The Subways is a British garage rock/indie rock band. Their debut album, Yo… Read Full Bio ↴The Subways is a British garage rock/indie rock band. Their debut album, Young For Eternity, was released on 4 July 2005 in the UK and February 14, 2006 in the US.
Billy Lunn (guitars/vocals), Charlotte Cooper (bass/vocals), Josh Morgan (drums)

They released their second album All Or Nothing on 30th June 2008 and this is preceded by the first single Alright on 16th June 2008. The first track from the album Girls & Boys was given away as a free download from the artist's site.

Beginnings
The Subways, formed in 2003, began at an early age, and currently have an average age of 21. The Subways began by playing Nirvana and punk songs in Billy and Josh's lounge, under the name of Mustardseed. They later changed their name to Platypus, and began to tour small, local venues, such as The Square in Harlow, Essex. An early CD of the band playing live was recorded at The Square which they sold at gigs.

As their reputation grew, Billy in particular became annoyed with all the different names the band were coming up with. He came up with The Subways, apparently from his days hanging out. "One of the few places where I felt I could refuge and find peace in my old town of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England was in a subway under the roads and pavements. I would haunt there in between breaks at work and college." Feeling the most free at that time underneath the rat-race of economic town life, he thought it only appropriate to divulge this "free essence" he felt in that subway to the band, where he felt he could truly escape from the drudgery of everyday life. It was during this time that Billy formed a closer relationship with Charlotte Cooper.

Home recordings
The band released endless demos and EPs in their early days when playing the London circuit in the UK. With every batch of new songs that The Subways would compose, Billy Lunn would insist that the band record them. However, at such a young age the group had no money with which to go into a studio to record consistently with, so they came upon the idea of buying their own cheap recording system at home. Eventually, the band had their own website, http://www.thesubways.net, which Billy Lunn himself constructed and maintained, where they would put all their new songs up on the internet. Also, through the use of their own home recording system they now had roughly 8 demo's worth of songs both on the internet and being sent out to local and London promotors at various venues. The Subways then began touring in the local and London area.

Having the home recording system also proved useful for production. The band felt that it would not only benefit themselves, but other local bands who could not afford the studio prices, even in the Welwyn Garden City area. It was here, that Billy and Charlotte both stumbled upon the opportunity that would eventually prove significant for the band. "I was producing a local Welwyn Garden City band in my front lounge one day and I noticed that it was quite good so I asked if they were going to send it to any London venues, because I knew a few that would like it. They said that they were going to send it off to Michael Eavis who runs Glastonbury, and I asked why..." Michael Eavis that year was running an unsigned bands competition to play on the Other Stage, and The Subways decided that would be a great idea. "It was really just another address to send one of our CD's off to. All we wanted was to play shows and this was another great opportunity. The CD we sent off to Michael Eavis was literally one among a bunch of 30 that were being sent out to London promoters for a load of gigs we wanted to book. "We never expected the phonecall saying that we'd won and were to play Glastonbury," said Cooper on radio.

Progression
After Glastonbury, The Subways went on to play The Carling Weekend 2004 in both Reading and Leeds, and then proceeded to play their very first (self funded) tour of the UK consisting of 35 dates.

The late John Peel was the first DJ to play single "1am" on National Radio.

The band signed to City Pavement & Infectious Records in late 2004. Their first album, Young For Eternity, which was released on the 4 July 2005, was produced by Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie, with their debut single "Oh Yeah" reaching number 25 in the UK Music Chart in its release week 21 March 2005.

They also appeared in the 7th episode of the third season of American drama The OC, performing "Rock & Roll Queen" and "Oh Yeah" at the show's fictional nightclub The Bait Shop. Also featured on this episode was the song "I Want To Hear What You Have Got To Say".

Some of their tracks, such as "She Sun" and "Rock & Roll Queen", are now being used on television adverts for Rimmel cosmetics featuring British supermodel Kate Moss.

The band postponed touring in April 2006 because Billy had nodules on his vocal chords. They played a "secret" gig in The Green Room in their home town of Welwyn Garden City on Friday June 16, under the alias of The Audrey Hepburns and also as support for the Foo Fighters in Manchester at the Lancashire County Cricket Ground on Sunday June 18, and have recently returned to touring, with Billy expected to make a full recovery.

In the summer of 2006 the band were opening for the co-headlining tour across North America for Taking Back Sunday and Angels & Airwaves.

On June 22, the band performed on the late night talk show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

On August 4, they performed at Lollapalooza.

The next day, August 5, they performed at Street Scene in San Diego.

On August 7, they appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

On August 25, they returned to Reading and Leeds Festivals, this time on the main stage.

On the 10th of August 2007, they played at the Ripcurl Boardmasters Unleashed festival in Newquay with bands such as Funeral For A Friend and Ash

Move To Newlyn
The Subways Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm gonna move to Newlyn
Find the light inside of me
Sail the Irish sea to Dublin
What will life ever make of me?

I see the kids play in the street
In their world so happily
My cousin Rick he still believes

There's a world he's yet to see
Carry on or fade away
Eventually there comes a day
We all see we are the same
With different things we choose to say
But what will you say?

I'm gonna hitch up to Glasgow
Learn all the tricks that I ought to know
An open book is still a mystery
So what will life ever make of me?

I see the kids play in the street
In their world so happily
My cousin Rick he still believes
There's a world he's yet to see
Carry on or fade away
Eventually there comes a day
We all see we are the same
With different things we choose to say
But what will you say?

Over and down though hills and towns
In sunshine and in rain
No holding back, relif in that
I'll never feel the same
I'll go my own way

I see the kids play in the street
In their world so happily
My cousin Rick he still believes
There's a world he's yet to see
Carry on or fade away
Eventually there comes a day
We all see we are the same

With different things we choose to say
But what will you say?

Overall Meaning

The Subways' song "Move To Newlyn" is a song that captures the passion to search for oneself, even if that means leaving behind friends and family. The song talks about the singer's desire to move to Newlyn, a small town located in the south-west of Cornwall in England, and find the light inside of them. The singer expresses their desire to sail across the Irish sea to Dublin, hitch up to Glasgow and learn all the tricks they ought to know. They question what life will make of them and what they will say.

Furthermore, the song speaks about the world’s diversity and how everyone has something different to say, even though we are all the same. The kids playing in the street are happy and carefree, but Cousin Rick still believes there is a world he has yet to see. The song emphasizes the choice between carrying on or fading away, and that eventually, we all see that we are the same.

The song sounds like a call to embrace adventure and uncertainty and move forward with life unafraid of the unknown. It is a song that encourages listeners to seize opportunities and express themselves.

Interesting facts about the song:

Line by Line Meaning

I'm gonna move to Newlyn
I will relocate to Newlyn

Find the light inside of me
Discover my inner peace

Sail the Irish sea to Dublin
Take a boat ride across the Irish sea to Dublin

What will life ever make of me?
What is my future destiny?

I see the kids play in the street
Observe children having fun outside

In their world so happily
Enjoying themselves in their own world

My cousin Rick he still believes
My cousin Rick still has faith

There's a world he's yet to see
There are still many things left for him to experience

Carry on or fade away
Continue on or fade into obscurity

Eventually there comes a day
At some point in time

We all see we are the same
We are all alike in some way

With different things we choose to say
Expressing ourselves in our own unique way

But what will you say?
What will you choose to say?

I'm gonna hitch up to Glasgow
I will hitchhike to Glasgow

Learn all the tricks that I ought to know
Acquire all the necessary knowledge and skills

An open book is still a mystery
Even when you think you know everything, there is still much that remains unknown

Over and down though hills and towns
Travel over hills and through towns

In sunshine and in rain
In all kinds of weather conditions

No holding back, relif in that
Not holding anything back, finding relief in that

I'll never feel the same
I will experience things differently

I'll go my own way
I will choose my own path

Writer(s): Joshua Thomas Morgan, William Morgan, Charlotte Louise Cooper Copyright: Stage Three Music (Catalogues) Limited

Contributed by Emily A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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