this moment in my head later on
And I'm waiting
I'm hopeful of what may come in the future
And when the spell is cast
When the moment finally arrives
I feel myself, I'm falling fast
I'm quickly becoming overwhelmed with emotion
I get myself into the way
I form the words and actions to express how I feel
Of the things I wanna say to you
I have a lot I want to express to you
What do you do
Curious about what you're doing without me
When I'm not there with you?
When we're physically apart
Where do you go
Wondering where your mind goes when you're not with me
Oh oh oh
Expressing the urgency and intensity of the situation
I just need a second
I need time to figure out how I feel about this
Contributed by Liam E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.