All parts of the album Tiger and the Duke were recorded individually and each member was only able to hear the part they contributed to the album. The only member who heard the whole album during its recording process was Balling. The group released their next album Lover, the Lord Has Left Us... on May 30th, 2006.
Keith Goodwin was announced as one of the vocalists for the next album, taking on the pseudonym of 'The Penguin'.
The Sound of Animals Fighting have only performed live four times, all of which were released on a DVD, entitled "We Must Become The Change We Want To See". Three of their four shows took place in California (Anaheim, L.A., and San Diego), USA, and one in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
With the release of The Ocean And The Sun, the band issued a series of 400 masks, 100 of each of 4 designs, paired with a 7" for a limited preorder of the album. This was the first and only vinyl release and novelty item sold by the band.
In 2022 the band would be revived with a similar line-up as before, and would release the 4 track EP "APESHIT" (their first musical content in 14 years) to promote their 13 date tour across the US in January of 2023.
Original Lineup(Tiger And The Duke):
The Nightingale - Rich Balling (Vocals), formerly of the Rx Bandits.
The Walrus - Matt Embree (Lead Guitar), Lead Vocals/Guitar for Rx Bandits.
The Lynx - Chris Tsagakis (Drums), Drums for Rx Bandits.
The Tiger - Randy "R2K" Strohmeyer (Guitar), Guitar for Finch.
The Tortoise - Derek Doherty (Bass), Bass for Finch.
The Skunk - Anthony Green (Vocals), Vocalist for Circa Survive.
The Bear - Chris Fudurich (Mixing and Programming), Produced for Rx Bandits, Nada Surf, and Allister.
The Raven - Marc Mcknight (Artwork), Bass for Atreyu.
The Swan - Vanessa Chibba (Public Relations)
The Dog - Chris Haynie (Author of Story that Accompanies the Music)
The Ferret - Kyle Homme (Engineer)
The Octopus - Charlie Adams (Patrone)
The Armadillo - Rich Zahniser (Engineer, Vocals), Ex-Hippos
The Llamma - Matthew Kelly (Vocals), Vocalist for The Autumns
Previous Lineup(Lover, The Lord Has Left Us...):
The Nightingale - Rich Balling (Vocals), formerly of the Rx Bandits.
The Walrus - Matt Embree (Lead Guitar), Lead Vocals/Guitar for the Rx Bandits.
The Lynx - Chris Tsagakis (Drums), Drums for the Rx Bandits.
The Hyena - Ryan Baker (Recording, Mixing).
The Skunk - Anthony Green (Vocals), Vocalist for Circa Survive.
The Giraffe - Stephen O'Malley (Album Artwork), Guitarist for Sunn O))).
The Ram - Craig Owens (Vocals), former Vocalist of Chiodos and Cinematic Sunrise.
The Penguin - Keith Goodwin (Vocals), Vocalist for Days Away and Good Old War.
The Wolf - Matthew Kelly (Vocals), Vocalist for The Autumns.
Previous Lineup (The Ocean and The Sun):
The Nightingale - Rich Balling (Vocals), formerly of the Rx Bandits.
The Walrus - Matt Embree (Guitar, Bass, and Production), Lead Vocals/Guitar for the Rx Bandits.
The Lynx - Chris Tsagakis (Drums), Drums for the Rx Bandits.
The Skunk - Anthony Green (Vocals), Vocalist for Circa Survive.
The Wolf - Matthew Kelly (Vocals), Vocalist for The Autumns provides guest vocals on "On The Occasion Of Wet Snow"
Current Lineup (APESHIT):
The Nightingale - Rich Balling (Vocals), formerly of the Rx Bandits.
The Walrus - Matt Embree (Guitar, Bass, and Production), Lead Vocals/Guitar for the Rx Bandits.
The Lynx - Chris Tsagakis (Drums), Drums for the Rx Bandits.
The Skunk - Anthony Green (Vocals), Vocalist for Circa Survive.
The Wolf - Matthew Kelly (Vocals), Vocalist for The Autumns
The Penguin - Keith Goodwin (Vocals), Vocalist for Days Away and Good Old War.
Jonathan Hischke (Bass) and Steve Choi (Guitar and Keyboard) are also in the touring lineup, however have not been listed with monikers.
The Golden Boy That Was Swallowed By The Sea
The Sound of Animals Fighting Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where will their memory go, where did their minds come from?
And I was only a child when I first looked into your eyes
And saw your body rise up over the ocean
We saw the golden boy bleed love onto the sand like rain
While we were injecting colors into our open veins
And deep beneath the water, the dead black silence crawled far away across the ocean
The golden boy is swallowed by the sea
And love is sometimes violent, and violence has no constraint
And I can see inside you, Yes, I can feel what you think
And with this knife of silver I will release your soul
And throw it out into the ocean, nine million miles in a straight line
In a place just like this, in a ship on the water, where no dimensions exist
My hands are hitting your picture, and the image, it shifts
I tear it up and scatter it over the ocean, the golden boy that was swallowed by the sea.
The Sound of Animals Fighting’s song, “The Golden Boy That Was Swallowed by the Sea”, is a thought-provoking and introspective look at life, love, and death. The opening line “And endless crowds of people, they walk upon this stone”, juxtaposes the transience of human life against the permanence of a stone, questioning where memories go and where thoughts come from. The second line, “Where will their memory go, where did their minds come from?” hints at the fleeting nature of existence and the incapacity of human beings to fully comprehend the extent of the universe’s mysteries.
The lyrics then take us back to the singer’s childhood where he first looked into someone’s eyes, possibly a lover’s, and watched their body rise above the ocean. The imagery here evokes a sense of wonder and amazement, yet there is also an underlying sense of melancholy as we switch to the present tense where “The golden boy is swallowed by the sea”, and love is characterized as violent, and violence “has no constraint”.
The final stanza turns introspective again, as the singer talks about seeing inside the person they love, understanding their thoughts, and using a “knife of silver” to release their soul into the ocean, signifying a sense of letting go and release. Overall, “The Golden Boy That Was Swallowed by the Sea” is a complex and multi-layered song, questioning life’s fleeting nature, the concept of love and how we relate to others, and the transcendental beauty of nature and its power.
Line by Line Meaning
And endless crowds of people, they walk upon this stone
Many people walk on this path, but they don't know where their memories or thoughts come from.
Where will their memory go, where did their minds come from?
The people walking on the path don't know where their memories will go or where their thoughts originated.
And I was only a child when I first looked into your eyes
When I first met you, I was just a child, and I saw greatness in your eyes.
And saw your body rise up over the ocean
I saw you rise above the ocean, as if you had some special power.
We saw the golden boy bleed love onto the sand like rain
We witnessed a beloved person experiencing a painful loss and weeping profusely.
While we were injecting colors into our open veins
As we were going through the pain of our own struggles, we sought solace by expressing ourselves artistically.
And deep beneath the water, the dead black silence crawled far away across the ocean
In the depths of the ocean, there is a silent and somber darkness that we can't comprehend.
The golden boy is swallowed by the sea
The beloved person is lost to the depths of the sea, never to return.
And love is sometimes violent, and violence has no constraint
Love can lead to hurtful actions, and those actions sometimes cannot be stopped or controlled.
And I can see inside you, Yes, I can feel what you think
I can understand your feelings and thoughts because I know you so well.
And with this knife of silver I will release your soul
Using this silver knife, I will set your soul free from your earthly body.
And throw it out into the ocean, nine million miles in a straight line
I will cast your soul out into the vastness of the ocean, drifting away from this world.
In a place just like this, in a ship on the water, where no dimensions exist
The place where your soul goes has no limits or boundaries, just like our imagination.
My hands are hitting your picture, and the image, it shifts
I'm hitting your picture, trying to change the past or the image of you that I have in my mind.
I tear it up and scatter it over the ocean, the golden boy that was swallowed by the sea.
I rip the picture apart and throw it into the ocean, where it joins the golden boy who was lost to the sea.
Contributed by Ella F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.