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.
Thru' the Flowers
The Primitives Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm cut loose, out of sight
Slipping through shadows
You won't find me
Found myself all at sea
And you won't find me, no, no
And you won't find me, no, no
And you won't even know
If I could only make you see
Then you could follow me
Through the flowers
Through the flowers
Feel the sun burning bright
I'm cut loose, out of sight
Singing in the daises
You won't find me
Found myself lost at sea
And you won't see me, no, no
And you won't see me, no, no
Feel the sun burning bright
I'm cut loose, out of sight
Singing in the daises
You won't find me
Found myself lost at sea
And you won't see me, no, no
And you won't see me, no, no
The lyrics to The Primitives' song Thru' the Flowers are about feeling lost and free. The first verse suggests the feeling of being liberated, cut loose, and slipping through shadows. It highlights the desire for freedom and independence from something or someone that is holding the singer down. The second verse emphasizes the singer's feeling of being lost at sea, attempting to go unnoticed, and singing amongst the daises. The chorus then repeats the idea of freedom, this time suggesting that others could follow them into the unknown.
The song's lyrics can be interpreted as representing the free-spiritedness of youth and the desire to break away from societal norms. The flowers in the chorus could represent the carefree and positive aspect of youth, whereas the sea in the verses could represent the unknown or the endless possibilities of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Feel the sun burning bright
The sensation of the sun being intense and bright
I'm cut loose, out of sight
I'm free and not visible to anyone
Slipping through shadows
Slipping or moving unnoticed through the darkness
You won't find me
You cannot locate me
Found myself all at sea
Feeling lost or confused
And you won't find me, no, no
You cannot locate me, it's not possible
And you won't find me, no, no
You cannot locate me, it's not possible
And you won't even know
You will not have any knowledge
What it took to let you go
The intensity of the act of separating from someone/something/someplace
If I could only make you see
If it was possible for me to make you aware
Then you could follow me
You could come along with me
Through the flowers
Moving or traveling amidst a garden of flowers
Through the flowers
Moving or traveling amidst a garden of flowers
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: PAUL JONATHAN COURT, STEPHEN ANTHONY DULLAGHAN, TRACEY SPENCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daniel Falcon
following this band all these years , i can say they where fresh then and now and I'm 54
Pet pb15kyou
And I'm 60
Sara Richmond
So brill to hear this once more!!!!
Wayne Scannell
One of my favourite songs. Love the primitives especially the lead singer Tracy Tracy
Wayne Scannell
And I still have this exact album. Shame they didn't bring this out in the 1980's. Of course crash is the most popular one and currently being used for an advert on Sky TV
Abe
This song is so nostalgic for me that I wanna go back into the past.
Pet pb15kyou
Still makes me cry after all these years... brilliant
Johnny Oldham
The perfect mix of an angelic voice and distortion
Mike Maki
I love this song.
CEIVE4EVER
Maybe the album version is much better than the single. But it's so precious too.