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.
Signals Over The Air
Thursday Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Incandescent corsets draw eyes tight like wires.
This is how it feels,
Calling out but no one even hears
The signals that we send over the air
Over the air
Over the air
[Chorus]
When you say my name,
I want to split it from your lips
And hide like whispers in the rain.
When you say my name,
I want to stop it in your lungs
And collect all of your blood to put in the radio.
Is this how it feels
When you don't even fit into your own skin?
And its getting tighter,
Every day I'm getting smaller
If I keep holding my breath I'm going to disappear.
[Chorus]
There's no where to hide.
They stole the love from our lives to put the sex on the radio.
There's no where to hide.
They stole the love from our lives to put the sex on.
If I keep holding my breath, all of this will fade away.
If you keep driving we'll be lying in the wreck.
Changing the shape,
Folding like an envelope to keep each other in.
Shattered glass, broken looks, and mascara gets
Washed away by windshield wiper blades.
[Chorus]
There's no where to hide.
They stole the love from our lives to put the sex on the radio.
There's no where to hide.
They stole the love from our lives to put the sex on the radio.
That's where we hide
The love and lies and sex, on the radio.
The song "Signals Over The Air" by Thursday is an emotive and introspective exploration of feelings of isolation, disconnection, and disillusionment in a world where media and technology have come to dominate interpersonal communication. It begins with the singer addressing how they feel invisible and unheard despite calling out for attention, highlighting the increasing difficulty of making authentic connections with others. The repeated refrain "signals over the air" references how modern communication is often digitized and lacking in personal connection, with messages being transmitted rather than genuinely shared.
The chorus of the song is a powerful statement on the desire for intimacy and closeness while also struggling with fears of being suffocated or consumed by such feelings. The singer longs to be close to the person they address in the song, but they also fear the consequences of such closeness, comparing it to drowning or being engulfed in flames. The metaphorical language of "splitting" the person's name from their lips and wanting to "collect" their blood to put in the radio highlights the extremes of the singer's emotions and underscores the sense of desperation and confusion.
Throughout the song, there is a sense of longing for genuine connection amidst a world that often prioritizes surface-level communication and sensationalized media. The lines "They stole the love from our lives to put the sex on the radio" indicate a critique of how society is conditioned to prioritize physical and sexual attraction over emotional intimacy, resulting in a loss of genuine connection and compassion. In the end, the song expresses a sense of fragility and vulnerability, lyrically alluding to the threat of ending up "lying in the wreck," a symbol of the personal damage that can come from the lack of genuine human connection.
Line by Line Meaning
This is what you see when you look in my direction:
My attire is captivating and attractive, drawing your attention towards me
Incandescent corsets draw eyes tight like wires.
My shiny and bright clothes make others look at me with a lot of intention, making me feel valuable
This is how it feels, Calling out but no one even hears
I feel disappointed when my voice isn't heard despite putting in the effort to express my thoughts
The signals that we send over the air
We communicate our thoughts and feelings through various platforms like radio, internet, etc.
When you say my name, I want to split it from your lips And hide like whispers in the rain.
I feel embarrassed when you call out my name in public, and I wish to escape from that situation
When you say my name, I want to stop it in your lungs And collect all of your blood to put in the radio.
I feel annoyed when you take my name frequently and wish that you don't address me again
Is this how it feels When you don't even fit into your own skin? And its getting tighter, Every day I'm getting smaller If I keep holding my breath, I'm going to disappear.
I feel out of place and caught up in a tough situation that is making me feel suffocated and anxious. The fear of disappearing and losing myself completely is haunting me.
There's nowhere to hide. They stole the love from our lives to put the sex on the radio.
We feel helpless and violated as the media and the entertainment industry have transformed our love lives into something cheap and vulgar, just to gain TRP and audience attention.
If I keep holding my breath, all of this will fade away.
I have come to a point where I can't cope up with the stress and pressure anymore, and I wish that everything could just vanish away into thin air.
If you keep driving, we'll be lying in the wreck.
If you continue with your reckless actions, we both will end up getting hurt badly.
Changing the shape, Folding like an envelope to keep each other in. Shattered glass, broken looks, and mascara gets Washed away by windshield wiper blades.
We both have changed ourselves and are accommodating to keep each other happy, but sometimes things get so ugly that it results in broken relationships and shattered hearts.
That's where we hide. The love and lies and sex, on the radio.
We both are just hiding behind the superficiality of love, lies, and sex portrayed in the media. It's a harsh reality, and we are living our lives just like that.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: III, GEOFFREY RICKLY, ROBERT KEELEY, STEVEN PEDULLA, THOMAS RULE, TIMOTHY PAYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
SEASKYCITY
Kinda makes you wanna log back into Myspace and update your top 8
AndrewLifts
Lol yeah.
Colors
@Justice No, but I am going to up my Yahoo answers game.
Lala
I think this song was in Thursday's Myspace autoplay, if I remember correctly.
EmoDaDrums
Eric Cartman 😂😂😂😂😂✊✊✊🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Amy Mittelstedt
God...so much truth
Tyler L
i would give anything to go back to this era
BreakfastK1ng
@Colors 33. I was 15 when this came out. I can't believe it's been that long. WWII?
ᴀ ʙ ᴇ ᴋ ꜱ я я я
@Azuraii omg I just peeped that lineup and holy shit ur lucky ! A few bands on there I’d actually forgotten lol . Have a wild time my friend .
flyinggeneral
@Azuraii Man, the lineup in that concert is a time machine back to the 2000s. I envy you.