The Apples in Stereo currently consist of Robert Schneider (vocals, guitar), Eric Allen (bass), John Hill (rhythm guitar), John Ferguson (keyboards) and John Dufilho. Schneider writes the most of the band's music and lyrics. Their debut release was 1995's Fun Trick Noisemaker (with Jim McIntyre on bass).
Longtime drummer Hilarie Sydney left the band in 2006, performing her last show at the Athens Popfestival.
Robert Schneider has side projects: Marbles, Ulysses, Thee American Revolution and a new kids music project under the name Robbert Bobbert & The Bubble Machine. He does a lot of commercial composition and film score work.
John Hill also plays guitar in Dressy Bessy.
Bill Doss, who had been the band's keyboardist since 2007, died on July 30, 2012. Doss was also the singer, songwriter and guitarist for The Olivia Tremor Control, the sole member of The Sunshine Fix, and an original member of the Elephant 6 collective.
One of their most popular songs, "Signal In The Sky," was created for and featured in episode 46 of The Powerpuff Girls.
They are best known for their bright, catchy lyrics and 60s pop/rock sound that often provokes comparisons to The Beatles, ELO and The Beach Boys.
Their major influences include The Velvet Underground and The Beach Boys.
Tin Pan Alley
The Apples in Stereo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
if I had a nickel for every one...
Then I'd be making a living
instead of sitting here whistling now
I'd be making a living
just like a tin pan alley musician.
keep them ever-coming for but a modest wage...
Then I'd be making a living
instead of sitting here whistling now
I'd be making a living
just like a tin pan alley musician.
If they'd listen to me whistlin;
they would whistle along...
...Then I'd be making a living
just like those old tin pan alley musicians.
If they'd listen to me whistlin'
I won't be sittin' here long...
In The Apples in Stereo's song Tin Pan Alley, the songwriter presents a kind of wistful yearning for a time that has passed. The singer dreams of being a Tin Pan Alley musician, someone who was essentially a songwriter and music publisher in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Tin Pan Alley era was a time when popular music was in a state of rapid development, with emerging genres like ragtime and jazz, and the singer imagines a scenario where he works as hard as those old songwriters did, coming up with "ten tunes a day" just to make a "modest wage."
The references to "nickels" and "whistling" in the song add to its nostalgic feel. The idea of whistling along with a catchy tune was once a popular pastime, which the singer imagines might still happen if he were to write the kind of songs that Tin Pan Alley musicians were known for. With lines like "if they'd listen to me whistling, they would whistle along", the song seems to invite the listener to join in on this imagined music-making.
Overall, Tin Pan Alley seems to be a song that is both mourning the loss of a certain kind of musical culture while also acknowledging the musical joys that could still be found in the present. The singer's desire to create music that would be heard and appreciated by others taps into a universal human desire to connect with others through shared experiences like music.
Line by Line Meaning
I made up a new little song,
I came up with a new song
if I had a nickel for every one...
if I had received payment for every song I created
Then I'd be making a living
I would be able to earn a livelihood
instead of sitting here whistling now
instead of just sitting idle and whistling
I'd be making a living
I would have a source of income
just like a tin pan alley musician.
who creates songs for a modest wage
I'd come up with ten tunes a day,
I would create ten songs daily
keep them ever-coming for but a modest wage...
and continuously produce them for a small payment
If they'd listen to me whistlin;
If people would listen to me whistling
they would whistle along...
they would join me in whistling the tune
Then I'd be making a living
I would finally have a source of constant income
just like those old tin pan alley musicians.
like the musicians in the early 20th century who created songs with simple melodies for popular consumption
If they'd listen to me whistlin'
If people were paying attention to my whistling
I won't be sittin' here long...
I would not have to waste my time sitting idle
Contributed by Ryan L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Dzungle$
on Pine Away
I lost a way
Finally
Now here i am
Here is some Jazz Fest
Car is in the Hood
At Dam (ok)
There will be sleep..hey
I have red light
No oil..i hope i will ride
To nearest Gasoil..(tomorow)
Dzungle$
on Dots 1-2-3
Parkin at Dam
Jazz at Pub