The Connells is an American band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a … Read Full Bio ↴The Connells is an American band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a guitar-oriented, melodic, power pop style of rock music, with introspective lyrics that reflect the American South.

Guitarist Mike Connell formed the band in 1984, along with his brother David Connell on bass, Doug MacMillan on vocals, and future filmmaker John Schultz on drums. This initial four-person line-up was quickly supplemented by the addition of George Huntley on second guitar, keyboards, and vocals. Around the same time, former Johnny Quest drummer Peele Wimberley replaced Schultz, finalizing the "classic" line-up of the band.

From the beginning of the group, Mike Connell wrote both the music and the lyrics of the majority of the band’s songs, although he was not the band's primary lead singer. Connell’s influences included the 1960's guitar pop of his childhood, including The Byrds and The Beatles; in an early interview, he stated that the first song he wrote as a teenager was titled “Psychedelic Butterfly."

Like Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Connell and Huntley played Rickenbacker guitars for the first several years of the band’s career, creating a jangly, folk-rock sound reminiscent of The Byrds and other Southern U.S. and North Carolina bands of the era, such as the dB's and Let's Active.

A re-recorded version of “Darker Days” provided the title track to the band’s debut album, which was produced by fellow North Carolinian Don Dixon and released in 1985 on Elvis Costello's Demon Records in the UK and the band’s own Black Park Records label in the U.S.

After touring heavily behind Darker Days, the Connells re-entered the studio in 1986 with Dixon and R.E.M. producer Mitch Easter to record their second album, Boylan Heights. The decision to work with Easter continued to perpetuate the comparisons to R.E.M.

Although the band shopped Boylan Heights to various labels, the major record companies, including Columbia Records, which expressed some mild interest, passed on it; the record was ultimately released in 1987 on mid-major TVT Records, which had made its name releasing a series of "Tee Vee Toons" television theme song compilation CDs. TVT would prove to be no commercial match for R.E.M.'s own mid-major label, I.R.S. Records, and over the next decade, The Connells would engage in a series of disputes with the label, on at least one occasion suing, unsuccessfully, to break their recording contract.

Despite the problems with TVT, Boylan Heights was a substantial college radio hit, and The Connells continued to tour relentlessly. During this period, both Connell and Huntley began to move away from their twelve-string Rickenbackers towards six-string Fender and Gibson guitars, leading to a heavier, less folky sound on Fun and Games, the 1989 follow-up album.

Fun and Games was quickly followed in 1990 by One Simple Word, which was recorded in Wales with U.K. producer Hugh Jones.

After a three-year recording hiatus, which included more legal jousting with TVT Records, a rejuvenated Connells released Ring in 1993. While European music fans made Ring a platinum record outside the United States, such high level success in America remained elusive. 1996's Weird Food and Devastation failed to build on the momentum established by its predecessor.

In 1998, the band released Still Life, which marked their final album for TVT. The band released Old School Dropouts on the revived Black Park Records label in 2000. The band recorded the record themselves and promoted it sparingly in the American South.

Peele Wimberley and George Huntley have since left the band. Wimberley briefly played with another band called Parklife, and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue interests in Hollywood and in electronic music. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles band, The Lamps.
Huntley is now selling real estate and working part time at the University of North Carolina music department.

Peele Wimberley was replaced on drums by Steve Ritter; after several years Ritter was soon replaced by Chris Stevenson on drums, and Mike Ayers took George's place on lead guitar. The new lineup recorded the album Old School Dropouts.

In 1993, they released "''74-'75" which remains their most popular song. It is based on experiences of the Class of 1975 in a high school in Raleigh, North Carolina. The video juxtaposed original yearbook pictures with the class members as they appeared at the time. And then in 2015, the producers tracked down the original members once again, and produced a remixed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6l3Lh2cb_g

The last official release of the band was in 2001. They still occasionally perform together, including a reunion concert in 2020.

Too High
The Connells Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

So the trouble got your tongue
And all you pulled it out together
Finally set things straight
Sounds about right

Being something
Well I don't think so,
You do nothing like I doubt you will

Being something

What's that now and
What's that you forced?
Better known as the answer
What's that you now and
What's that you forced?

On you own it's just the same.
But you're sure it's for the better.
Always on the fence
Well the words just won't ring true.

Being something
Well I don't think so,
You do nothing like I doubt you will
Being something

What's that now and
What's that you forced?
Better known as the answer

What's that you now and
What's that you forced?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Connells's song "Too High" appear to be about someone who is going through a difficult time and struggling to express themselves. The phrase "the trouble got your tongue" implies that something has happened to the person that has made it difficult for them to speak, and that they may feel like they are under pressure to say the right thing. However, the line "all you pulled it out together" suggests that they have managed to get past this difficulty and have finally managed to "set things straight".

The lines "Being something/Well I don't think so,/You do nothing like I doubt you will" suggest that there is some uncertainty about this person's identity and what they are capable of. They may be struggling to find their place in the world, or to live up to the expectations of others. The repeated question "What's that now and/What's that you forced?" suggests that the person is being pushed to do something they don't want to do, or to reveal something they don't want to reveal. The phrase "better known as the answer" implies that there is a solution to this problem that the person is reluctant to face.

The final verse of the song appears to be about the difficulty of making a decision when you are unsure of your own feelings. The line "always on the fence" suggests that the person is hesitant to commit to one path or another, and that they may be second-guessing themselves. The phrase "the words just won't ring true" suggests that the person is struggling to articulate their true feelings, and that they may be saying things that they don't really mean. Overall, the lyrics to "Too High" seem to be about the challenges of finding one's place in the world and navigating difficult circumstances.

Line by Line Meaning

So the trouble got your tongue
Your inability to speak is due to the problems you're facing

And all you pulled it out together
You finally managed to overcome all the issues that were hindering you

Finally set things straight
Resolved all misunderstandings and issues

Sounds about right
This seems like the perfect solution to the problem

Being something
Trying to be someone special

Well I don't think so,
But I don't believe you can achieve that

You do nothing like I doubt you will
Your actions contradict your words

What's that now and
What are you doing?

What's that you forced?
Did you compel yourself to do something you didn't want to?

Better known as the answer
Are you trying to find a solution to the problem?

What's that you now and
What are you trying to do now?