The Fiery Furnaces signed with the Rough Trade Records music label in 2002, and recorded their debut album in the same year.
Gallowsbird's Bark, released in the autumn of 2003, garnered critical praise for its clever wordplay and original songwriting.
Anybody who thought they had the band pinned at that point was quickly proven wrong with the 2004 release Blueberry Boat, a rock-operatic album whose track lengths were often six minutes long or longer.
While some critics adored the album for its vast complexity, others found it all a little too overwhelming.
After releasing EP in 2005 (considered a full-length album because of its 41 minute play time, but is "officially" an EP) the band then released two further albums - Rehearsing My Choir (2005), a radio-dramaesque concept album about the Friedbergers' Greek grandmother; and Bitter Tea (2006), which is a comparably more conventional album built on still-bent song structures, but with more pop-oriented stylings.
In October 2007 the band released their fifth full-length album, Widow City.
Trivia
- Their name is both a reference to the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)" and to the book of Daniel in the Bible.
- Matthew Friedberger has also released two solo albums simultaneously.
- Eleanor Friedberger is rumoured to be in a relationship with Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, because the song "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" from their second album is about her.
- Due to the garage blues elements of the band’s sound and the fact that the band members are siblings, The Fiery Furnaces was often compared by the press to The White Stripes (The White Stripes sometimes promote themselves as siblings, though they are not).
Official Website: www.thefieryfurnaces.com
1917
The Fiery Furnaces Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We downed our Pils, and over at the South Shore, they sipped their sherry.
I opened my Kaiserized speller to learn what they know:
Nurse killers, annexers-executioners, wo!
Hey Slavonians, be ye mindful
That our â??tis tongue dies never.
The happy Hun Felsch sure likes his blond beer
Last year he had enough and got fixed on the cardinal
Who'd pardon all
The riff-raff and all their sinister ways and halfs and he laughs
Over on 56th, and he's got the arsenic on his left White Sock
And he sees the chicken stock in a big black pot
And he pours in the lot, but what ruined or saved the day
Was that the soup then turned gray, and a hundred higher-ups came
Back from the hospital to keep getting wafers from Mundelein:
But now the Gigantics are getting the tar taken out of their pine
By my hero Red Faber and I'm ready to get rapprochement with my neighbor
As part of the healthy back and forthâ??
But not if he's from up north.
So I ask Dad, Why can't we ever win, ever win, once?
Go ask Dad, why you can't ever win, ever win, once.
The lyrics to The Fiery Furnaces's song 1917 are a mixture of nonsensical phrases and fragmented thoughts, creating a stream of consciousness effect. It describes a group of friends who are drinking and discussing various topics, ranging from the war to the color of their soup. The first verse mentions their location, Morgan, and the people they are with, Janko, Jerko, and Jerry. They drink Pils, while others sip sherry at the South Shore. The singer then reaches for a "Kaiserized speller," possibly meaning a dictionary with German influence, and reads about "Nurse killers, annexers-executioners."
The chorus, "Hey Slavonians, be ye mindful / That our 'tis tongue dies never," seems to be a plea to remember their heritage, implying that they will never forget it. The next verse mentions a Happy Hun named Felsch, who likes his blonde beer, and the singer also likes his doubles. The reference to Felsch could be a nod to a former German baseball player, Benny Kauff, who was also known as "Happy" Joe Felsch. The chorus repeats, with a patriotic message about not allowing their language to die.
The third verse talks about a Cardinal, who pardons riff-raff with sinister ways. The singer mentions 56th Street and a man who has arsenic on his left white sock. The next few lines are about a chicken soup that turned gray, and the Gigantics (possibly referring to a baseball team) getting tar taken out of their pine. The singer is ready for rapprochement with his neighbor, provided he's not from up north.
Overall, the lyrics seem to be a mix of random thoughts about war, baseball, personal experiences, and possibly a reference to the German-American experience in the United States during World War I.
Line by Line Meaning
Going down Morgan with Janko, Jerko, and Jerry,
Walking down Morgan street with my friends Janko, Jerko, and Jerry.
We downed our Pils, and over at the South Shore, they sipped their sherry.
We drank a type of beer called Pils while others at South Shore were drinking sherry.
I opened my Kaiserized speller to learn what they know:
I opened my Kaiserized spelling book to see what information they had.
Nurse killers, annexers-executioners, wo!
The book contained information about executioners who are also annexers of lands and killers of nurses.
Hey Slavonians, be ye mindful
That our â??tis tongue dies never.
A message to Slavonians to always remember that their native language is important and should never be forgotten.
The happy Hun Felsch sure likes his blond beer
And I like his doubles so much I might even cheer.
A German guy named Felsch likes a light-colored beer and I like his strong drinks so much that I could possibly cheer about it.
Last year he had enough and got fixed on the cardinal
Who'd pardon all
The riff-raff and all their sinister ways and halfs and he laughs
Last year Felsch had enough and became devoted to the cardinal who could pardon all the criminals and their wicked actions, and Felsch laughed about it.
Over on 56th, and he's got the arsenic on his left White Sock
And he sees the chicken stock in a big black pot
And he pours in the lot, but what ruined or saved the day
Was that the soup then turned gray, and a hundred higher-ups came
Back from the hospital to keep getting wafers from Mundelein:
Felsch is on 56th street and he has a poison called arsenic on his left sock. He pours a lot of chicken stock on a pot but the soup turned gray which saved the day, even a hundred important people came from the hospital to get wafers from Mundelein.
But now the Gigantics are getting the tar taken out of their pine
By my hero Red Faber and I'm ready to get rapprochement with my neighbor
The Gigantics are being defeated by my hero, Red Faber, and I'm ready to reconcile with my neighbor.
As part of the healthy back and forth??
But not if he's from up north.
I want to have a healthy conversation with my neighbor, but not if he's from up north.
So I ask Dad, Why can't we ever win, ever win, once?
I ask my dad why we can never win anything, not even once.
Go ask Dad, why you can't ever win, ever win, once.
Encouraging someone else to ask their dad why they can never win anything.
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: MATTHEW FRIEDBERGER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind