The Swirling Eddies are a band that began as an anonymous spinoff from the … Read Full Bio ↴The Swirling Eddies are a band that began as an anonymous spinoff from the band Daniel Amos, along with new drummer David Raven.

For each Swirling Eddies release, band members adopted pseudonyms for the liner notes; "Camarillo Eddy" (Terry Scott Taylor), "Berger Roy Al" (Tim Chandler), "Gene Pool" (Greg Flesch), "Arthur Fhardy" (Rob Watson), "Spot" (Jerry Chamberlain), "Hort Elvison" (David Raven) and, on later albums, "Prickly Disco" (Gene Eugene). These pseudonyms were dropped for their third album, Zoom Daddy.

The band released its debut album on Alarma Records in 1988 entitled Let's Spin!. 1989's Outdoor Elvis featured the band's first two radio hits, "Driving in England" and "Hide the Beer the Pastor's Here!". The title track included classic lines such as: "It's said he croons when the moon's above, singing tenderly 'Hunk of Burning Love.'" The band's documentary video, Spittle and Phlegm was released the following year.

The band's stage shows are rare and unusual, to say the least. Since the band was formed in the late 1980s, they have only performed about six or seven live concerts. In 1990, the band performed at The Cornerstone Festival in drag, belting out covers like "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar", The Animals' "We've Got To Get Out Of This Place", The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World".

In 2004, the band began to work on their first album of original, new material in ten years entitled The midget, the speck and the molecule. The first new song to surface, a rough mix of "Giants in the Land," was made available in March of 2007 exclusively to people that preordered the album before it was finished. The recording sessions ended in May of 2007 and the album was released on July 23, 2007

http://www.myspace.com/theswirlingeddies

Tiny Town
The Swirling Eddies Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Calling all the ants
This is our last chance
Trumpet of the saints
Call the heads of states

And let's all kill the giants
Let's all kill the giants
Of tiny town

Hold the torches high
Lay them down to die
They know more than we know
And all they do is grow

So let's all kill the giants
Let's all kill the giants
Of tiny town

Hang moss upon their visions
Put glass around their dreams
Dissension is their mission
Tenacious in their schemes

So let's all kill the giants
Let's all kill the giants
Of tiny town

Divide the wheat and tares
And set the traps and snares
Put rebellion down
It's safe in tiny town

'cause we've all killed the giants
We've all killed the giants

Tiny town
(it's safe in tiny town)

Overall Meaning

The Swirling Eddies's song Tiny Town is a satirical commentary on the idea of people living in small towns being narrow-minded, unenlightened and intolerant of change. The lyrics encourage the extermination of the "giants" who represent the old ways of thinking that have been holding people back. The song implies that progress can only be achieved by stepping out of their comfort zones and facing the unknown.

The first verse calls on the "ants" to gather together in their last chance to make a difference. The lyrics suggest that those in power, the "heads of state," have been holding people back with their limited worldview. The second verse urges the listeners to hold their "torches high" and overcome the "giants" who have been holding them down for too long. The lyrics equate small-mindedness with stagnation and suggest that only through killing off these "giants" can progress be achieved.

In the final verse, the lyrics suggest that those who have been holding people back have been doing so with ill-intentions, as evidenced by their "tenacious schemes." The lyrics stress that the "rebels" must be suppressed in order to create a safe and harmonious "tiny town." The lyrics suggest that the only way to achieve progress is to divide people into "wheat and tares" and trap dissenters, thereby creating a "safe" community that is only possible when the "giants" have been vanquished.

Line by Line Meaning

Calling all the ants
Gathering all the small and insignificant beings

This is our last chance
This is our final opportunity

Trumpet of the saints
Announcement to the holy ones

Call the heads of states
Urge the leaders to action

And let's all kill the giants
Together, let's defeat the powerful oppressors

Of tiny town
In the small, insignificant place

Hold the torches high
Raise the flames of rebellion

Lay them down to die
Sacrifice the flames for the cause

They know more than we know
The giants possess more knowledge and power

And all they do is grow
And they only become more influential

Hang moss upon their visions
Cover the giants' goals with doubts