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.
Rainy Day
The Suburbs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've been saving for
You know it doesn't mean a thing anymore
I told you if you said goodbye
I'd surely die, yes I'd surely die
Oh, oh
Rainy day
I'm all alone
I remember your expression
When I told you who I loved
It was you, it was you
I don't believe you believed me then
Now you do, yeah now you do
Oh, oh
(I believe you're mine)
Rainy day
Rainy day
It's a rainy day
I'm all alone
You said we'd surely die
The next time that we meet
But how can death be sad
When poison is so sweet?
The lyrics of The Suburb's song "Rainy Day" are about heartbreak and loneliness. The opening line, "Here comes that rainy day I've been saving for," can be interpreted as a metaphor for the writer's anticipation of sadness or heartbreak. The writer has been preparing for this moment and it has arrived. The line, "You know it doesn't mean a thing anymore," suggests that the writer is trying to convince themselves that the pain they are feeling is meaningless and that they should move on, but it is easier said than done.
The writer then goes on to talk about their past relationship, specifically the moment they told their partner they loved them. The line, "I remember your expression when I told you who I loved, it was you, it was you," suggests that the writer is reminiscing about a time when their feelings were reciprocated, but now they are alone. The line "I don't believe you believed me then, now you do," suggests that the writer's partner didn't believe them at the time, but now they have come to the realization that the writer truly did love them.
The last stanza, "You said we'd surely die the next time that we meet, but how can death be sad when poison is so sweet?" is a powerful image of a toxic relationship. The idea that death would be sweet because of the poison is a metaphor for the thrill and excitement of a tumultuous and toxic relationship. Overall, the song describes a heartbreak that the writer has been preparing for and now has to deal with alone.
Line by Line Meaning
Here comes that rainy day
The singer is acknowledging that a difficult time is coming.
I've been saving for
The singer has been preparing for this difficult time.
You know it doesn't mean a thing anymore
The difficult time has rendered prior plans meaningless.
I told you if you said goodbye
The artist warned someone that leaving them would be devastating.
I'd surely die, yes I'd surely die
The artist is expressing the intense pain and loss they would feel if the person they love were to leave them.
Rainy day
The singer is repeating the phrase from the first line to emphasize the difficult time.
Rainy day
Same as above.
I'm all alone
The artist is expressing their loneliness during this difficult time.
I remember your expression
The artist recalls a past interaction with someone they love.
When I told you who I loved
The artist revealed to the person they love that they were the one they loved.
It was you, it was you
The singer is reaffirming that they love the person they are talking to.
I don't believe you believed me then
The artist reflects on how the person they love did not believe them initially.
Now you do, yeah now you do
The person they love has now come to believe the singer's love for them.
(I believe you're mine)
The singer inserts a parenthetical to indicate that they feel a sense of possession over the person they love.
Rainy day
The singer repeats this phrase again for emphasis.
Rainy day
Same as above.
It's a rainy day
The artist repeats the phrase once more to express the negative emotions of the difficult time.
You said we'd surely die
The singer recalls a past conversation with the person they love.
The next time that we meet
The singer is assuming they will meet the person they love again in the future.
But how can death be sad
The artist is questioning the idea that death is always a sad occasion.
When poison is so sweet?
The artist is suggesting that sometimes harmful things can be alluring or tempting.
Contributed by Alice S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.