The Fiery Furnaces are an inventive and often challenging art pop group fro… Read Full Bio ↴The Fiery Furnaces are an inventive and often challenging art pop group from Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Oak Park, Illinois -- a suburb of Chicago -- they consist of the brother and sister team of Matthew Friedberger and Eleanor Friedberger, and are currently joined by Jason Loewenstein (Sebadoh), Bob D'Amico and Michael Goodman when playing live on tour.

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

Single Again
The Fiery Furnaces Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I married a man oh then
I married a man oh then
I married a man he was the plague of my life
And I wish I was single again
I wish I was single again
Cause when I was single, my pockets did jingle and I wish I was single again
He beat me and banged me oh then
He beat me and banged me oh then

He beat me and banged me he swore he would hang me and I wish I was single again
He went for the rope oh then
He went for the rope oh then
He went for the rope and I think I was broke
And then I wish I was single again
Cause when I was single, my pockets did jingle and I wish I was single again
My husband he died oh then
My husband he died oh then
My husband he died and I laughed till I cried to think I was single again
I married another oh then
I married another oh then
I married another he was the devil's grandfather and I wish I was single again
He beat me and banged me oh then

He beat me and banged me oh then
He beat me and banged me he swore he would hang me and I wish I was single again

Overall Meaning

The Fiery Furnaces' song "Single Again" tells a story of a woman who married two men, both of whom were abusive towards her. The lyrics express her regret for marrying them and her longing to be single again. The repetition of the phrase "I wish I was single again" emphasizes her desire to be free from these harmful relationships.

In the first verse, she describes her first husband as the "plague of her life" and reveals that he beat and banged her, even threatening to hang her with a rope. The second verse portrays her relief when he died and her subsequent marriage to another man, who proves to be just as abusive. The lyrics again emphasize the desire to be single again and free from the violence.

Overall, the song sheds light on the damaging effects of abusive relationships and the importance of independence and freedom in a person's life.

Line by Line Meaning

I married a man oh then
The singer got married to a man in the past.

I married a man he was the plague of my life
The husband was a nuisance in the singer's life.

And I wish I was single again
The singer regrets getting married.

Cause when I was single, my pockets did jingle and I wish I was single again
The financial freedom of being single is missed.

He beat me and banged me oh then
The husband physically abused the artist.

He beat me and banged me he swore he would hang me and I wish I was single again
The husband threatened to kill the singer.

He went for the rope oh then
The husband attempted to strangle the singer.

He went for the rope and I think I was broke And then I wish I was single again
The husband caused financial damage to the artist, causing her to wish for her single life back.

My husband he died oh then
The first husband is no longer alive.

My husband he died and I laughed till I cried to think I was single again
The artist found joy in being single again after her husband's death.

I married another oh then
The singer got married for a second time.

I married another he was the devil's grandfather and I wish I was single again
The second husband was terrible and the artist wished to be single once more.

He beat me and banged me oh then
The second husband also physically abused the singer.

He beat me and banged me he swore he would hang me and I wish I was single again
Like the first, the second husband also threatened to kill the singer.

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER, MATTHEW FRIEDBERGER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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