After signing to Arista in 1988, they saw their largest international success with the album Starfish and the American Top 40 hit "Under The Milky Way" which resurfaced on the soundtrack of the cult movie "Donnie Darko". Whilst the band remain feted by their peers, subsequent commercial success proved elusive: 1990s follow-up album "Gold Afternoon Fix" failed to capitalise on their success, and the band weathered several line-up changes after its release, first losing long-term drummer Richard Ploog, then Peter Koppes following 1992s "Priest = Aura". That album baffled and confused many fans upon its release as to what band The Church was considered to be, but is now considered a seminal album and one of the most revered by Church connoisseurs. The vacant drum-stool on Priest=Aura being occupied by Jay Dee Daugherty of Arista labelmate Patti Smiths group, and it was produced by Gavin MacKillop of Moose.
Reduced to a two-piece, Kilbey & Willson-Piper re-grouped with the assistance of drummer/producer Tim Powles to record 1994's "Sometime Anywhere", concluding their obligations to the Arista and Mushroom labels. The commercial decline, combined with the Church being ignored again by a music press more focused on the Nineties' music trends, could have brought about the demise of the band, had it not coincided with the breakthrough of the internet, thus enabling direct communication from the band to its passionate cult fanbase.
This brought about a new beginning for The Church, with Peter Koppes rejoining the band for recording 1996s "Magician Among The Spirits". The band (with Koppes back into the fold, and Powles now as the permanent drummer ), hit a re-newed creative surge and with regained selfconfidence, released "Hologram Of Baal" 2 years later, and toured Australia, the USA and Europe.
The first decade of the 21st century found the band releasing severeal highly critically acclaimed albums, like 2002's aptly named "After Everything Now this" and 2003's "Forget Yourself", the latter breaking new ground with bandmembers swapping instruments in the recording process. Live performances stray from high profile events like the 03 concerts at Sydney Opera House and the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, to low-profile gigs for smaller audiences, often confusing old 80s fans, surprised to find the band still playing, wrongly assuming the band just being one in the never-ending string of reunion acts.
2009's album "Untitled#23" marked yet another highlight.. its essence represented in just 10 songs, and with a strong less-is-more approach, the albums core identity being on par with Starfish, it also finds Steve Kilbey breaking new ground as a vocalist.
2010 saw their 30th anniversary, with extensive touring in the US and Australia. Their unique position and importance in the australian music scene was recognized with an ARIA award.
Their album, "Further Deeper", was released in 2014, and "man woman life death infinity" in 2017.
Another Earth
The Church Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where you hide your real self
Lay down your head
You see her once more
She wants the moon and stars
She, she needs her time and space
She wants another Earth (Bastard Universe)
She wants the moon and stars
At the end of the day
When the light is so soft
You take off your mask
See she's never around
She wants the moon and stars
She, she wants the world to end
She wants another Earth (Bastard Universe)
Wants another (..........)
She wants the moon and stars
She, she wants the world to end
She, she needs some time and space
She, she wants another Earth
She needs some time and space
She wants another Earth
The Church’s song "Another Earth" is a contemplative piece about longing and escapism, where the singer is coming to terms with the reality of their life and seeking a new world where they can live in peace. The song might be taken as a rumination on how we make our own private worlds within ourselves, and how we long to escape from the tedium and monotony of the everyday reality.
The lyrics at the back of your mind, where you hide your real self, suggest that we all have a façade that we present to the world while the real self remains hidden. Lay down your head, you see her once more, is an echo to the singer's love and affection for a woman who he can't be with. She wants the moon and stars, she needs her time and space, she wants another Earth (Bastard Universe), may indicate that the singer's love interest is unique and incomprehensible that they might be from another universe. Another Earth means an ideal universe where everything is perfect, and the singer will be happy.
The woman's desires of wanting the world to end and needing time and space imply that she is unable to reconcile with what the world offers her but prefers the isolation that only self-made worlds can offer. The Bridge (Wants another), has the same lyrics as the first stanza (She wants the moon and stars), which suggests that the singer's unrequited love is still present, and the longing remains unfulfilled. The chorus is a repetition of the woman's wants, signifying that her desires are hard to ignore. She, she wants another Earth, in the last line of the chorus, sounds like a plea that captures her longing for a new world.
Line by Line Meaning
At the back of your mind
Deep in your consciousness
Where you hide your real self
Where you conceal your true identity
Lay down your head
Take a moment to rest
You see her once more
You catch a glimpse of her again
She wants the moon and stars
She desires the impossible
She, she needs her time and space
She requires her independence
She wants another Earth (Bastard Universe)
She longs for a different reality that doesn't exist
Wants another (..........)
Desires something different and unattainable
At the end of the day
When the day is done
When the light is so soft
When the light is dim and comforting
You take off your mask
You reveal your true self
See she's never around
Realize she's never there
She, she wants the world to end
She desires a catastrophic event
She needs some time and space
She craves solitude
She wants another Earth
She desires a different reality
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: STEVEN JOHN KILBEY, PETER KOPPES, TIM GUY GERARD POWLES, MARTIN HOWARD WILLSON-PIPER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
BittersweetSymphony
on You're Still Beautiful
Sometimes I wonder if he is writing about himself