Starting with 2001's brilliant day darkener, Here's Luck, the band charted a course of, as Paste magazine said, capturing "the Zeitgeist of this anxious era." The follow-up, 10,000 Years, was hailed as the bands' masterpiece—a concept album based on Levy's experiences in social work telling the story of a poor urban test tube kids’s rise and fall during a genocidal apocalypse in the not-so-distant future. In 2006 the band released Amygdala, a record thematically exploring fear in its varied forms—abandonment, losing children, war & death, aging, social decay.
In 2009 the band emerges with an offering considerably more hopeful in these desperate times. The tracks on Sunshine Committee reflect a complex, often nuanced intersection of art and humanity while marking a return to a more live, rocking sound.
Once featured guests, Matt Darling on trombone and Steven Kung on trumpet have now become integral core members of the band, adding a vintage Stax/Volt-Muscle Shoals unctuousness to the record. Bass player Trent Norton’s writhingly hooky parts almost singularly define the new improved sound. Levy and Brian Halverson have further perfected their guitar matrimony, playing off each other and swapping leads and obbligatos. Peter Sands, given extra real estate space, layers clavinets, harpsichords, pianos, Hammond organs, Chamberlains, and various odd keyboards from his museum of myriad electronic instruments. Drummer Peter Anderson directs traffic like an empathic inner city principal, alternately slamming and playing with great economy, sensitivity and restraint.
As always, the band refers to the traditional soul and rock touchstones while creating something interesting, unpredictable, insightful, and moving: shades of the Stones' Exile on Main Street, Fresh-era Sly Stone, twilight Hendrix and Revolver-esque Beatles, all with Levy's surreal, evocative and enigmatic lyrics winding sinuously through the savory mix.
Sunshine Committee is the band’s first truly self-produced effort, with the entire band involved in the conception, engineering and editing of the record. Granted permission to record this and his children’s record (Bunny Clogs) at the Institute of Production and Recording where Levy is a teacher, the EP's production provided top students with a “laboratory” environment in which to experiment with various mics and recording techniques, comment on arrangement and performance, and assist in the editing process.
Capping off the roster of contributing talent, friend and mainstay John Fields, freshly finished with recording the Jonas Brothers, offered up his mixing expertise to the band.
On the eve of this, the Honeydog's 10th release, with solo projects and new records percolating, the band emerges confident in their ability to reinvent their sound while keeping alive the best musical and thematic features that have been their trademarks for nearly 15 years.
I Don't Mind
The Honeydogs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I begged and pleaded for you to stay.
You wanted a man better than yourself -
That's not a man, that's something else (something else)
You cut your loses but you may have jumped the gun,
You'll be back I know, you've had your fun now
[Chorus]
I'm tired of waiting on your call
There was a time when I'd give ya anything at all
But you wasted my time...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I don't mind
Well the place is bigger now, I'll get used to it
You figure how but there's no use in it
There's more room in the bed at night
I'm all alone but that's alright (that's alright)
[Chorus x 2]
The Honeydogs' "I Don't Mind" is a heartbreak song that documents the aftermath of a relationship gone awry. The singer reminisces about standing outside his lover's door, begging and pleading with her to stay, only to find out that she was looking for someone better than him. The singer's pride is hurt, but he insists that he will move on and will be better off without her. He accuses his ex-girlfriend of wasting his time and says that he doesn't mind the loneliness that he is currently feeling, since he knows that it's only temporary.
The chorus of the song conveys the singer's desire for his ex-girlfriend to experience the same pain that he is feeling: "Well, it's time you took a fall / I'm tired of waiting on your call / There was a time when I'd give ya anything at all / But you wasted my time / Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / I don't mind." His words communicate his bitterness and resentment towards his ex-girlfriend, who he believes was not able to fully appreciate his love and commitment.
Overall, "I Don't Mind" captures the complicated emotions that arise when a romance comes to an end, and unpacks the intense feelings of betrayal, heartache, and frustration that can accompany the aftermath of a breakup.
Line by Line Meaning
Do you remember me outside your door?
Do you recall the moment where I stood hopeless outside your door, aching for you to reconsider and stay with me?
I begged and pleaded for you to stay.
I begged with every last bit of hope within me for you to remain with me, to not leave and discard everything we had.
You wanted a man better than yourself -
You desired a partner far superior to yourself, someone immaculate beyond belief.
That's not a man, that's something else (something else)
A human of perfection could never exist, they must be someone else, a figment of the imagination.
You cut your loses but you may have jumped the gun,
You disassociated from me to prevent wasting more time, however, this was too hasty, and you may regret it in time.
You'll be back I know, you've had your fun now
It's inevitable that you will return to me, once you've found your fulfillment and enjoyment from elsewhere.
Well, it's time you took a fall
It's the moment you experience your comeuppance, where everything you've worked towards collapses into nothingness.
I'm tired of waiting on your call
I have grown weary of eagerly anticipating your calls, in the hopes of rekindling romance once more.
There was a time when I'd give ya anything at all
I fondly remember a time where no matter what the cost, I would have given you absolutely everything you desired.
But you wasted my time...
I devoted myself to you, yet it appears the love and time I put into our relationship was wasted.
I don't mind
Though heartbroken and disheartened, I will come out unscathed and resilient from the tragic turn of our love life.
Well the place is bigger now, I'll get used to it
The empty and forlorn space left by your departure will take some time to adjust to but I shall remain hopeful.
You figure how but there's no use in it
You persist in contemplating how everything could have been different, however, it's a futile and pointless exercise.
There's more room in the bed at night
Without you beside me, there is extra space in my bed, a tangible object symbolizing the emotional void left in my heart.
I'm all alone but that's alright (that's alright)
Despite being unaccompanied and solitary, I will find contentment in this lonely existence, and gradually rebuild my life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ADAM L. LEVY, NOAH LEVY, THOMAS BORSCHEID, TRENT NORTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind