The band released its debut single "Hip to My Heart" in 2009 and their second single; "If I Die Young", was released June 7, 2010. It peaked at #19 on the Hot 100, making it their biggest hit.
Their website can be found at www.thebandperry.com.
Chainsaw
The Band Perry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In that oak tree
'Cause I loved you
And you loved me
A jagged little heart so the whole town knew it
Carved in the bark with an arrow through it
Well I came out here to see it one more time
Oh you know it's got to go, it's such a shame y'all
But I ain't gonna be happy 'til those names fall
And I'm sittin' on a stump
Love is shady
Love is tragic
It's hard to bury the hatchet
Holdin' a chainsaw
I guess all those years
They don't mean a thing
Now I can't wait
To count those rings
Nothing left of us but dust and splinters
A big pile of wood to keep me warm through the winter
'Cause I don't have you
But I got my chainsaw
Oh you know it's got to go, it's such a shame y'all
But I ain't gonna be happy 'til those names fall
And I'm sittin' on a stump
Love is shady
Love is tragic
It's hard to bury the hatchet
Holdin' a chainsaw
Just a lil' old chainsaw
I remember what you said that night
That you would love me for the rest of your life
We wrote forever with a pocketknife
But forever's goin' down tonight
'Cause I got my chainsaw
It's got to go, it's such a shame doll
But I ain't gonna be happy 'til those names fall
And I'm sittin' on a stump
Love is shady
Love is tragic
It's hard to bury the hatchet
Love is shady
Love is tragic
It's hard to bury the hatchet
Holdin' a chainsaw
Chain chain chain-saw
(Chain chain-saw)
The Band Perry's song "Chainsaw" is an emotional track with a unique theme of using a chainsaw to cut down a tree that bears the initials of the singer and their former lover. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Love is shady, love is tragic, it's hard to bury the hatchet, holding a chainsaw." The singer returns to the spot where they carved their initials into an oak tree with their former lover years ago. The tree has grown old and tired just as their love has, and they reflect on how they do not have their lover anymore, but they still have their chainsaw to cut down the tree. The singer uses their chainsaw to set themselves free from the memories of the past and move on.
The lyrics of "Chainsaw" paint a vivid picture of a failed love story, and the singer's intention to move forward but still hold onto the past. The singer uses the chainsaw as a symbol of release from the memories of their past love as they cut down the oak tree. The bridge of the song highlights the irony of their lost love, how they had engraved "forever" in the tree with a pocket knife, but now they use a chainsaw to erase their past. The song portrays how difficult it can be to move on from a past relationship, even though the relationship might have been detrimental, something that seems to resonate with many who have been through similar experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
We scratched our names
We carved our names into the oak tree
In that oak tree
In the trunk of the oak tree
'Cause I loved you
As a sign to show my love for you
And you loved me
As a sign of your love for me
A jagged little heart so the whole town knew it
A heart shape carved in a way that everyone passing by could see it
Carved in the bark with an arrow through it
The heart was carved onto the bark and an arrow was drawn through it
Well I came out here to see it one more time
I came back to the tree to look at our carving one last time
And I got my chainsaw
I brought a chainsaw with me
Oh you know it's got to go, it's such a shame y'all
I have to remove the carving and it's a pity
But I ain't gonna be happy 'til those names fall
But I won't be satisfied until I remove those names
And I'm sittin' on a stump
And I'm sitting on a cut piece of the tree trunk
Love is shady
Love is deceitful
Love is tragic
Love often ends badly
It's hard to bury the hatchet
It's hard to forgive and forget
Holdin' a chainsaw
While holding a chainsaw
I guess all those years
All the years we spent together
They don't mean a thing
Now they don't have any significance
Now I can't wait
Now I look forward to
To count those rings
Counting the age of the tree from its rings
Nothing left of us but dust and splinters
There is nothing left of our relationship except memories
A big pile of wood to keep me warm through the winter
The tree will be used as firewood to heat the house during winter
'Cause I don't have you
Because I don't have your love anymore
But I got my chainsaw
I still have my chainsaw
Just a lil' old chainsaw
Just a small, ordinary chainsaw
I remember what you said that night
I remember what you told me that night
That you would love me for the rest of your life
You promised me that you would love me forever
We wrote forever with a pocketknife
We carved the word 'forever' with a small knife
But forever's goin' down tonight
But tonight, our forever ends
It's got to go, it's such a shame doll
It has to be removed and this is very unfortunate
Chain chain chain-saw
The sound of the chainsaw
Lyrics ยฉ CALHOUN ENTERPRISES, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MATTHEW RAMSEY, SHANE MCANALLY, JOSH OSBORNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rosemary Rogers
Nobody can harmonize like siblings. โฅ๏ธ
likescountry114
Another great effort by "The Perry Kids!" Love your stuff and I am so impressed by you all! Keep on having fun and dishing out the good tunes!!
tasnim
you guys deserve way more recognition
Lucas Matias Arias
Beautiful song beautiful voice beautiful band!
Ana Lรญvia
Mรบsica viciante โฅ
Debra Loftin
Thank you The Band Perry for graciously involving the towns of Stayton and Sublimity Oregon in the making of your video, AND acknowledging that fact at the end of it... Great song!
Starlight Silver
I half-expected there to be a โno trees were harmedโ message at the end. For people who understand the importance of trees, watching a tree cut down for no reason is almost as painful as seeing wild animals killed for sport. But of course TN has plenty of pine tree land that belongs to the paper factory and you commonly see trucks piled with cut trees on the roads here. The trees in the video were those tall pines they cut for paper, so I realized trees werenโt being cut just for the video, but itโs still sad to hear a song promoting the idea of carving on trees, then cutting them down when the relationship ends. People arenโt always smart and I hate to see anyone giving bad ideas to dummies. Most kids carve their names on huge trees, not farmed pines, so hopefully no one is trying to cut down a massive, ancient tree because they had their heart broken and got inspired by this song. I suppose it doesnโt matter since weโre doomed anyway, thanks to oil companies and the Rโs that support them.
If you want to hear a beautifully sad song about a tree, look up โThe Hanging Treeโ by Blackmoreโs Night (yes, thatโs Richie Blackmoreโs band).
Hillary Courchaine
I absolutely love country music, I also love the band Perry awesome band. Amazing songsโคโคโคโคโค
IndigoSue
This is the first time I've heard this band! Perfect intro!! Love you!!!
Kimberly Haugan
The band perry is so awesome. I love the lyrics.