Thursday released their debut album, Waiting, in late 1999 with original guitarist Bill Henderson, who left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Steve Pedulla. The band gained popularity with the release of their second album, Full Collapse, in 2001, and released their third album and major label debut, War All the Time, in 2003, which reached number seven on the US Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Thursday released their fourth album, A City by the Light Divided, in 2006, and two further albums, Common Existence and No Devolución, before announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2011. In a January 2013 interview, Geoff Rickly confirmed that the band had actually disbanded. However, the band announced a reunion in 2016. Their reunion would conclude with a performance at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn, NY in March 2019.
The band has been considered influential to the post-hardcore music scene in the 2000s, and is credited as one of the key bands to popularize the darker emo sound and screaming vocals which came to prominence at the time.
A Sketch For Time's Arrow
Thursday Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The clocks turn back in retreat
Footsteps fall off of our feet
I can see the tears crawling up your cheek
It's turning back to pink
The slap got pulled right off of it
And we all fall back into bed again
In "A Sketch For Time's Arrow," Thursday leads us through an emotional journey of time and the cyclical nature of life. Through the vivid imagery of the rain falling up off the street and the clocks turning back in retreat, the lyrics paint a picture of time being unreliable, and life being a constant cycle of ups and downs. The idea of falling back into bed again suggests a repetitive pattern in life where we return to our safe haven— our bed— whenever we feel overwhelmed.
The lines "Footsteps fall off of our feet" and "I can see the tears crawling up your cheek" capture the weight of emotions that arise during these challenging cycles. The idea of tears crawling up your cheek indicates a sense of helplessness and loss of control. The lyrics highlight the unpredictability of life and how sometimes we can feel like we're going backward instead of forward.
Thursday challenges us to grapple with the concept of time and life's cycles, as both can be incredibly daunting. However, by facing the cyclical nature of life with open arms, we can find comfort in knowing that life will always go on, and we will always find a way to get through it.
Line by Line Meaning
The rain falls up off the street
The water droplets are moving against the usual downward flow and rising above the street
The clocks turn back in retreat
The clocks are reversing time, moving back to the past
Footsteps fall off of our feet
Our movements become lighter and quieter, almost as if we are floating instead of walking
I can see the tears crawling up your cheek
The tears on your face are moving upward, going against the rules of gravity
It's turning back to pink
The color of something is changing back to what it used to be, as if time is moving in reverse
The slap got pulled right off of it
The physical force exerted on something has been reversed, causing an object to move in the opposite direction
And we all fall back into bed again
We are returning to a state of rest or sleep, as if the day is starting over
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
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