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/
Empathy With the Devil
The Tear Garden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hot chili firebrand
Spurting volcano teeth
Bleeding skies, sulphur mines
The foul breath of Satan's favourite gutter worm
You feel me when I'm close
An ice wind of steel stilettos
Quicksilver nausea spinning
Spewing forth and everything's a mess
Every possession you ever had
Wrecked - lying at your feet
Telegrams that tell you God is dead
Piled high on the T.V.
The incessant T.V.
Burbling
Distorted
A cheesecake nun advertising
20 brands of sea cow lemon shit
In 60 different languages
A gargoyle handjives
For the hard of hearing
Subliminals
Criminals
Phoney businessmen in thick-rimmed glasses
Bad comedians
Laughing bags aping the Hallelujah Chorus
The forgotten version
Out of key (slightly)
Just enough to annoy you
My flavour is cheap perfume
On rotting Man-Ray maggots!
Dead maggots!
My flavour's a wound re-opening by
surprise
Green fishes eyes flowing out
Wriggling things
Gelatinous
Still alive and screaming
Out of key (slightly)
Just enough to annoy you
My flavour's a plunging elevator
A mili-second before it hits the cellar
A cellar with mutated rats
Old - very old lost teeth
Abortions, garbage
So pungent it hums
Out of key (slightly)
Just enough to annoy you
My flavour's your flavour
Deep within you
Hidden
Waiting to get out
The Tear Garden's song Empathy With the Devil is a vivid description of the singer's "flavor," or essence, which the listener can feel when they're near. The lyrics evoke a sense of disgust and horror, with images of locusts, sulphur mines, and rotting maggots. The singer's flavor is described as being like an "ice wind" of steel stilettos that hammers into the listener's spine and causes "quicksilver nausea." The effect is overwhelming, with possessions wrecked and telegrams piled high on the T.V. proclaiming that "God is dead." The incessant T.V. burbles in 60 different languages, with a cheesecake nun advertising 20 brands of sea cow lemon shit.
The imagery in the lyrics is incredibly intense, with descriptions of a gargoyle handjiving for the hard of hearing, subliminals, and phoney businessmen in thick-rimmed glasses. The sound of bad comedians, laughing bags aping the Hallelujah Chorus, and the forgotten version out of key (slightly) is enough to annoy the listener. The flavor is likened to "cheap perfume on rotting Man-Ray maggots" and a plunging elevator a millisecond before it hits the cellar. This cellar is full of mutated rats, old lost teeth, abortions, and garbage, all so pungent that it hums. The final line of the song is "My flavor's your flavor, deep within you, hidden, waiting to get out," suggesting that the horror and disgust within the singer is also within the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
My flavour is the stuff of locusts
My taste is like the destruction these insects cause.
Hot chili firebrand
An intense, fiery sensation similar to spicy, hot peppers.
Spurting volcano teeth
Sharp and dangerous like teeth in a volcanic eruption.
Bleeding skies, sulphur mines
Descriptive of a demonic, hellish landscape.
The foul breath of Satan's favourite gutter worm
A comparison of the singer's taste to the repulsive breath of a demonic creature.
You feel me when I'm close
You sense my presence nearby.
An ice wind of steel stilettos
A sensation like being cut with very sharp, thin blades of metal.
Hammered in your spine
The sensation is very intense and painful, and feels as though it's in the core of one's being.
Quicksilver nausea spinning
A feeling of intense nausea that comes and goes quickly, like the flash of mercury in motion.
Spewing forth and everything's a mess
The nausea brings with it feelings of chaos and uncleanliness.
Every possession you ever had
All of one's worldly belongings and personal effects.
Wrecked - lying at your feet
Destroyed and in disarray, scattered around one's feet.
Telegrams that tell you God is dead
Messages that convey a feeling of spiritual disillusionment and despair.
Piled high on the T.V.
The telegrams are metaphorically stacked on top of a television set, perhaps indicating the source of the spiritual malaise.
The incessant T.V.
The endless barrage of television programming that serves as an unwanted distraction and a source of irritatation.
Burbling
Describes the annoying and incoherent sounds of the television programs.
Distorted
The reception of the television is bad or malfunctioning.
A cheesecake nun advertising
A ridiculous or perverted representation of a religious figure being used as an advertisement.
20 brands of sea cow lemon shit
A disparaging reference to the commercialization and sale of low-quality products with nonsensical or offensive names.
In 60 different languages
The worldwide, overwhelming presence of mass-produced, low-quality goods.
A gargoyle handjives
A grotesque image of a mythical creature performing the dance move known as the 'hand jive.'
For the hard of hearing
It is targeted at people who have difficulty hearing.
Subliminals
Hidden messages or suggestions that are intended to influence behavior or thought without the person being aware of their influence.
Criminals
A reference to corrupt or unethical individuals in positions of authority, or those who profit from the exploitation of others.
Phoney businessmen in thick-rimmed glasses
People who are pretending to be successful and professional, but are actually fake and pretentious.
Bad comedians
Less-than-talented people trying to entertain the viewer.
Laughing bags aping the Hallelujah Chorus
A reference to artificial laughter or canned laughter, playing over a very serious musical piece intended to inspire religious awe.
The forgotten version
This is a lesser-known and inferior version of the music.
Out of key (slightly)
The music is rubbing the listener the wrong way.
Just enough to annoy you
The music is intentionally irritating.
My flavour is cheap perfume
The singer's 'flavor' or essence is similar to something that is cheap, tawdry, and mass-produced.
On rotting Man-Ray maggots!
The cheap perfume is seared onto dead maggot pupae, which are a reference to the photographic art of Man Ray and his subjects.
Dead maggots!
Corpses of the pupae left behind by the breeding cycle of the fly.
My flavour's a wound re-opening by surprise
The singer's presence dredges up painful memories or traumatic events which were thought to be in the past.
Green fishes eyes flowing out
A reference to the eyes of dead fish, which are often distorted and appear greenish.
Wriggling things
Small and creepy organisms which cause slight movements out of the corner of the eye.
Gelatinous
Describes the viscous and slimy texture of many of these creatures.
Still alive and screaming
The creatures evoke a feeling of horror and disgust.
A plunging elevator
A metaphor for a sudden and unexpected drop in emotional stability or mental health.
A mili-second before it hits the cellar
Just before a crash or catastrophic event.
A cellar with mutated rats
A dark and foreboding place where rats (creatures often seen as symbols of decay and disease) have changed in unforeseen ways.
Old - very old lost teeth
A symbol of decay and neglect that reminds us of death.
Abortions, garbage
Represents the destruction of the natural cycle of life - the aborted fetuses cannot be used to their full potential and the garbage is illustrative of the waste of civilization.
So pungent it hums
The odor is so incredibly strong that one can hear it.
My flavour's your flavour
The singer's 'flavor' is something that's latent within everyone and echoes the idea that there's darkness lurking within each of us.
Deep within you
A description of an internal experience that is rarely explored, and highly introspective.
Hidden
The essence is not something that comes to the surface often or is easy to detect.
Waiting to get out
The singer's 'flavor' cannot be contained forever; eventually, it will come to the surface and be revealed.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAVID OGILVIE EDWARD SHARP, DWAYNE GOETTEL, KEVIN CROMPTON, MARTIJN DE KLEER, PHILIP KNIGHT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind