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
call it off
Tegan and Sara Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This thing that I'm saying
Is it better than keeping my mouth shut?
That goes without saying
Call, break it off
Call, break my own heart
Maybe I would have been something you'd be good at
But now we'll never know
I won't be sad
But in case, I'll go there
Everyday, to make myself feel bad
There's a chance I'll start to wonder
If this was the thing to do
I won't be out long
But I still think it better if
You take your time coming over here
I think that's for the best
Call, break it off
Call, break my own heart
Maybe I would have been something you'd be good at
Maybe you would have been something I'd be good at
But now we'll never know
I won't be sad
But in case, I'll go there
Everyday, to make myself feel bad
There's a chance I'll start to wonder
If this was the thing to do
I'll start to wonder
If this was the thing to do
The lyrics to Tegan and Sara's "Call It Off" can be interpreted as a contemplation of the aftermath of a breakup. The singer seems to be struggling with whether or not to call off the relationship and break their own heart, or to continue on, unsure of whether the relationship could have worked out. They express the idea that perhaps they could have been good for each other, but will never know because they didn't give it a chance.
The lyrics convey a sense of regret and a longing to know what could have been. The singer seems to be second-guessing themselves, wondering if breaking up was the right decision or if they should have worked harder to make the relationship work. The line "Everyday, to make myself feel bad" suggests that the singer is punishing themselves by dwelling on the breakup, even if they don't necessarily feel sad about it.
Overall, the lyrics paint a picture of someone who is grappling with the aftermath of a breakup and the many what-if scenarios that come with it.
Interesting Facts:
Line by Line Meaning
I won't regret saying this
I am going to speak my mind and not feel guilty about it
This thing that I'm saying
The specific message I am communicating
Is it better than keeping my mouth shut?
Should I speak up even though it might be uncomfortable or painful?
That goes without saying
It is obvious that sometimes we have to say difficult things
Call, break it off
I am taking decisive action to end this relationship
Call, break my own heart
I am prepared to hurt myself in order to do what needs to be done
Maybe I would have been something you'd be good at
We had potential as a couple, we could have made it work
Maybe you would have been something I'd be good at
We could have grown and learned together
But now we'll never know
Our relationship has come to a permanent end
I won't be sad
I am emotionally strong enough to handle this breakup
But in case, I'll go there
I will allow myself to feel pain and regret to process the breakup
Everyday, to make myself feel bad
I will dwell on the pain of the breakup as a way of coping
There's a chance I'll start to wonder
I may doubt whether or not breaking up was the right decision
If this was the thing to do
I may question whether or not ending the relationship was the best choice
I won't be out long
I will quickly bounce back from this breakup
But I still think it better if
But I acknowledge that the best thing for both of us is to end things
You take your time coming over here
I do not want to see you right away, I need time to process the breakup
I think that's for the best
I believe that taking time and space to heal is necessary
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Sara Keirsten Quin, Tegan Rain Quin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind