By this time, the band's sound was growing more sophisticated, and they'd become a major club draw in the Midwest. In Combo sold over 13,000 copies, an impressive feat for an independent album at the time, and 1981's Credit in Heaven was an even more ambitious project, a two-LP set that veered from pulsing dance rock to outre ballads to noisy jazz-influenced art rock. Credit from Heaven sold 15,000 copies and spun off a 12" single, "Music for Boys," that hit the national dance charts. The Suburbs teamed with producer Steve Greenberg (who scored a massive hit with the song "Funkytown" as part of his group Lipps Inc.) for the EP Dream Hog, released in late 1982. It included another dance hit, "Waiting," and with the Suburbs regularly selling out multiple nights at First Avenue in Minneapolis and drawing impressive crowds elsewhere, the group landed a deal with Mercury Records, who obtained the rights to the Suburbs' back catalog and promptly reissued Dream Hog. In 1983, the band released their first major-label album, Love Is the Law, again produced by Steve Greenberg, but while the title tune became a big hit in Minneapolis and received scattered airplay elsewhere, Mercury were uncertain how to promote the band, and despite strong reviews and extensive touring, the album wasn't the breakout hit the band had hoped for. The Suburbs left Mercury Records, and struck a deal with A&M; their 1986 album, simply called Suburbs, was produced by Robert Brent, better known as Bobby Z, drummer with Prince & the Revolution. While it was the group's most commercial effort to date, it didn't click with record buyers, and in 1987, the Suburbs, frustrated by their experience with the major labels, released an independent single, "Little Man's Gonna Fall" b/w "Don't Do Me Any Favors," shortly before they called it a day with a series of farewell shows at First Avenue.
In 1992, Twin/Tone released a collection of the group's most popular material, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Suburbs Have Left the Building, and the following year, the group played a few reunion concerts at First Avenue. The Suburbs began playing shows every year or so over the next few years, and Chaney formed his own record label, Beejtar Records, which reissued In Combo, Credit in Heaven, and Love Is the Law in 2002, as well as the "best-of" collection Chemistry Set: Songs of the Suburbs 1977-1987 in 2003. In late 2009, the group mourned the loss of guitarist Bruce Allen, who also worked as a graphic designer and created the group's logo. Not long after Allen's death, bassist Michael Halliday retired from the Suburbs, largely because of his struggle with arthritis. The rest of the band soldiered on, playing occasional shows with new members Steve Brantseg on guitar and Steve Price on bass, marking the first changes in the band's lineup since they began. Chan Poling divided his time between occasional Suburbs shows and gigs with his jazz-influenced combo the New Standards, but in 2011, after the death of his wife, broadcaster and political scion Eleanor Mondale, he was eager to make a rock & roll record again. As Poling told a reporter, "Always in the back of my mind I knew I had another rock record in me. Who would I get to play? Then the more I thought: what's the best rock band that I know? I already have it." Rather than deal with a record company, the Suburbs opted to finance and release the new album themselves, and after raising over $70,000 in a Kickstarter campaign, the group's long-awaited studio comeback, Si Sauvage, arrived in the fall of 2013. It was released as the band was enjoying a new surge of popularity, after marriage equality activists (with the Suburbs' blessings) used the song "Love Is the Law" as the theme song for their successful campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Minneapolis.
Following the release of Si Sauvage, the Suburbs supported the release with live appearances in the Midwest and East Coast. After successfully crowdfunding the recording and release of Si Sauvage, the band once again turned to their fans to bankroll the follow-up, 2017's Hey Muse! The album introduced a new lineup of the Suburbs, with founding members Chan Poling and Hugo Klaers and bassist Steve Price joined by guitarists Stevie Brantseg and Jeremy Ylvisaker, Stephen Kung on keyboards and horns, Rochelle Becker on baritone sax, and Janey Winterbauer on backing vocals. The album appeared in the summer of 2017, in time for the group's 40th anniversary.
Biography by Mark Deming
There are other artists with the same name:
2 - Suburbs, a Dutch rock band from Scheveningen. They recorded 3 albums (Disturbed, New Buildings and Land of the Lunatics) and 5 singles (Doremi, Timemachine, Rollercoaster, Citylights and What's going on). For more information visit www.suburbs.nl (dutch). They run under the label of Red Bullet. Suburbs perform often in Scheveningen, The Hague (a city near Scheveningen)or Wateringen (a village near The Hague).
3 -Suburbs: A canadian punk-rock band who run under the label Slam Disque.
Memory
The Suburbs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Thanks for the memories
But I think it's time to cut the ties
Life has around us
For I need to be selfish and you have to go
Get some attention from someone else
For love had made me
Blind
The man I never wanted to be
Honestly
I didn't actually love you
I was just lonely
Time wasted
Sleep lost
The letters probably meant nothing to you
Hey Jolene
Thanks for the memories
Because I showed you the sides of me
Nobody has ever seen
I showed you the best parts of life
Hey Jolene
Please forget me
Hey Jolene
Thanks for misusing me
Thanks for the lessons you silently taught me
Hey Jolene
Thanks for the memories
Because I showed you the sides of me
Nobody has ever seen
I showed you the best parts of life
Hey Jolene
Please forget me
Hey Jolene
Thanks for misusing me
Thanks for the lessons you silently taught me
Hey Jolene
Thanks for the memories
The song "Memory" by The Suburbs is a heartfelt confession to a former lover named Jolene. The singer thanks Jolene for the memories they shared, but admits that it's time to move on and cut ties. The song speaks to the singer's desire to be selfish and the need to look after their own well-being. The singer suggests that love had made them blind, and that in time they became the person they never wanted to be. The singer confesses that they weren't actually in love with Jolene, but they were just lonely. The singer admits to wasting time and losing sleep, but suggests that the letters they wrote probably meant nothing to Jolene.
Throughout the song, the singer repeats his gratitude for the memories he shared with Jolene, but ultimately begs for her to forget him. The song also acknowledges the lessons learned from their relationship, even if those lessons were learned silently. The song is a poignant reflection on a relationship that has ended, and the ways in which that relationship changed the singer. Ultimately, the song suggests that while memories can be painful, they can also be transformative and ultimately valuable.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey Jolene
Addressing the person named Jolene
Thanks for the memories
Expressing gratitude for the memories shared with Jolene
But I think it's time to cut the ties
Feeling that it is necessary to end the relationship
Life has around us
Reflecting on the changes and developments in life
For I need to be selfish and you have to go
Acknowledging the need to prioritize oneself and end the relationship with Jolene
Get some attention from someone else
Encouraging Jolene to seek affection from someone other than the singer
For love had made me
Reflecting on how love has affected the singer
Blind
Feeling like love has blinded the artist's judgement
And in time I became
Reflecting on how the artist has changed over time
The man I never wanted to be
Feeling disappointment in the person they have become
Honestly
Speaking candidly
I didn't actually love you
Admitting that the artist did not truly love Jolene
I was just lonely
Realizing that the singer only sought companionship because they were lonely
Time wasted
Feeling like the time spent in the relationship was wasted
Sleep lost
Suggesting that the singer lost sleep over the relationship
The letters probably meant nothing to you
Implying that Jolene likely did not care about the letters the artist sent
Because I showed you the sides of me nobody has ever seen
Acknowledging that the relationship allowed the artist to reveal a vulnerable part of themselves to Jolene
Please forget me
Requesting that Jolene forget about the singer
Thanks for misusing me
Implying that Jolene may have taken advantage of the singer in some way
Thanks for the lessons you silently taught me
Acknowledging that the relationship may have taught the artist some valuable lessons
Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Corné Opperman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
luvhatpunk
A fantastic first offering from the Suburbs on this red vinyl 7" !!! I believe there are another 4 or 5 songs on the other side of this late 70's platter.
luvhatpunk
.....including the fantastic "Prehistoric Jaws".