Zedek grew up in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, attending Springbr… Read Full Bio ↴Zedek grew up in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, attending Springbrook High School in Maryland, where she played clarinet in the marching band under band director Charles Sickafus. The early punk era of the late 1970s in which she came of age, and in particular Patti Smith, contributed deeply to the formation of her musical aesthetic. While still in high school she would travel with her brother, Dan Zedek (currently the editorial design director at the Boston Globe), to New York to see Smith perform.

Zedek moved to Boston in 1979, attending Boston University for one semester before deciding to pursue a musical career instead. Her first band, the all-female White Women, broke up after a couple years, and she formed the Dangerous Birds. This group had somewhat more success, including a single, "Smiling Face (Do you Recognize Me?)" that achieved airplay on college and alternative-commercial radio; but Zedek wanted a more "violent" sound in contrast to the somewhat "girlie pop" tendencies of her Dangerous Birds bandmates. Her next project, Uzi, worked to this aim, producing an EP "Sleep Asylum." The EP was characterized by elusive yet subtly menacing lyrics superimposed over lugubrious but driving instrumental tracks that featured layers of dense, murky yet muscular guitar arrangements blended with heady synthesizer and tape effects. But despite the promise of "Sleep Asylum", Uzi dissolved due to tension between Zedek and the band's drummer, Danny Lee.

She next took the role of primary vocalist for New York City's Live Skull, a band already well-established. While the album "Dusted," the first product of this collaboration, reflected an intense synergy between Zedek's vocal style and the complexly histrionic instrumental work of Live Skull, the followup "Positraction" floundered, and Live Skull also disbanded due to conflicts in 1990. By this time Zedek had also run into problems with regard to heroin addiction. Motivated to quit, she returned to Boston and the support of her friends. She soon cofounded Come, with former Codeine drummer Chris Brokaw. Here she had her biggest successes, releasing four albums before the group disbanded in 2001. That same year she also released Been Here And Gone, her first solo project. Zedek was also a participant in the 1998 Suffragette Sessions tour, organized by the Indigo Girls.

Despite limited commercial success, Zedek has been highly critically acclaimed throughout her career and has arguably been deeply influential within the indie-rock realm, particularly through her influence within the prolific Boston indie scene that has spawned so many noteworthy artists.

Back to School
Thalia Zedek Lyrics

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You can go back
To your Ivory Tower
I can go back
To my favorite bar
Cause now I'm sure
That there's some lessons
That I'm never gonna learn
I don't need to learn how to survive

But you'll probably (sic) learn to recognize
Can you tell
Can you tell
Can you tell that I'm alive
Can you tell
I don't need to learn how to love
I forget that all of the others
I'm not sure
I don't remember which one that I thought you were
You said you'd know me anywhere
I'm not that pure
So, can you tell
Can you tell us all apart

Can you tell
Can you tell us all apart

Overall Meaning

Thalia Zedek's song "Back To School" is a melancholic ballad that speaks to feelings of disillusionment and disappointment. The chorus, "Can you tell / Can you tell us all apart", can be interpreted as a rejection of societal norms and expectations that value conformity over individualism. The lines "You can go back / To your Ivory Tower / I can go back / To my favorite bar" suggest that the singer has no interest in returning to the academic or professional pursuits that they have left behind. Rather, they seem content to exist on the periphery of society, observing from a distance.

The verse "Cause now I'm sure / That there's some lessons / That I'm never gonna learn" speaks to a sense of resignation and acceptance. The singer is acknowledging that they will never be able to fully assimilate into mainstream society, and that there are certain skills and knowledge that they will never acquire. However, this does not seem to bother them; they feel secure in their identity and their place in the world. The final verse, "You said you'd know me anywhere / I'm not that pure", suggests that the singer may have once been hopeful and optimistic about their ability to fit in, but has since become jaded and disillusioned.

Overall, "Back To School" is a powerful and poignant reflection on the struggle to find one's place in the world. It speaks to feelings of alienation and discontent, while also celebrating the value of individuality and nonconformity.

Line by Line Meaning

You can go back
You have the option to return

To your Ivory Tower
To your place of privilege

I can go back
I also have an option to return

To my favorite bar
To my preferred place of relaxation

Cause now I'm sure
Because I am now certain

That there's some lessons
That there are some teachings

That I'm never gonna learn
That I will never understand

I don't need to learn how to survive
I do not require assistance in staying alive

But you'll probably (sic) learn to recognize
However, it is likely that you may acquire the ability to distinguish

Can you tell
Are you able to perceive

Can you tell
Can you ascertain