The Jealous Sound was an emo band formed in Los Angeles, California, USA. M… Read Full Bio ↴The Jealous Sound was an emo band formed in Los Angeles, California, USA. Members are vocalist and guitarist Blair Shehan (ex-Knapsack), guitarist Pedro Benito (ex-Sunday's Best), bassist John McGinnis, and drummer Adam Wade. Their first album The Jealous Sound EP was released in 2000. In 2003 they shopped around their demos for a follow-up to their 2000 release The Jealous Sound EP and were set to release an album on Mojo Records. Soon after their signing, Mojo parted ways with Universal leaving them without a distribution deal. Shuffled over to Mojo/Jive and with little interest in the band they decided to leave the label and return to Better Looking Records to record Kill Them With Kindness with producer Tim O'Heir. In 2005 they announced via their website that they had signed to The Militia Group for their follow-up to 2003's Kill Them With Kindness which is to be produced again by Tim O'Heir. The official band website has not been updated since 2005, and rumor has spread that lead singer Blair Shehan has decided to quit the band. Variations on the rumor say that he has given up performing music. However, on June 1, 2006, the band posted a blog on their MySpace, commenting that work on their upcoming LP for The Militia Group is progressing. The band released their second EP, Got Friends, on iTunes on October 14, 2008.

On February 13, 2009, the band posted the a blog, entitled "There is hope for us...." on their Myspace page with a short message promising more from the band soon. "Thank you all for standing by our side.... We will post something with a little more detail soon. Promise. Love, The Jealous Sound."[3] Another blog post confirmed on June 24, 2009 that the band would accompany Sunny Day Real Estate on their 2009 reunion tour.

Since this time, the band's activity rocketed into the public space again, with the announcement of a new album. This was accompanied by a sporadically updated blog featuring updates on the recording sessions.[4] The band announced that they have been joined by friends Nate Mendel of Foo Fighters to play bass and Bob Penn of CoCo B's to play drums on the new album. Part of Mendell's involvement secured them a year of recording and writing in the Foo Fighter's personal studio.

In October 2011, singer Blair Shehan announced that the new album is to be called "A Gentle Reminder" and it will be released in January 2012. This was followed by an official announcement on the band's Facebook page.[5] In anticipation of the release, the band released a new song called "Your Eyes Were Shining" via Soundcloud.[6]

The band headed out on a short promotion tour in December 2011 and promised a full tour in 2012.

A Gentle Reminder was released on January 31st 2012; the album picks up where Kill Them With Kindness left off, not straying too far from the Midwest emo/indie sound that defined the band on their debut full-length but still refining it along the way.

Following a long period of inactivity, on March 29th 2017 singer Blair Shehan announced via their Facebook page that The Jealous Sound are finished, and that a new band called Racquet Club had been formed consisting of himself and drummer Bob Penn, along with Sergie Loobkoff of Samian/Knapsack and Ian Smith.

Bitter Strings
The Jealous Sound Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

So now that I am falling asleep
Exhaust in my eyes
Well, these angry hands
They know they're damned

If I should die before I awake
Well, make no mistake
I'm dying anyway

And this time that we have will soon end
They're waiting in silence for you
And I heard you tell all your friends that
You couldn't wait till it's through
Well, it's through

Who's saving us now
From the bitter strings of the jealous sound?
Who's saving us now?
Well, we'll figure it out

Know that I couldn't accept
I cannot deny
And these angry hands
They won't understand

I drove straight through Texas
Signed with O's and X's
My heart will break
And I know that I can't take

Your exit
Your exit

Overall Meaning

The Jealous Sound's song Bitter Strings is a poignant reflection on the fragility of life and love. The opening lines, "So now that I am falling asleep / Exhaust in my eyes," paint a picture of a worn-out narrator, perhaps tired from the struggles of love and the ups and downs of life. The lines "And this time that we have will soon end / They're waiting in silence for you" suggest a sense of foreboding and the singer's awareness of their own mortality. The repetition of the phrase "I'm dying anyway" reinforces this idea.

The song also explores the theme of jealousy, with the lines "Who's saving us now / From the bitter strings of the jealous sound?" The jealousy referred to here could be interpreted in different ways - perhaps it is jealousy in a romantic sense, or the jealousy that can arise between friends or even within oneself. The repetition of the question "Who's saving us now?" reinforces the idea that ultimately, it is up to us to save ourselves from the negative emotions that can consume us.

The lines "I drove straight through Texas / Signed with O's and X's" could be interpreted as a reference to a tumultuous road trip, with the singer marking their progress with X's and O's. The final lines, "My heart will break / And I know that I can't take / Your exit / Your exit," suggest a sense of loss and heartbreak, perhaps the end of a relationship or the departure of a loved one.

Overall, Bitter Strings is a powerful and introspective song that explores themes of love, mortality, and jealousy.

Line by Line Meaning

So now that I am falling asleep
As I grow more indifferent towards life, I realize I am ready to fall asleep and accept whatever comes next.

Exhaust in my eyes
Even though I'm exhausted and my vision is blurry, I am still determined to move forward.

Well, these angry hands
Despite my anger, my hands seem to be powerless in changing my fate.

They know they're damned
My hands understand that they are doomed to fail, no matter how hard I try.

If I should die before I awake
If death comes for me before I have the chance to wake up and face the world, I am ready to embrace it.

Well, make no mistake
There is no doubt that I am already dying, even if it hasn't happened yet.

I'm dying anyway
Whether it comes now or later, I am sure that death is in my future.

And this time that we have will soon end
This fleeting moment we're living in will pass before we know it; time waits for no one.

They're waiting in silence for you
Death is patiently waiting for all of us; we never know when it will come for us.

And I heard you tell all your friends that
I overheard you telling everyone that

You couldn't wait till it's through
You are eager for this life to be over, to move on to whatever comes next.

Well, it's through
Whatever you were waiting for is over now, and we must face the consequences.

Who's saving us now
As we face our darkest hour, who will come and rescue us?

From the bitter strings of the jealous sound?
How can we escape the destructive pull of envy, hatred, and sorrow that seems to be woven into the fabric of our lives?

Well, we'll figure it out
We may not know the answer now, but we will make it through somehow.

Know that I couldn't accept
I must confess that I have not fully come to terms with my fate.

I cannot deny
Despite my resistance, I know that I cannot change what is to come.

And these angry hands
My hands still shake with anger and frustration, unable to make sense of it all.

They won't understand
No matter how much I try to reason with them, my hands will never understand the point of it all.

I drove straight through Texas
I made my way through life, trying to keep moving forward without any clear direction.

Signed with O's and X's
I marked my progress along the way, leaving a trail of footsteps and a trail of memories behind me.

My heart will break
Even though I may never know what the future holds, I know that my heart will break in the end.

And I know that I can't take
The pain and suffering of this world is too much to bear, and I don't know if I can make it through.

Your exit
When you leave this world, I will feel lost and alone.

Your exit
Your absence will leave a void that no one else can fill.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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