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.
Strong
Thalia Zedek Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're gonna be livin with yourself
I wish
For you
Find something new
I wish
That you
Come back
Did she tell you that I called?
But I can't answer for it all (???)
Long distance
Long distance
It's BIG
And you're
Feelin small
Again
Thalia Zedek's song "Strong" deals with themes of isolation, loneliness, and the pain caused by a broken relationship. The opening lines "You are going to hell / You're gonna be livin with yourself" suggest the singer's anger and bitterness towards the person who hurt them. The repetition of the word "wish" in the next lines reveals a sense of longing and desperation. The singer wishes that the other person would find something new, implying that they want them to move on and forget about them. But at the same time, they also wish for their return ("Come back around here"), revealing their conflicting emotions.
The chorus, "Long distance, long distance / It's BIG and you're feelin small / Again" conveys the pain of being far away from someone you love and feeling powerless to change the situation. The use of the word "big" suggests the magnitude of the emotional distance between the two people. The line "But I can't answer for it all" is ambiguous, but it may refer to the singer's own actions in the relationship and their own culpability for its failure.
Line by Line Meaning
You are going to hell
Your actions will lead you to a place of eternal punishment in the afterlife.
You're gonna be livin with yourself
You will be forced to confront the consequences of your actions and live with the memories of what you have done.
I wish
I hope for something better, even though the situation may seem hopeless.
For you
For you specifically, despite any negative feelings or actions between us.
Find something new
Discover a new purpose or direction in order to move past the mistakes of the past.
I wish
Once again, I hope for a positive outcome, even though it seems unlikely.
That you
Directed towards you, the subject of the song.
Come back
Return to a previous state of being or relationship, even if it requires effort and hard work.
Around here
In this particular location or environment.
Did she tell you that I called?
Asking if a message was delivered to you by a third party.
But I can't answer for it all (???)
Unclear, possibly indicating a sense of helplessness or lack of control over the situation.
Long distance
Referring to a separation or distance between two people or locations.
Long distance
Repeats to reinforce the idea of a gap between two points or individuals.
It's BIG
The distance or separation being described is significant in size and scope.
And you're
The attention shifts to the person being addressed in the song.
Feelin small
Experiencing a sense of insignificance, powerlessness, or vulnerability in the face of the distance and/or personal struggles.
Again
Reiterating that this is not the first time the feeling has been experienced or the situation has arisen.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: THALIA ZEDEK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind