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.
Louisiana
The Church Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Curtains pulled against the moon
Follow her down to Louisiana
Hotel room bedside manner
God I've got to get back soon
She wriggles like a fish in a net
Details you can never forget
One thing or another
or
Never anybody causing me no regret ?
That's my story
Cost a fortune
Louisiana
Black rain falling in the night
Strangers meet in the lamp light
Once in her life Louisiana
Standing alone out on the veranda
Christ I must have been a sight
She struggles like a leaf in the wind
Waiting for the music to begin
One thing or another
Always (miss the other lover ?)
Look what a state I'm in
That's my story
Nothing special
Louisiana
Billy moved to Abilene
Lou is searching for morphine
Next stop is Louisiana
No-one there with a welcome banner
I don't suppose that they're too keen
She juggled her gentlemen friends
And suddenly the war ends
Coming home finding other men in hiding
Biding her lonely weekends
What a story
Cast of thousands
Louisiana
Empty birdcage in her room
Shadows shrunk against the moon
Follow her down to Louisiana
Hotel room bedside manner
God I've got to get back soon
God I've got to get back soon
The Church's song "Louisiana" is a hauntingly beautiful piece that takes its listeners on a journey to a place where past pains, regrets, and sorrow live. The song seems to be about a woman who has gone through a lot of pain, possibly related to love or personal relationships. The opening lines talk about an empty birdcage in her room and curtains pulled against the moon, indicating a certain kind of melancholy and loneliness.
We are then led to Louisiana, where the woman is staying in a hotel room. The singer tells the story of how the woman 'wriggles like a fish in a net,' signifying her restlessness and desperation. The lyrics go on to say, "One thing or another, never anybody causing me no regret," indicating that the woman is comfortable living life with or without anyone, and she accepts any regrets that may come her way. The song suggests that the woman is struggling and waiting for something to give meaning to her life.
Line by Line Meaning
Empty birdcage in her room
Her room is empty, but not completely barren, a birdcage remains as an occupant
Curtains pulled against the moon
The curtains were drawn to keep the moonlight away
Follow her down to Louisiana
The journey to Louisiana is worthy of pursuit for an unnamed woman
Hotel room bedside manner
A casual encounter with a woman who has qualities resembling an advertisement for a bedside manner at a hotel room
God I've got to get back soon
The artist wishes to return to a previous way of living or thinking
She wriggles like a fish in a net
She moves around readily and convulsively like a fish caught in a net
Details you can never forget
There are special details that cannot be easily forgotten in life
Never any (bother?) considering the (regret?)
There has not been anyone who has bothered to weigh the regrets of their actions
That's my story
The previous number of lyrics represent the artist's personal history
Cost a fortune
The cost of the previous story's events would amount to a large sum of money
Louisiana
A place where the events in the lyrics took place, and also functions as a title for the song
Black rain falling in the night
Dark rain pours down while it is still night
Strangers meet in the lamplight
Two unknown people encounter one another in the light of a streetlamp
Once in her life Louisiana
An event that happened once in her life, when she was in Louisiana
Standing alone out on the veranda
She is alone on the veranda
Christ I must have been a sight
The artist believes to have been quite the spectacle, and uses religious figureheads in their exclamation
She struggles like a leaf in the wind
A common simile, but the unnamed woman struggles freely and with little direction to where she is going
Waiting for the music to begin
Awaiting for a sign or signal to trigger a change or turn of events
One thing or another
Regardless of what happens, something else will also happen
Always (miss the other lover?)
The unnamed woman always misses the presence of another person half romantically involved with her
Look what a state I'm in
The current state of the artist's mind or emotions brings pity on themselves
Nothing special
There is nothing particularly interesting to mention, just the place where the prior events took place
Billy moved to Abilene
Billy, a person, moved to another location with its own name, in this case, Abilene
Lou is searching for morphine
Another character in the story, Lou is on the hunt for medicine
Next stop is Louisiana
The next destination is set to be Louisiana
No-one there with a welcome banner
No one was there to greet the singer, no special preparations had been made
I don't suppose that they're too keen
The singer doesn't believe they will be enthusiastically welcomed
She juggled her gentlemen friends
The unnamed woman had multiple men in her life, and was able to manage them at once
And suddenly the war ends
The war came to a sudden stop, and this detail is important enough to be featured in the song
Coming home finding other men in hiding
Upon returning home, the unnamed woman found other men hidden away
Biding her lonely weekends
She spent her weekends alone
What a story
The lyrics present a rather wild series of events
Cast of thousands
Many people appeared and influenced the events of the artist's story
Empty birdcage in her room
At the conclusion of the song, this opening line repeats as if coming full circle
Shadows shrunk against the moon
The shadows that appeared on the wall earlier had receded or shrunk back as the moon lost some of its brightness
God I've got to get back soon
The artist repeats themselves, feeling a sense of urgency to go back - possibly to the beginning of the story?
Lyrics Ā© 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