The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band from Windsor, Ontario, with blues, pr… Read Full Bio ↴The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band from Windsor, Ontario, with blues, progressive rock and Middle Eastern influences who formed in 1990 and disbanded in October 2005. They reformed in 2011 to play some shows in Canada. They have released seven albums commercially during their time together. Guitarist and vocalist Jeff Martin, who has perfect pitch, was also producer for almost all of their albums. All three members played a range of instruments and they took up to 37 on tour with them at times in their career. They were very successful in Canada and Australia, and to a lesser extent in Europe, but never managed to crack the American market.

The band received some media criticism for Jeff Martin's Jim Morisson-like stage persona in some of its videos and their Led Zeppelin-esq riffs, although he seemed determined to be striving to create his own image and sound. His looks certainly do draw some comparison, however, to The Doors' late front man.

Their sound is hard to categorize as each album possessed different themes and influences. Splendor Solis (1993) was a more acoustic, blues-based record, while Edges of Twilight (1995) was much darker with strong Middle Eastern influences on several tracks. Transmission (1997) saw a dramatic change to a darker, more industrial-tinged sound, and it was distributed in the USA by Atlantic Records. The last three albums by the band featured various efforts to attract a wider commercial audience, with the single "Heaven Coming Down" reaching No.1 on the Canadian mainstream charts in 1999.

In 2000, Capitol Records finally released a retrospective compilation in the USA of their Canadian singles entitled Tangents after only releasing their first two albums south of the border.

The Tea Party released The Interzone Mantras in 2001, but it did not possess the singles of its predecessors.

In October 2005, a year after their final album Seven Circles was released, Jeff Martin left the band and embarked on a solo career, releasing an album in early 2006. Jeff Burrows (drummer) and Stuart Chatwood (bass/synthesiser) have also had post-Tea Party successes, the former in several projects and the latter in soundtrack composition. Burrows and Chatwood worked together on a new project called The Art Decay before Burrows joined Crash Karma in 2008.

On April 12th 2011, an official Facebook page was launched with a biography section that closed with "The band is scheduled to play a select number of dates in 2011. No other info was available at this time." The following day, the local radio station K106.3 announced the Sarnia Bayfest lineup including The Tea Party, which was later confirmed by drummer Jeff Burrows on his radio show on April 13th. Burrows further stated that a Canadian tour was also in the works.

The Tea Party performed at the Cisco Systems Bluesfest in Ottawa, Ontario on July 14th, 2011, and the band will be playing a Canadian tour commencing on November 15th, 2011 in Vancouver. The band's website and tour is called "THE TEA PARTY - No Politics... Just Rock and Roll". In September 2011, the band was reportedly approached to sell its website URL for over a million dollars by the extremely popular American political movement bearing the same name: www.teaparty.com.

One Step Closer
The Tea Party Lyrics

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I know your name
I heard you call
A distant voice behind the wall
Something stands in our way

She said, she said
I know a place where we can go
Where no one cares and no one knows

If it's passion or play

You speak in tongues
You read my mind
I'd give it all
To see a sign
But you're taking forever

Time stands still and you stay
One step closer away
Will it take us forever

And so, I climbed the wall
I needed proof
Uncertain signs, need certain truths
With every step you take

She said, she said
You need to search, between the seams
You need to twist within the dream
You're one step closer away

You speak in tongues
You read my mind
I'd give it all
To see a sign
But you're taking forever

Time stands still and you stay
One step closer away
Will it take us forever

You've always been
You've always known
That all this time
I've been alone
I've always searched
For what I've lost
Beneath a rose
Behind a cross

You're always there
You're everywhere

Overall Meaning

The Tea Party’s song “One Step Closer” is a poetic love song that describes the journey of two people trying to find each other. The singer knows the name of his love interest and has heard her call, but she’s still distant and hard to find. He senses that something stands in their way, but he’s willing to do anything to get to her. The woman assures him that she knows a place where they can be together, but it’s unclear whether it’s a genuine feeling, or just passion or play.

The lyrics speak of the challenges of the search of the ideal partner, and the difficulty of finding true love. The singer climbs a wall in search of proof of his love interest, needing certain truths amidst uncertain signs. She encourages him to continue the search, to look between the seams and twist within the dream, as they’re one step closer to finding their way together.

The repeated lines of "You speak in tongues, You read my mind, I'd give it all to see a sign, But you're taking forever" highlight the idea that the two may be close to each other, but there are still obstacles in their way.

Overall, the song provides a picture of two lovers who are striving to be together and willing to climb walls, search lists between seams, and twist within the dream to find this.

Line by Line Meaning

I know your name
I recognize you.

I heard you call
I heard your voice.

A distant voice behind the wall
Your voice sounded far away and unclear.

Something stands in our way
There is an obstacle that we need to overcome.

She said, she said
Someone advised me.

I know a place where we can go
I have a suggestion for a destination.

Where no one cares and no one knows
A place where there is no judgement from outsiders.

If it's passion or play
Whether we're serious or not doesn't matter.

You speak in tongues
You communicate in an unfamiliar way.

You read my mind
You understand my thoughts.

I'd give it all
I'd give everything.