Official Bio from thevioletburning.com

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The Violet Burning - The Story of Our Lives:
Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine
by Jocelyn Aucoin

It's that ache in your heart.
That place inside you where all the stuff collects and collides like junk in a drawer.
Except it's not junk. It's real and it matters and it's the matter that makes you. It’s that ache that makes you want to fight and surrender, scream and sigh. It's decaying and it's beautiful and it's full of these awkward opposites. So full that sometimes you don't understand. You can't understand.

But then someone or something comes along to give it shape, a voice. Someone whose ability to capture this space is so pure, so precise, that it springs hope within us and legs to stand on.
Something like The Violet Burning.

The Violets (affectionately called) have been making music under the direction of creative mainspring, Michael J Pritzl, since 1990. A prolific songwriter, Pritzl's story is one of endurance, endurance manifested in a plethora of albums and relentless touring throughout the US and Europe. Endurance resulting in an absolute rabid
following of fans. Though Pritzl has surrounded himself with different musicians through the years, the music has never been compromised and the fans keep coming back for the powerful, guitar-driven rock The Violets never fail to deliver. This time that rock is enlivened with the drumming virtuosity that is Lenny Beh. A stunningly emotive addition.

Nothing proves The Violets bring the rock better than their latest effort, their 9th full-length studio album, The Story of Our Lives: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine, an audio triptych of sorts. The album's 34 songs are divided into three parts: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine. Although asunder, the album rages with rock and drips with beauty, all the while shaking it's figurative fist at a digital age wherein, despite the abundance of material available, artists still feel beholden to the 10-song album format restrictions of the past.

The Violets didn't feel this restriction and because of that, The Story of Our Lives is not just an auditory experience, it is a multi-sensory aesthetic experience. These songs didn't take a week to write or two days to record. The artwork wasn't thrown together in an hour in Photoshop. This is a complete body of work that began as a spark of an idea and has now been seven years in the making. In this way, it defies the unspoken and mediocre standards of today, offering up an incredible sonic experience in addition to a riveting lyrical journey.

And the journey is a familiar one. In fact, it reads like some of the greatest novels ever written. The Fantastic Machine sets the tone for this journey as "Where It All Begins" climbs from a pensive, pretty melody to an all out blur of frantic guitars, over which "my heart and soul are wired in!" it screamed wild and breathy. It's the definition of epic, and songs like “Machine Beat Sabbatha” and “Imminent Collapse” follow suit, allowing the listener in on the chaos that's brewing in the heart of our character. “The Letting” and “Leaving” tell a quieter story, one that will course through your veins with their beautiful sadness. And in the end, our character leaves The Fantastic Machine behind, giving up on a life that has been selling him lies.

Black as Death picks up where this sadness leaves off, descending on ears like a bat out of hell--an almost mindless storm of sound and distortion. “My Name is Night” is case and point of this, heavy and teeming with Sabbath-like drumming. “Maelstorm” expands into this chaos, the entropy of its opening guitars hitting like the explosion of tides. Pritzl's delicate falsetto dancing atop the water. And then there is “Rock Is Dead”, which exists not only as the definition of pop song perfection, but shows our character gaining strength. Shivers run down your spine when he screams, "I'm going on, going on!" "In Ruin" leaves a sweet taste in our mouths with it's swirly delays, rhodes bells and sweeping cello.

Enter Liebe über Alles, The Story of Our Lives' graceful and exquisite counterpart. Our character has chosen death, but now lives to continue his journey home. A beautiful relenting, “Mon Désir” is honest in both melody and lyric as Pritzl’s broken voice sings, "All I want is you." "Arc" has a driving rhythm that climaxes with an explosion of spirited strings. "I am coming home!" The dreamy and romantic ballad, "I Caught Fire", is encased in a haze of fuzz guitar, pulsing drums and the descending piano, "…in all the songs of men and angels, if I have no love, I'm blank." And finally “through a life, blessed and cursed, love and only love goes on and on…” the true rest of “Liebe über Alles” and the final acknowledgement that our character has made it home.

This is not just another album by another band. This is a realization. A realization that this story--the struggle and the heartache, feeling lost and so alone--belongs to each one of us. It’s the way we feel when we are sad and broken and it’s the way we feel when we are so complete and content, at home and at rest within ourselves and with others and with “The Lord of Song.” It’s knowing we’re not alone in this big, messed up machine of a world. It’s the hope of “every corner of our heart and soul” being made for someone who loves us more than we will ever understand.
This is the story of our lives.

The Violet Burning is Michael J. Pritzl, Daryl Dawson and Lenny Beh. THE STORY OF OUR LIVES: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death,and TH3 FANT^5T1C MACH1N3 was written and recorded by Michael Pritzl at Nowhere, CA studios (various closets, garages, entry ways, and bedrooms in Southern California) and features Eleanor Beh on Cello and Jeff Schroeder of Smashing Pumpkins (lead guitar on 3 songs).
The Story Of Our Lives was released digitally at thevioletburning.com March 5, 2011. The triple album will be coming worldwide one part at a time via iTunes, Amazon, and other online digital resellers throughout 2011. The triple album will also be available in it’s physical, beautiful, limited edition, 80-page packaging via thevioletburning.com beginning April 4, 2011. The Violet Burning are now planning US and European tour dates.

-Jocelyn Aucoin – 2011

Made for You
The Violet Burning Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Every corner of my heart
This was made for you
Every corner of my soul
This was made by you
Lord of every song
I've been kissed by you
Like the stars and
The sea in the moonlight

This was made by you
For you

Lord of all light
I was made for you
Lord of all creation
I was made for you
For you

Every corner of my heart
This was made for you
Every corner of my soul
This was made by you
Lord of every song
I've been touched by you
Like the stars and
The sea in the moonlight
We were made by you
For you

Lord of all light
I was made for you
Lord of all creation

I was made for you
For you

Overall Meaning

At its core, The Violet Burning's song "Made For You" is a declaration of devotion to a higher power. The songwriter acknowledges that every inch of their being — both their heart and their soul — was made for this entity. The lyrics speak to a deep reverence for the divine, with the writer using phrases like "Lord of all creation" and "Lord of all light" to emphasize their belief in a higher power guiding their existence. The repeated refrain, "This was made for you / By you / For you," speaks to a sense of purpose and meaning that the writer finds in their faith. They see the world around them and feel that everything, from the stars in the sky to the depths of their own soul, was created with a specific intention for this divine being.

Overall, "Made For You" represents a powerful ode to faith and the idea of being connected to something larger than oneself. The song uses vivid imagery and powerful repetition to drive home the sense of connection that the writer feels to their higher power. It's a beautiful and moving testament to the transformative power of belief.

Line by Line Meaning

Every corner of my heart
My deep emotions and feelings, are dedicated to you

This was made for you
My heart is completely devoted to you

Every corner of my soul
My innermost being, my true self, is filled with thoughts of you

This was made by you
You fashioned my soul, creating it in your own image

Lord of every song
You are the master of all music, and I am grateful for your gift

I've been kissed by you
Your love has touched me in a way that nothing else can

Like the stars and
Just as the stars in the sky and the sea in the moonlight shine forth in their glory,

The sea in the moonlight
So too does your love for me shine forth, illuminating all aspects of my life

This was made by you
Your kindness and mercy have created a life of purpose and joy for me

For you
Everything I do is dedicated to your glory, your honor, and your love

Lord of all light
You are the source of all that is good, true and beautiful