The Primitives are an alternative rock/indie pop band from Coventry, UK for… Read Full Bio ↴The Primitives are an alternative rock/indie pop band from Coventry, UK formed in 1985. Original singer Keiron McDermott was soon replaced by Tracy Tracy (born Tracy Cattell in Australia), whose blonde good looks and distinctive voice helped the band to achieve great success for a brief period. The rest of the band consisted of PJ Court (born Paul Jonathan Court, on 27 July 1965) (vocals, guitar), Steve Dullaghan (bass) and Pete Tweedie (drums). Their career was also boosted when The Smiths singer Morrissey named them as one of his favourite bands. After a successful first album, which presented them with their UK Top 5 hit single "Crash" (which also peaked at #3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart), their career began to fade in the early 1990s. They split in 1992 following the commercial failure of their final album, 1991's Galore. Their major rivals within the 'bubble pop' scene were Transvision Vamp and The Darling Buds, both of whom bore a similar sound.
In 2009 The Primitives reformed, releasing their first album for 21 years, Echoes and Rhymes, in May 2012. The album features covers by lesser-known female fronted bands from the 1960s.

There are other bands called The Primitives:

2. A band from the United States with Lou Reed and John Cale
3. A garage rock band from the United Kingdom
4. An alternative country band from the United States

2. The Primitives were a band from New York formed in 1964, they released one 7" that year; "The Ostrich/Sneaky Pete. The band was fronted by Lou Reed and featuring John Cale, both later of the Velvet Underground. Ostrich guitar tuning, the all-D tuning particularly credited to the Velvet Underground, originated from the Primitives single the Ostrich. They disbanded in 1965.
The ostrich guitar or ostrich tuning is a type of trivial tuning. It assigns one note to all strings, e.g. E-E-e-e-e'-e' or D-D-D-D-d'-d'.
The term "ostrich guitar" was coined by Lou Reed in 1965 after the song "The Ostrich" by Lou Reed and the Primitives, on which he first used this tuning. John Cale, a collaborator with avant-garde composer La Monte Young, recognised the similarity between Reed's guitar tuning and Young's work involving drone music when he was hired to play Reed's song 'The Ostrich' as part of a fabricated touring group.
Reed and Cale (who would play viola, keyboards and bass) began to collaborate and investigate the connections between ostrich tuning and drone music, as the band introduced new members (such as guitarist Sterling Morrison and percussionist Angus MacLise, another student of La Monte Young) and became known as The Velvet Underground. Cale had composed and recorded 'Loop' in 1964, but which became the first EP released under this band name, composed of drones played on an electric viola, and the combination of both Cale's viola and Reed's guitar tunings would be an early hallmark of their work. Reed used ostrich tunings on the 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico on the songs "Venus in Furs" (appearing at the end of the song) and "All Tomorrow's Parties", which also included Cale playing drones on viola.
According to an interview with drummer Maureen Tucker in What Goes On? No. 4, Reed's ostrich guitar was a guitar that had its frets removed, and was stolen shortly after the album sessions.

3. The Primitives, from Northampton UK, were also known as Mal & the Primitives. They released their debut (Help Me) in November 1964. They released a couple more 45's before relocating to Italy where they released 3 more albums.

4. The Primitives were an alternative country group formed in 1987. Upon discovering the existence of the British band of the same name, they changed their name to Uncle Tupelo.

Sick Of It
The Primitives Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

don't say you're having fun
there's no fire in your sun
there's nothing here that is real
nothing that I'd stay here for
nothing I'd like to steal
And I'm sick of it all
I'm sick of it
don't say you're heaven nigh

there's no stars in your sky
there's nothing here that is real
well nothing that I'd stay here for
nothing I'd like to steal
And I'm sick of it all
I'm sick of it
there's nothing here that is real
nothing that I'd stay here for
nothing I'd like to steal
And I'm sick of it all
I'm sick of it
don't say you're having fun
(don't say you're heaven nigh)
there's no fire in your sun
(there's no stars in your sky)
sick of it
sick of it all

sick of it
sick of it all

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Primitives' song Sick Of It convey a sense of dissatisfaction with the world around the singer. The opening lines, "don't say you're having fun, there's no fire in your sun, there's nothing here that is real," suggest that the person being addressed is pretending to be happy, but the singer sees through the facade. The repeated refrain of "nothing that I'd stay here for, nothing I'd like to steal" emphasizes the lack of authenticity and significance in the singer's environment. Despite the repeated use of negative phrases, the singer is not necessarily angry or emotional, but rather, seems to have accepted the reality of their situation.

The final stanza repeats the first, with the addition of the lines "don't say you're heaven nigh, there's no stars in your sky." These lines suggest that the person being addressed is either hopeful or deluded about a bright future or afterlife, but once again, the singer sees through this illusion. The repeated refrain of "sick of it all" emphasizes the exhaustion and disillusionment the singer feels towards the world around them. Overall, the song seems to convey a sense of weary resignation, as the singer has come to the conclusion that there is nothing worth staying or fighting for in their current circumstances.

Line by Line Meaning

don't say you're having fun
Do not claim to be enjoying yourself

there's no fire in your sun
There is no passion or excitement in your life

there's nothing here that is real
There is no genuine or authentic experience to be found here

nothing that I'd stay here for
There is nothing worth sticking around for

nothing I'd like to steal
There is nothing desirable or valuable to take from this place

And I'm sick of it all
I am fed up with everything about this situation

I'm sick of it
I have had enough and I am done with this situation

don't say you're heaven nigh
Do not claim to be experiencing heaven or paradise

there's no stars in your sky
There is no wonder or magic in your life

sick of it
I am tired of this situation

sick of it all
I am completely worn out and drained by everything