Kris Roe also took on the role of managing other punk bands such as Useless ID from Haifa, Israel. They collaborated on a split EP entitled "Let It Burn". Kris also acted as co-producer with Mass Giorgini (whose other production credits include working alongside Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day) for a ]label]Cincinnati, OH-based band called the National Trust in 2004, an album which is as-of-yet unreleased..
After a long delay, the album End Is Forever was released in 2001. This album was a testament to Kris Roe's increasing maturity as a songwriter. Most of the songs, especially "Fast Times at Dropout High", touched on very personal and emotional topics such as losing a sibling because his parents gave his newborn brother away for adoption. Once again the lineup changed, with John Collura replacing Peña on guitar.
On the 24th of June 2002 The Ataris left Kung Fu Records and signed with Columbia Records. Later in that year they recorded their 6th album, "So Long, Astoria", released on March 4th, 2003. This album was responsible for giving them their break into the mainstream audience and generated many successful singles, including "In This Diary" and their cover of Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer".
After touring behind the album for most of 2003, the band began writing the follow-up to "So Long, Astoria". Much of 2004 was spent in inactivity. In February of 2004, the band released "Live At The Metro", an album containing a full concert at The Metro in Chicago, as well as acoustic tracks. Mike Davenport and Chris Knapp left the band in early 2005.
Recording of "Welcome the Night" began in February 2005. Along with it came five new members - Sean Hansen filling the bass position, Shane Chickeles on drums, and guitarist Paul Carabello, Angus Cooke (Who played Cello on "End Is Forever"), and Bob Hoag on 3rd guitar, Cello, and Keyboards respectively. The group spent all of spring and summer recording at Seedy Underbelly in Los Angeles. "Welcome the Night" was orginally due out in April or May of 2006 but as of March 2006 the release date was pushed back to July of 2006. The release date of this album was once again been pushed back to possibly early 2007 after The Ataris asked to be released from their contract with Columbia Records, which the label agreed too. The "Welcome the Night" album was released in late February to an eager Ataris fan base. Unfortunately, it was not what they expected. The "Welcome the Night" album took a completely different approach to music. In a drastic deviation from his past traditions of whimsical, nostalgic pop songs, Roe used the new album to pursue a much more mature post-rock/progressive sound, an initiative which many speculate arose from the divorce of his wife and other personal conflicts. While "Welcome the Night" is certainly a great departure from The Ataris' roots, Roe has indicated that their upcoming release will attempt to return to the happy, youthful overtures that older fans have grown accustomed to.
Summer '79
The Ataris Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We gotta live up one time before it's over
We will make history tonight
Out at the drive-in
All of our closest friends will be sneaking in
You'll be spending your whole night
Trying everything you can to get that girl to notice you
We are the champions playing loud on the radio station
Everyone sing along with these anthems of our generation
Cruising down Pacific Coast Highway
Put the top down, crawl into the back seat
Let's create anthems of our own tonight
Down at the roller rink
All the cool kids crowding around the air hockey table
Hey, my best friend likes you
I hear you shout at me as you go skating by
We are the champions playing loud on the radio station
Everyone sing along with these anthems of our generation
Cruisin down Pacific Coast Highway
Put the top down, crawl into the back seat
Let's create anthems of our own tonight
Sneak out of the window, darling
Let's live like outlaws, honey
We'll never look back
Climb out on this rooftop
And stare at the city lights below us
This world belongs to us tonight
The kids will keep raging on and they ain't ever gonna stop
We are the champions playing loud on the radio station
Everyone sing along with these anthems of our generation
Cruisin down Pacific Coast Highway
put the top down, crawl into the back seat
Let's create anthems of our own tonight
The Ataris’s song “Summer ‘79” is an ode to the carefree spirit of youth, particularly to a group of teenagers experiencing one last summer together in 1979. As the end of summer looms, the singer and his friends are determined to make the most of their time left. They plan to sneak into the drive-in, cruise down the Pacific Coast Highway, and go to the roller rink. The song is nostalgic, evoking memories of teenage summers when everything seems possible.
In the chorus, the song mentions “We are the champions,” which is a reference to the Queen song of the same name that was released in 1977. The song’s use of “our generation” indicates that the singer feels a sense of kinship with the music his peers are listening to, and the anthems of their time that they’re creating as they experience new things together.
Towards the end of the song, the singer and his crush sneak out to live like outlaws in the summertime. They climb onto a rooftop to look down on the city below them. The song’s final lyric is “The kids will keep raging on and they ain’t ever gonna stop” hints that, despite the fleeting nature of summer, the memories they create will last a lifetime.
Line by Line Meaning
Our last day of summer, 1979
It's the end of summer for us, and it's the year 1979.
We gotta live up one time before it's over
We must make the most of our last day of summer and enjoy it to the fullest.
We will make history tonight
Our actions tonight will be remembered for a long time to come.
Out at the drive-in
We are going to the drive-in cinema.
All of our closest friends will be sneaking in
Our best friends will also be at the cinema, sneaking in with us.
You'll be spending your whole night trying everything you can to get that girl to notice you
One of us will try all night to impress a girl and get her attention.
We are the champions playing loud on the radio station
The song 'We are the Champions' is playing loudly on the radio.
Everyone sing along with these anthems of our generation
We are all singing along to our generation's music.
Cruising down Pacific Coast Highway and put the top down, crawl into the back seat
We are driving along the Pacific Coast Highway with the roof of our car down, and some of us are climbing into the back seat.
Let's create anthems of our own tonight
Tonight, we will make memories that will become our own personal anthems.
Down at the roller rink
We are at the roller rink.
All the cool kids crowding around the air hockey table
The popular kids are all hanging out at the air hockey table.
Hey, my best friend likes you, I hear you shout at me as you go skating by
Someone is shouting to our group that their best friend likes someone else in our group.
Sneak out of the window, darling
Let's sneak out of the window, my dear.
Let's live like outlaws, honey
We will live recklessly, like outlaws.
We'll never look back
We won't worry about what the future holds and only focus on the present moment.
Climb out on this rooftop
We are climbing onto a rooftop.
And stare at the city lights below us
While on the rooftop, we will gaze at the city lights from above.
This world belongs to us tonight
We feel like the world is at our fingertips just for this one night.
The kids will keep raging on and they ain't ever gonna stop
The youth will continue to live recklessly and freely, never stopping despite what society says.
Let's create anthems of our own tonight
Again, we want to create meaningful memories that will become our own personal anthems to remember this night by.
Lyrics © O/B/O CAPASSO
Written by: KRIS ROE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind