The band has a cult following in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, although the eclectic and unique sound Tindersticks possesses never made significant inroads in the mainstream.
Personnel
* Stuart Ashton Staples, born 14 November 1965 - Lead voice, guitar, melodica
* Dickon James Hinchliffe, born 9 July 1967 - violin, guitar, voice, piano, string and brass arrangements
* Neil Timothy Fraser, - born 22 November 1962 - lead guitar, vibraphone
* David Leonard Boulter, born 27 February 1965 - keyboards, percussion
* Alasdair Robert De Villeneuve Macaulay, born 2 August 1965 - drums, percussion, trumpet
* Mark Andrew Colwill, born 12 May 1960 - bass guitar
The band formed in late 1991, Staples, Boulter, Frazer, Macauley and Hinchcliffe having previously been members of Asphalt Ribbons. The final band line-up for the "old horse" mini-LP (1991) was: Stuart Staples (vocals) Dave Boulter (organ & accordion) Neil Fraser (guitar) Dickon Hinchliffe (Guitar & strings) Al Macauley (percussion & drums) John Thompson (bass). Mark Colwill was recruited when John Thompson left the Asphalt Ribbons, but it is not sure if he played any gigs under the Asphalt Ribbons name. Then they changed their name to Tindersticks after Stuart A. Staples discovered a box of German matches on a Greek beach.
Tindersticks started recording demo tapes in 1992, and were signed by Tippy Toe Records who released their first single, "Patchwork".
Their self-titled first and second albums established their signature sound and received widespread critical acclaim. Their live performances, often augmented by large string sections and even, on occasion, a full orchestra, were rapturously received. (The live album Bloomsbury Theatre 12.3.95 is a recording of one such concert.) By the time of the third album, Curtains, however, it was clear that a change of direction was called for. There was a certain ennui to the songs, and the lengthy "Ballad of Tindersticks" was a weary swipe at the pressures of being a touring band.
The fourth album, Simple Pleasure, lived up to its title with a series of snappy, direct songs influenced by soul music. The female backing vocals on several tracks, and the respectful cover of Odyssey's "If You're Looking For A Way Out", signalled the band's wish to move towards lighter, more soulful material. However, the inner sleeve's documentation of the number of takes each track went through was evidence that the band continued to adopt a painstaking approach to recording.
The fifth album, Can Our Love, continued the band's soulful direction, in particular evidence on the tender "Sweet Release" and in the nod to the Chi-Lites in the title of "Chilitetime".
The sixth and most recent album, Waiting For The Moon, was more stripped down and introspective in nature, particularly on the harrowing "4.48 Psychosis" (based on the play of the same name by the British playwright Sarah Kane) and "Sometimes It Hurts". Only the bouncy "Just A Dog" lightened the otherwise melancholy mood of the album.
In 2005 Staples embarked on a solo career and there was resultant speculation that the band had split. Staples has so far produced two solo albums, Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 and Leaving Songs. The title of the second album, and Staples' notes on it, indicate that Tindersticks may indeed be at an end: "These are songs written on the verge of leaving the things I loved and stepping into a new unknown life, both musically and personally. I was always aware that these songs were the end of something, a kind of closing a circle of a way of writing that I started so long ago and I knew I had to move on from."
In September 2006, the band played a one-off concert at London's Barbican Centre, performing their second album in full with a nine-member string section and two brass players, including former collaborator Terry Edwards on trumpet. This concert brought the band's members back together. A new recording process in 2007 resulted in a new album, The Hungry Saw, which was released on April 28th 2008.
In the meantime, in July 2007, Island Records had released The BBC Sessions, a double CD compilation of the band's sessions for BBC radio programmes. Also in 2007, a stripped-down line-up of three of the original band, Staples, Boulter and Fraser, spent time writing and recording in a newly-equipped studio in Limousin, France. They were joined by Thomas Belhom on drums and Dan McKinna on bass, with Ian Caple engineering. The resulting album, The Hungry Saw, was released on Beggars Banquet in April 2008. Tindersticks played a number of other European dates during the summer festival season and also announced a winter 2008 European tour.
In 2010, the eighth album Falling Down a Mountain was released on 4AD / Constellation Records with a changed band line-up, with Earl Harvin replacing Belhom on drums and David Kitt, a solo artist in his own right, joining the band on guitar and vocals.
The group's ninth album The Something Rain was released in February 2012.
As well as their nine studio albums, the band has produced the soundtracks for four films by the French director Claire Denis: Nenette et Boni,Trouble Every Day, 35 Rhums and White Material
They recorded a cover of the Four Tops song, "What Is A Man", for the theme to the British TV series The Sins.
The Tindersticks song Tiny Tears was featured prominently in the Series 1 episode "Isabella" of HBO's The Sopranos. Additionally, a version of "Running Wild" was played during the ending credits of the penultimate episode of the series, "The Blue Comet". In the Season One Finale of Brotherhood, "El Diablo En El Ojo" is used twice.
* Tindersticks (aka First Album) (This Way Up, 1993)
* Tindersticks (aka Second Album) (This Way Up, 1995)
* Curtains (This Way Up, 1997)
* Simple Pleasure (Island, 1999)
* Can Our Love... (Beggar's Banquet, 2001)
* Waiting for the Moon (Beggar's Banquet, 2003)
* BBC Sessions (2007)
On 17th October 2014, Tindersticks released the commissioned soundscapes from the In Flanders Fields WW1 museum in Ypres, Belgium.
See the band's site at www.tindersticks.co.uk.
Rented Room
Tindersticks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We can go there now if you want to
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
It was only hours
It seemed such a short while
Or sit and wonder why
We had so many things started to say
We had to get through
We tried the cinema
Within half an hour
We had to go find someplace else
Some more... you know
We tried a drinking bar
It gets so very hard
And when the cab ride gets too long
We go fuck in the bathroom
We can't afford the time to sit and cry
Or to wonder why
We've got so many things started to say
We had to get through
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
We had so many things started to say
We had to get through
We can't afford the time to sit and cry
Or to wonder why
We've got so many things started to say
We had to get through
We haven't got the time for telling lies
Or to even try
There's only days in between
There's just tomorrow
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
It was only hours it seemed such a short while
In those pillows all the feathers that hold all our dreams
Whispered at the scene
Now they just seem to float on a breeze
I could have wrapped that pillow around my head
Face down on the bed
I could have drowned in those so-called dreams
The lyrics of Tindersticks's song "Rented Rooms" is a tale of two individuals who are trying to cope with the end of a relationship. The singer suggests they find solace in a rented hotel room, which becomes a frequent refuge. They stumble through the doors all the while knowing that they can’t afford to cry, they must “get through” and try to explain everything that still goes unsaid. Despite their attempts at distraction, having gone to the cinema and drinking bar, they eventually end up in the bathroom having sex instead. They know that they have no time to waste, they can’t dwell in their sadness or try to distract themselves with lies, they have to face their situation head-on.
The song is about the realities of heartbreak and how sometimes people try to cope with it by jumping from one distraction to another. The lyrics are melancholic, somber and poignant, and the tone of the music enhances those feelings. By repeating “We had to get through,” the songwriter emphasizes the need for the characters to confront their feelings and not just ignore them to move on. The use of "pillows with feathers that hold our dreams" and the phrase "whispered at the scene" signify that the couples are still holding onto the memories and dreams they’d shared, even though it’s all slipping away. The pillow is now insignificant, something that they might as well have been suffocated with, and the dreams that meant so much to them have now dissipated like feathers.
Line by Line Meaning
There's the same hotel, and we can go there now
We can go to the hotel anytime.
Through the doors of that rented room, Yeah, we stumbled through
We entered the room stumbling.
It was only hours, It seemed such a short while
The time we spent there passed quickly.
We had no time to cry, Or sit and wonder why
We couldn't lament or contemplate our situation.
We had so many things started to say, We had to get through
We had a lot to say and we had to say it all.
We tried the cinema, Within half an hour, We had to go find someplace else
We tried going to the cinema but left after 30 minutes.
We go fuck in the bathroom, We tried a drinking bar, It gets so very hard, And when the cab ride gets too long
We had sex in the bathroom, tried going to the drinking bar, it was challenging, and when the cab ride was too long.
We can't afford the time to sit and cry, Or to wonder why, We've got so many things started to say, We had to get through
We couldn't spend time being emotional, we had to say what we needed to say.
We haven't got the time for telling lies, Or to even try, There's only days in between, There's just tomorrow
We don't have time to lie, there are only a few days left until tomorrow.
In those pillows all the feathers that hold all our dreams, Whispered at the scene, Now they just seem to float on a breeze, I could have wrapped that pillow around my head, Face down on the bed, I could have drowned in those so-called dreams
The pillows held our dreams which were once important but now they seem empty. The artist imagines smothering themselves with the pillow, overwhelmed by unfulfilled dreams.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: STUART ASHTON STAPLES, DICKON JAMES HINCHLIFFE, DAVID BOULTER, NEIL TIMOTHY FRASER, MARK ANTHONY STEPHEN COLWILL, ALASDAIR MACAULAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
mavirenes
There's the same hotel, and we can go there now
We can go there now if you want to
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
It was only hours
It seemed such a short while
We had no time to cry
Or sit and wonder why
We had so many things started to say
We had to get through
We tried the cinema
Within half an hour
We had to go find someplace else
Some more... you know
We tried a drinking bar
It gets so very hard
And when the cab ride gets too long
We go fuck in the bathroom
We can't afford the time to sit and cry
Or to wonder why
We've got so many things started to say
We had to get through
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
We had so many things started to say
We had to get through
We can't afford the time to sit and cry
Or to wonder why
We've got so many things started to say
We had to get through
We haven't got the time for telling lies
Or to even try
There's only days in between
There's just tomorrow
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
It was only hours it seemed such a short while
In those pillows all the feathers that hold all our dreams
Whispered at the scene
Now they just seem to float on a breeze
I could have wrapped that pillow around my head
Face down on the bed
I could have drowned in those so-called dreams
Fa Solia
There's the same hotel, and we can go there now
We can go there now if you want to
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
It was only hours
It seemed such a short while
We had no time to cry
Or sit and wonder why
We had so many things started to say
We had to get through
We tried the cinema
Within half an hour
We had to go find someplace else
Some more... you know
We tried a drinking bar
It gets so very hard
And when the cab ride gets too long
We go fuck in the bathroom
We can't afford the time to sit and cry
Or to wonder why
We've got so many things started to say
We had to get through
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
We had so many things started to say
We had to get through
We can't afford the time to sit and cry
Or to wonder why
We've got so many things started to say
We had to get through
We haven't got the time for telling lies
Or to even try
There's only days in between
There's just tomorrow
Through the doors of that rented room
Yeah, we stumbled through
It was only hours it seemed such a short while
In those pillows all the feathers that hold all our dreams
Whispered at the scene
Now they just seem to float on a breeze
I could have wrapped that pillow around my head
Face down on the bed
I could have drowned in those so-called dreams .
MOZZER MADCHESTER
De las mejores canciones que se hayan compuesto. Es una perfecta unión entre letra y música. 🎸✍
Frank K
It's excellent. I love this song. And the paintings are perfect.
Steve Hewitt
The best marriage of a song and some paintings I've seen in a long time, thank you!
demonswizards
Excellent song from a magnificent band !
herve le pelley
Superbe chanson. Voix envoûtante et magnifique...
MrNickzen
TY for this, great sound levels, props
Alex Padron
Hermosa rola!!! No se diga el vídeo
Capitão Ceroulinhas
Wonderful!
LiveFromDetroit
Thank you so much. One of my all time favorite songs but you can't get the video here in Canada. Loved the pics, now I am a fan of Fabian Perez as well....thanks again!
Dimiter Stoyanov
The baritone of Stuart A. Staples could deliver a mighty eargasm❣️🔝👏