The Heavy are a soul-influenced indie rock band which formed in Bath, Engla… Read Full Bio ↴The Heavy are a soul-influenced indie rock band which formed in Bath, England in 2007. The band consists of Kelvin Swaby (vocals), Dan Taylor (guitar), Spencer Page (bass), Chris Ellul (drums) and formerly, Hannah Collins (keyboards). According to Songfacts, when The Heavy performed How Do You Like Me Now? on Late Night With David Letterman, they so impressed the host that he asked the band to play some more - the first time that's ever happened on the show.

The band claims to be from the village of Noid, England, near Bath. However, no such town exists in England. "Noid" has been suspected of being a pun on the "No ID, No Sale" campaign in pubs in the UK.

Forming in the fertile swamps of England’s West Country in the mid-naughties, around the axis of Dan Taylor (guitarist and songwriter) and Kelvin Swaby (vocalist and songwriter,) the Heavy immediately astounded. Jaw dropping, freshly minted riffs, swinging hip-hop drums, funk-ridden bass and Swaby’s startling, Mayfield-esque vocals meant early singles ‘That Kind of Man’ and ‘Colleen’ blew minds and won hearts. The debut album they were taken from – ‘Great Vengeance and Furious Fire’ – became an instant connoisseurs’ classic.

It was their sophomore album, though, that saw them blasting into homes across the globe. ‘The House that Dirt Built’. It also yielded the mighty ‘How You Like Me Now?’ The single was licensed for a major commercial in the 3rd Quarter of the Superbowl (the biggest ad slot in the world) and quite simply went stratospheric.

“It became such a big tune, that people asked, ‘How are you going to top that?’.” Swaby says.

The answer was 2012’s ‘The Glorious Dead,’ the band’s third album. Even deeper, a touch darker, and with shades of Southern Gothic infesting the swampy rock n’ soul of previous records, the album was another giant step forward, Frankensteining swampy voodoo and b-movie zombies with garage rock and Gospel-soaked soul.

Lead single ‘What Makes a Good Man?’ showed that The Heavy were able to write brilliant singles time after time, with synchs snowing in once again, and American radio coming on board. The band toured the world exhaustively, wowing audiences with their transcendental live performances.

“It was over the top, in a good way,” adds Heavy frontman Kelvin Swaby. “We went pretty cinematic, setting out to score a film that hasn’t been written.”
“It’s good to have a bit of light and shade,” Taylor adds.

Since then, The Heavy has gone on to achieve storming success in Japan, playing Fuji Rock, chalking up a #1 alternative album on iTunes Japan, scoring a major Pepsi synch and playing Japan’s biggest breakfast TV show, ‘Sukkiri.’

Their music was used in the stunning Guiness Sapeurs ad, they played Glastonbury, sold out Shepherd’s Bush Empire and re-recorded How You Like Me Now? with none other than 50 Cent, to launch ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Draft Week.

To top it all, How You Like Me Now? reached Gold status in the United States – a stunning achievement for an English, independent artist. How to top all that, you might ask? Well, there’s a new album on the way, and The Heavy just happen to have a habit of exceeding themselves…

Stuck
The Heavy Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Stop living this life, so cautiously
Because the fear of what you might lose
Is the fear of what you’re gonna be
(Stuck With)
I know I’m not always smiling
But don’t be sold by how it seems
The only time that I feel this joy
Is when I’m chasing unfathomed dreams

Heard you’re getting your, high hopes
In this land there is, no hope

Sick and tired, of making my worst decisions
When I’m wired, to the moon
I thought you were my friends, you’re just a load of big mouths with two loose ends
I know it’s all pretend

He lives a life full of questions, and bad ideas
Mixes faith with perception, until his vision is clear
She’s got a pocket full of answers, she doesn’t wanna share
But that’s the type of self-indulgence, that he can’t bare

Heard you’re getting your, high hopes
In this land there is, no hope

Sick and tired, of making my worst decisions
When I’m wired, to the moon
I thought you were my friends, you’re just a load of big mouths with two loose ends
I know it’s all pretend

(Ooo - Ooo - Ooo)
(Ooo - Ooo - Ooo)
(Ooo - Ooo - Ooo)
(Ooo - Ooo - Ooo)

Sick and tired, of making my worst decisions
When I’m wired, to the moon

I thought you were my friends, you’re just a load of big mouths with two loose ends
I know it’s all pretend

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of The Heavy's song "Stuck" depict a relationship that is at a standstill, waiting on one person to make a decision. The first verse sets the tone, mentioning the coldness of the morning as the person leaves, but implying that when they return, things will be explosive. The singer is resigned to waiting, as they have never had a say in the matter of being alone. They admit that it's tough to stay in this situation, and they can't deny the truth that they can do without love.

The chorus repeats the title phrase, emphasizing the singer's stuckness, and how it depends entirely on the other person to make their mind up. The second verse contains imagery of shaking things till they turn gold, and the singer wonders whether the other person is shaking out the lies, leaving only the honest truth. However, the truth doesn't matter anymore because it's too late to change the outcome, and the singer feels trapped in the situation.

The bridge expresses the singer's dilemma clearly. They don't know if they can continue in the relationship by themselves, feeling responsible for keeping their partner happy. They feel loved, but incapable of carrying on without a decision from the other person. The final chorus then repeats the title phrase twice more, emphasizing the singer's emotional plight, and how they can't move until the other person makes a decision.

StuckThe Heavy Lyrics

Stuck
The Heavy Lyrics