An excerpt from a Nettwerk Records press release, July 1996:
The roots of The Tear Garden extend back to 1983 when Cevin Key, on the verge of forming Skinny Puppy, struck up a trans-Atlantic correspondence with Edward Ka-Spel, the lead vocalist and driving force behind The Legendary Pink Dots. Three years later, Ka-Spel visited Vancouver for a series of three live performances with Key as sound technician, and during his visit, they recorded The Tear Garden's self-titled debut EP.
In 1987, Ka-Spel returned to open for Skinny Puppy on their North American tour, after which the duo retreated to the studio for two weeks to produce the now classic electronic-psychedelic album, Tired Eyes Slowly Burning. It was during these sessions that the project's ranks began to expand, with guest appearances by Key's fellow Puppies Dwayne Goettel and Nivek Ogre.
Four years later, the Garden bloomed again, this time growing well beyond the Key/Ka-Spel partnership to include not only Goettel, but a wide assortment of friends, including most of the Pink Dots. This fruitful month-long collaboration spawned two releases: an album called The Last Man To Fly, and a (very long) EP called Sheila Liked The Rodeo.
Another four years passed. Four years that saw literal and figurative deaths (the departure of both Skinny Puppy and LPD from their long-time labels; the subsequent break-up of SP; the tragic passing of Dwayne Goettel) and births (Edward's son, Calyxx; Download; Key's return to Nettwerk).
In late December, 1995, in the midst of this turbulence, The Tear Garden gathered once more, perhaps to attempt to trigger the dawn of a tranquil new era. The result was To Be An Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul Divide, an album of fragile and powerful beauty that digs even deeper into the psychedelic underground than its predecessors, adding a range of influences from dub bass to country slide guitar, all the while retaining the dark electronic melancholy that has become the project's signature.
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Four more years passed. Tear Garden got back together in 1999 and in 2000, Crystal Mass was released. In 2001, a "best of" collection was issued by the Russian label Brudenia, Для Тех, Ҡто Прогулялся Бьі С Богами (which translates to "For Those Who Would Walk with the Gods") as well as an "outtakes" collection released by Cevin Key's Subconscious Communications label, Eye Spy with My Little Eye.
2007 saw the release of The Secret Experiment, once again on Subconscious Communications. This is from the "Vault 2" series but features new music.
Currently, Edward and cEvin wrapped up their sessions of 13 tracks, compiled into a brand new upcoming TG release, available through Subcon.
Discography
* Tired Eyes Slowly Burning (1987)
* Last Man to Fly (1992)
* Sheila Liked The Rodeo (1993)
* Bouquet of Black Orchids (1993)
* To Be an Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul Divide (1996)
* Crystal Mass (2000)
* Eye Spy With My Little Eye (2002)
* The Secret Experiment (2007)
http://brainwashed.com/teargarden/
Déjà vu
The Tear Garden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The same! The same! It's always quite the same...Rewind! Re-live it all again and again.
You'd tiptoe halfway across a rooftop, drop head-first in the river. You'd stretch out for a helping hand and once again I'd stand there...not close enough to touch, but I heard you call my name as you died...And the ferry boat? It never did arrive...
The lyrics to The Tear Garden's Déjà Vu are both eerie and captivating, painting a vivid picture of a cold November evening and the emotions that come with it. The singer is waiting for a ferry boat to carry them to someone they care about – someone who they can see in the harbour lights. This person is dancing, their hair like an orange flame, and they swing on a crane. However, the singer notes that "it's always quite the same" and that they want to "rewind" and "re-live it all again and again", giving the impression that this moment has played out in a similar way before.
The second verse takes a dark turn as the person the singer is waiting for tiptoes across a rooftop and then drops head-first into the river. Although the singer is not close enough to touch them, they hear their name being called as the person dies. Throughout the song, there is an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, as if these events have happened before and will continue to happen again and again, with the characters never able to break free from their fate.
Overall, Déjà Vu is a haunting and atmospheric song that paints a vivid picture of both the beauty and sorrow of life. The lyrics are open to interpretation, and the listener is left wondering about the identities of the singer and the person they are waiting for, as well as the significance of the repeated events.
Line by Line Meaning
It was a cold November evening and I should have worn a coat.
The persona regrets not bringing a coat while waiting for the ferry boat on a cold November evening.
I shivered... waiting for the ferry boat to carry me to you...
The persona shivered as they waited for the ferry boat to take them to the person they were going to meet.
Could see you dancing in the harbour lights; your hair an orange flame.
The persona saw the person they were meeting dancing in the harbour lights, with their hair looking bright in the orange light.
You'd turn away, swing on a crane. Always quite the same...
The person they were meeting would turn away and swing on a crane, and the persona felt that their actions were predictable and repetitive.
The same! The same! It's always quite the same...
The persona repeats that everything is always the same, indicating their frustration with the monotony of their encounters.
Rewind! Re-live it all again and again.
Despite the frustration, the persona wants to relive the same experience over and over again by rewinding it, indicating their attachment to the person they were meeting.
You'd tiptoe halfway across a rooftop, drop head-first in the river.
The person they were meeting would tiptoe across a rooftop and purposely drop head-first into the river.
You'd stretch out for a helping hand and once again I'd stand there...not close enough to touch, but I heard you call my name as you died...
The person they were meeting would reach out for help after dropping into the river, but the persona couldn't quite reach them. In their last moments, the person they were meeting called out the persona's name as they died.
And the ferry boat? It never did arrive...
The ferry boat the persona was waiting for never arrived, indicating that the plans to meet the person they were there for were disrupted.
Contributed by Audrey K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sander Visser
The whole cd is a masterpiece for me, dark haunting mesmerizing & dreamy Thanks for uploading ;)
Spooky Sims
Absolutely beautiful. Forever one of my favorite albums ever. The Last Man to Fly was good af too, but this is just memorizing. And I love it.
DR SAGGA
Yep, masterpiece, deserves to buy the both LP, got both (:
Pablo Ojeda
This is how people live in quarantine. What a fantastic group !!
Rouge Minette
Thanks!! To me Deja Vu is a very dark song.
Striking.
Darmera
A Dark Taxi Baobab Retreat.
FutureOnCarbon
Great song, but why is there a minute and a half of silence at the end?
Spooky Sims
LMAO HES NOT WRONG MAN! This album is just too good
curtis wright
the silence at the end is subliminally telling you that this is one of the best records you will ever hear in your life and that your friends will never give your tape back and that you will buy this at least 3 times (backwards of course)