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.
Telegraph Avenue Kiss
Thursday Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the note that you couldn't hit.
So you locked her up in a music box,
And turned the key on all of us.
She spins silver strings in the dark,
With metal teeth that ring in her heart.
When the cover drops, the world just fades away from her waiting for her to say it:
[Chorus]
K-I-S-S I'm in distress,
I need someone to spell it out
You know our love's not unconditional.
A book of matches and a cigarette,
A love note that you never sent,
You can fold it up but you won't forget
You can strike a match but it still might not light
Now I'm the one stuck inside this silver cage,
The bird that can't fly away clips it's wings if it sings of the way, the way that it hurt
Waiting for her to say it:
[Chorus]
Low f-I-d-e-l-I-t-y do all love songs turn out this way? can't you hear me when I say:
You're in my heart, in my hands, around my neck.
We move like a carousel,
Streak lights and mirrors fill our eyes.
It's time to let this go,
But we can't stop spinning around
The lyrics of Thursday's song, "Telegraph Avenue Kiss," convey the emotions of someone who is experiencing an unrequited love. The song begins with a metaphor that compares the woman to a song that one has tried and failed to sing. The singer of the song feels unable to reach the high note of the melody, and so locks the woman up in a music box, cutting her off from the world. The woman is described as a mysterious, enigmatic figure who plays silver strings in the dark, and has metal teeth that ring in her heart. The singer is captivated by her, and is waiting for her to say something, to spell out her feelings for him.
The chorus of the song is a plea for the woman to acknowledge the singer's feelings for her. He says that he is in distress and needs her to spell it out for him. He is aware that their love is not unconditional, and seems desperate for some sign that she feels the same way about him.
The second verse of the song uses imagery of a bird trapped in a silver cage. The singer falls into the same trap as the woman, and is unable to escape his love for her. He compares himself to a bird that can't fly away, and says that it is painful when he sings of the way he feels. The chorus is repeated, leading into a bridge that questions the nature of love songs and their inevitable low fidelity. The song ends with a feeling of being stuck, moving around in circles with no end in sight.
Line by Line Meaning
She's the song that you tried to sing,
She represents an ideal or a dream that the singer attempted to pursue or achieve.
And the note that you couldn't hit.
The pursuit of this ideal proved to be elusive or unattainable for the singer.
So you locked her up in a music box,
Unable to let go of this ideal, the singer keeps it confined and controlled in a metaphorical sense.
And turned the key on all of us.
By doing so, the artist deprived others of his/her own musical expression and confined them to a limited perspective.
She spins silver strings in the dark,
The subject of the song creates a mysterious and alluring atmosphere that attracts others.
With metal teeth that ring in her heart.
The subject's passionate and intense emotions resonate with her music.
When the cover drops, the world just fades away from her waiting for her to say it:
When she performs, the subject channels all her focus and emotion into her music, creating a mesmerizing experience for the audience.
K-I-S-S I'm in distress,
The artist is requesting a straightforward declaration of love from the subject of the song.
I need someone to spell it out
The artist desires verbal confirmation of love from the subject.
You know our love's not unconditional.
The artist is aware that the love between the two is not without conditions or limitations.
A book of matches and a cigarette,
The singer holds onto memories that may be painful but are too significant to let go of.
A love note that you never sent,
The artist holds onto an unrequited love and the potential for a different outcome.
You can fold it up but you won't forget
Despite the inconclusive nature of these memories, they remain imprinted on the singer's mind.
You can strike a match but it still might not light
The singer recognizes the difficulty in igniting a passion that seems to be dying out.
Now I'm the one stuck inside this silver cage,
The subject of the song has now become the singer's confining ideal or dream.
The bird that can't fly away clips it's wings if it sings of the way, the way that it hurt
If the artist were to sing of the pain caused by unfulfilled love, he/she would only feel more trapped and restrained.
Waiting for her to say it:
Despite the obstacles and emotional baggage, the artist is still waiting for the subject to reciprocate their love.
Low f-I-d-e-l-I-t-y do all love songs turn out this way? can't you hear me when I say:
The singer questions the tendency for love songs to be melancholic and lamentable, and expresses his/her anguish towards the subject's inaction.
You're in my heart, in my hands, around my neck.
The subject of the song is constantly on the singer's mind and has a hold on him/her emotionally, physically and spiritually.
We move like a carousel,
The relationship between the artist and the subject is cyclical, repetitive and dizzying in nature.
Streak lights and mirrors fill our eyes.
The relationship is characterized by distractions and superficiality, but still holds an intrinsic appeal to both parties.
It's time to let this go,
The artist recognizes that it's time to move on from the relationship and the unfulfilled love.
But we can't stop spinning around
Despite knowing that it's time to move on, the relationship still holds weight and the singer is finding it difficult to let it go.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: III, ANDREW EVERDING, GEOFFREY RICKLY, ROBERT KEELEY, STEVEN PEDULLA, THOMAS RULE, TIMOTHY PAYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind