Vasoli has lately been focusing on his side project, known as Person L. Tom has been recording with his new band, Cheap Seats, with Matt as their manager. Mike also has a side project, called The Traded Series. The origins of the group that would become The Starting Line go back to 1999, via an AOL instant message from Churchville, Pennsylvania guitarist Matt Watts to vocalist/bassist Kenny Vasoli. It asked if the then fourteen-year-old Vasoli, who was at that time in a band called Smash Adams, was interested in "Jamming and shit", as the message title read.
Only a few weeks later, Vasoli found himself rehearsing with his future bandmates Watts, guitarist Mike Golla and drummer Tom Gryskewicz. Soon, the band started touring under the name Sunday Drive, selling out home-made merchandise and a self-recorded demo cassette that the guys titled 'Four Songs'. Their first official release was a three-way split with The Jimmy Tuesday Band and The Commercials contributing three songs each, the work released on KickStart Audio in 2000.
Sunday Drive was soon approached by We the People Records and asked to produce a recording session (the infamous We the People Records Sessions). Set for a release in December 2000, the twelve songs were initially planned to become the band's debut full-length With Hopes of Starting Over on We the People Records, but they ended up serving only as demos for tracks on future releases, as the band signed with Drive-Thru Records in April 2001. On Drive-Thru, they soon released their debut EP With Hopes of Starting Over. Yet, as the name Sunday Drive was already taken by a Christian rock band, they went on as The Starting Line.
On July 16, 2002, almost exactly one year after the release of their EP, the full-length Say It Like You Mean It followed. The songs ranged from energetic and fast-paced to melancholy and calm, dealing with performing on stage ("Given the Chance"), feeling homesick ("Left Coast Envy") and getting even with Vasoli's ex-girlfriend Karina ("Up & Go", "Hello Houston", among others). The hit single "The Best of Me" and its two music videos, as well as the second single "Leaving", received heavy radio and TV airplay, securing The Starting Line a spot on the Warped Tour.
Due to their desire to put out new material, the band decided to release an all-unplugged EP, recorded in three sessions over the following year. The first three songs (recorded in The Prize Fight's Bob Jones' bedroom in August 2002), the second session (recorded in Vasoli's basement in March 2003) and the last track (recorded on the band's touring bus in April 2003) became The Make Yourself at Home EP, released on November 25, 2003. The CD and the DVD version issued simultaneously, featuring an acoustic set performed live at Skate & Surf 2003 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, would be their last releases put out solely on Drive-Thru Records, as The Starting Line was signed by Geffen Records soon afterwards.
Their major label debut, Based on a True Story, came out in May 2005. Lyrically, the band dissociated themselves from the post-relationship formula that was predominant on their previous records. On this album, a lot of the songs (e.g. "Inspired By the $", "Autography" and "The B-List") were explicitly inspired by the band's disdain for their record label Geffen and its executives. The album was far more successful than the band's 2002 effort and sold 42,000 copies within its first week, as opposed to its predecessor's 11,000. The release was followed by the semi-headlining Nintendo Fusion Tour with Fall Out Boy, kicking off in September 2005. A few dates into the tour, The Starting Line were — at their request — released from their record deal with Geffen, and became free agents. In early January 2006, their signing with Virgin Records was announced.
On March 5, 2008 the band announced in an e-mail and on Absolutepunk.net they would be going on a break in order for Ken and Brian to explore Person L, Matt and Tom to explore The Seventy Six, and Mike to spend time with his two daughters and explore The Traded Series. The band had been playing with the idea of coming back in 2011, but in a chat with absolutepunk.net, Kenny Vasoli said, ""it's looking good, may even be earlier. I hung with Matt and Tom the other day, we all are still in love with one another.
On November 10, 2009, The Starting Line released their first-ever live concert CD, film and documentary DVD titled "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us" via Image Entertainment on a 2-disc set. Through intimate and honest interviews with the band, friends and family fans will get a glimpse into the inner workings of the group and a career that spanned nearly a decade, five releases, and thousands of shows.
On December 29, 2009, The Starting Line had a reunion concert at the Theater of Living Arts. Starting Line guitarist Matt Watts stated on the website AbsolutePunk that "this doesn't mean that TSL are back together....It simply means that we're taking a break from our break, and wanted to play a fun show in Philadelphia and continue to focus on our lives outside of TSL"
The Starting Line added a second holiday show on December 30, 2009 in Philadelphia at the Trocadero Theater. This was added due to the fact that the first holiday show scheduled for December 29, 2009 sold out in a little over an hour and the band would like to give their local fans a better chance to see them. Towards the end of their set, Kenny Vasoli announced the band's reunion. However, the group has only toured intermittently since then.
Main Website: http://www.startinglinerock.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thestartingline
The Night Life
The Starting Line Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The ring of the bell gives a yell
To the crowd that's behind you
Did she sweep you off your feet
Are you deciding not to leave without her
Without her tonight
Break down all the chairs on the tables
Give up and Get into the van and go away again
Because the things you leave in the last town
Are getting out of hand
I'm sorry
I'm sorry about it
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
Tap out when the weight on you're shoulders comes down on you
You're gasping for air, and its just not fair
He gets to be with her
Here you sit trying hard,
To forget something your thinking of
I'm sorry about it
Do you miss her so bad it hurts
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
You're all caught up
After sleeping for days
Makes up for nights you spent awake
It will take awhile to see that smile
That's laid dormant since she?s gone
You're all caught up
After sleeping for days
Makes up for nights you spent awake
It will take awhile to see that smile
That's laid dormant since she?s gone
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
The Starting Line's "The Night Life" talks about the aftermath of a night out. The song represents a conversation between the singer and his friends who they believe have had an unforgettable night. The song revolves around the chorus which repeats the phrase, "at least you lived to talk about it". The lyrics display a certain degree of nostalgia in which the singer cannot forget about a girl he met the previous night.
The verse talks about the singer's interest in a girl that he met during his night out. The verse speculates whether his friend was swept off his feet by the girl or not. The chorus talks about how they live to talk about the night and that they got their health; however, the singer seemed to have missed something since he couldn't get the girl. The second verse talks about how the singer has to leave again, as things tend to get out of hand after he leaves a town, but he is still fixated on the girl from the previous night.
Overall, "The Night Life" is a song about a night out that the singer can't forget. Throughout the song, they emphasize the idea that they are lucky to live another day and continue to pursue experiences like the one they had, despite the shortcomings of not achieving what one may want.
Line by Line Meaning
Last call everybody step up for another
The bar is closing soon so everyone must quickly order one last drink
The ring of the bell gives a yell
The sound of the bell indicates last call to the customers
To the crowd that's behind you
All the people who stand behind the bar counter and serve the customers are rushing to finish their closing duties
Did she sweep you off your feet
Are you smitten with a girl to the point that she's taking your breath away
Are you deciding not to leave without her
Are you contemplating whether to go home alone or ask the girl to come with you
Without her tonight
You don't want to spend the night without the girl you like
Break down all the chairs on the tables
After closing time, the staff move around the bar/restaurant, putting away furniture and cleaning up
And my minds on you
Even as he's doing his job of cleaning, his mind is preoccupied with thoughts of the girl
Give up and Get into the van and go away again
As the band is traveling, they can't stay in one place. They have to leave and move on
Because the things you leave in the last town
They have to leave behind what happened with the people they had met in the last town they played at
Are getting out of hand
They are getting too attached to new people and places each time they leave town so they have to remind themselves to move on
I'm sorry
It's painful to say goodbye to someone you've become attached to, but you have to do it and there's no other way
I'm sorry about it
It's hard to let go and move on each time the band leaves a town they've spent some time in
At least you lived to talk about it
At least the band members have a lot of stories and experiences to share with each other
At least you got your health
Despite the hardship that comes with moving around a lot, the band members are still in good physical shape
At least it made you feel alive
Traveling and meeting new people brings excitement and adventure to life
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
Sometimes in life, you are faced with situations that are not ideal and this makes you feel sad or frustrated
Tap out when the weight on you're shoulders comes down on you
When the pressure of life becomes too much, you need to stop and take a break to avoid burnout
You're gasping for air, and its just not fair
It feels suffocating when you have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders
He gets to be with her
The artist is upset that another guy is with the girl he likes
Here you sit trying hard
The artist is sitting by himself and trying to forget the girl he likes
To forget something your thinking of
Trying not to think about someone you like is difficult because they keep popping up in your mind
Do you miss her so bad it hurts
The singer is hurting emotionally because he misses the girl so much
You're all caught up
It's like the artist has finally caught up on some much-needed rest and relaxation
After sleeping for days
The singer has been sleeping for a while, taking a break from his troubled thoughts
Makes up for nights you spent awake
The rest makes up for all the nights the singer has been struggling to fall asleep because of his thoughts and worries
It will take awhile to see that smile
It might be a while before the singer can feel happy again after the girl he likes is gone
That's laid dormant since she?s gone
After the girl leaves, the artist has not been able to feel happy or smile much
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: GOLLA, GRYSKIEWICZ, VASOLI, WATTS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@AndiMichael
Last call everybody step up for another
The ring of the bell gives a yell
To the crowd that's behind you
Did she sweep you off your feet
Are you deciding not to leave without her
Without her tonight
Break down all the chairs on the tables
And my minds on you
Give up and Get into the van and go away again
Because the things you leave in the last town
Are getting out of hand
Im sorry
Im sorry about it
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
Tap out when the weight on you're shoulders comes down on you
You're gasping for air, and its just not fair
He gets to be with her
Here you sit trying hard,
To forget something your thinking of
Im sorry about it
Do you miss her so bad it hurts
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
You're all caught up
After sleeping for days
Makes up for nights you spent awake
It will take awhile to see that smile
That's laid dormant since she’s gone
You're all caught up
After sleeping for days
Makes up for nights you spent awake
It will take awhile to see that smile
That's laid dormant since she’s gone
At least you lived to talk about it
At least you got your health
At least it made you feel alive
Oh well, you wish you weren't right now
@jacksonwillingham6618
I remember where I was when I first heard this song! It’s very unique. They went on to make some great music.
@binhothompson
awsome song, had a little time travel while listening to it.
@V3NGEVILLAN
this give me anxiety for 15 years ago. where did that time go? i was a kid. i thought it would never end. there were night lifes and i felt alive... so alive
@TheEricMM
I was 17 and inexplicably sprung off a girl who loved this album just as much as I did. Like a dagger to the heart, this makes me impossibly nostalgic..I;m now 30..
@V3NGEVILLAN
Im 31 now.
@michaelverrone2422
Man this song takes me back ...
@gustavovinicius5258
Michael Verrone the same here man rs
And I wish this time back again, everything seemed to be so simple...
@brentbernardo7222
nostalgia hits hard.
@tom_bout
I got this album at Abercrombie and Fitch back in the day haha
@rey_kobain
Still listening 2021 🔥