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
Sing for Me
The Fiery Furnaces Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I'm away you'll be the siren that will finally lead me home.
The girl around her father throws her arms to make him stay:
Â??My daddy dear it hails, it blows; you cannot go today!â??
Sing for me, my daughter, sing for me.
When I'm away you'll be the siren that will finally lead me home.
The April mud was on his boots, a' clinging through the fields
And desperate it send up its shoots-but at water's edge it yields.
When I'm away you'll be the siren that will finally lead me home.
The waves were pounding the dock; the pillars creak and growl.
The shoreman loading up the stock; the gulls were crying foul.
Sing for me, my daughter, sing for me.
When I'm away you'll be the siren that will finally lead me home.
The father called up to the ship, â??You need an extra hand?â??
Â??Ah yes, for just a little trip: one month be back at land.â??
The rain had stirred the sea too well; the salt poured on the deck.
At last the captain rang the bell: they ship was left to wreck.
Sing for me, my daughter, sing for me.
When I'm away you'll be the siren that will finally lead me home.
It calm but now the fog if thick: so which way should they head?
The rest knew not and they must be quick-so father softly said:
Sing for me, my daughter, sing for me.
When I'm away you'll be the siren that will finally lead me home.
The Fiery Furnaces's song Sing for Me tells the story of a daughter who is asked by her father to sing for him whenever he is away, as her voice will be the siren that will lead him home. The first few lines of the song show the father asking his daughter to sing for him and reminding her of the importance of her voice. The father then reminisces about the time when he was leaving and his daughter begged him to stay, showing the close bond they have. Throughout the song, the imagery of the sea and the ship enchants the listener and takes them on a journey, as the father is a sailor who sails away often.
In the later part of the song, the lyrics imply that the father's ship encounters a storm, and the daughter's voice becomes even more critical. The storm causes trouble, and the father asks for one more hand to help him sail the ship. As the rain increases, and the waves become rough, the ship wrecks. The father and his team find themselves lost in the fog and desperate to find their way back to safety. The father then asks his daughter once more to sing for him, as her voice could be the only hope for him to return home. The song ends with the father and his team lost at sea, searching for direction, and the daughter's voice echoing his last plea to return home.
Line by Line Meaning
Sing for me, my daughter, sing for me.
The father wants his daughter to sing for him when he's away so that he can find his way home following her voice.
When I'm away you'll be the siren that will finally lead me home.
The daughter's singing will serve as a siren to guide the father home when he's away.
The girl around her father throws her arms to make him stay:
“My daddy dear it hails, it blows; you cannot go today!”
The daughter tries to persuade her father not to leave due to the stormy weather outside.
The April mud was on his boots, a' clinging through the fields
And desperate it send up its shoots-but at water's edge it yields.
The muddy soil stuck to the father's boots while he walked through the muddy fields, but the plants couldn't survive near the water's edge.
The waves were pounding the dock; the pillars creak and growl.
The shoreman loading up the stock; the gulls were crying foul.
The stormy waves were hitting the dock causing the pillars to make an eerie sound. Meanwhile, the shoreman was loading the stock while the seagulls were making unpleasant noises.
The father called up to the ship, “You need an extra hand?”
“Ah yes, for just a little trip: one month be back at land.”
The father offered to lend a hand on the ship and the captain agreed to let him work for a month and return back to land.
The rain had stirred the sea too well; the salt poured on the deck.
At last the captain rang the bell: they ship was left to wreck.
The rain had agitated the sea which caused the salt to pour on the deck. Eventually, the captain rang the bell and the ship was left to wreck.
It calm but now the fog if thick: so which way should they head?
The rest knew not and they must be quick-so father softly said:
The sea was calm but the fog was thick, and the rest of the people on the ship didn't know where to go. The father cautiously suggested a direction to follow.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: GAVIN BROWN, PAUL LAMB, CORY TETFORD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind