Toad the Wet Sprocket was formed in 1986 at San Marcos High School just outside of Santa Barbara, California, when singer-songwriter Glen Phillips was just a 14-year-old freshman, and the other members were 17-year-old juniors. The band drew its name from the Eric Idle monologue "Rock Notes" on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album from 1980. Their first public appearance was at an open-microphone talent contest in September 1986 (which they lost).
Toad the Wet Sprocket's first album came out in 1989. Named Bread and Circus, it was their first effort for Columbia Records, who had signed them out of high school. The album spawned the singles "Way Away" and "One Little Girl," which made the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, but did not receive much attention.
The follow-up, Pale, was released in 1990 and saw their sound mature. Featuring the singles "Jam" and the Modern Rock Chart hit "Come Back Down," the album was still not a massive success.
The band finally achieved fame with their third album, Fear (released in 1991), which became the band's first RIAA certified platinum album. Also, the singles "All I Want" and "Walk on the Ocean" reached the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1994, after years of heavy touring, the band released their follow-up to Fear, Dulcinea. This album spawned the hit singles "Fall Down", which reached #1 on the US Modern Rock charts as well as #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart, as well as "Something's Always Wrong", which also charted. This album was also certified platinum by the RIAA.
A compilation album of b-sides and rarities, In Light Syrup, was released in 1995; it included the single "Good Intentions", which was featured on the soundtrack for the television show Friends. Largely due to the strength of the single, this compilation was certified as a gold album in 2001.
The release of Coil in 1997 acted much like a follow up to 1994's Dulcinea. Featuring a more electric, rock sound, it contained the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock hit "Come Down", as well as the radio hit "Crazy Life" (which did not chart). The album, despite the success of "Come Down" as a single, failed to reach any sales benchmarks.
Toad the Wet Sprocket formally broke up in July 1998, citing creative differences. Since breaking up, the band performed together in 2002 at a Rape Crisis Center benefit and opened up for Counting Crows. In 2006 they began touring the United States as a band in small-venue, short-run tours each summer.
In 2009, bassist Dean Dinning said Toad the Wet Sprocket was now something each member considered an active project, and though they had not released a new studio album since 1997 and only did small summer tours, they no longer considered themselves "broken up". In May 2010, the band gathered at a California studio to begin re-recording some of their older hits for licensing reasons. Columbia Records owns the masters to the band's albums. Therefore, the band makes little money from them, so to be able to make a living off their own talent again, they made these re-recordings with the goal of having them used in film and TV.
On December 7, 2010, Toad the Wet Sprocket released their first new studio track in 11 years. The holiday track "It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas", a cover of a Sam Phillips original, was posted on their official site, available via Bandcamp, for free download just in time for the holidays, along with a new message on their site: "We're that band that did 'Walk on the Ocean', 'All I Want', 'Something's Always Wrong', and "Fall Down'. The one with the weird name. We're back from a long slumber and look forward to saying hello some time. Keep in touch…" The band had recently signed a deal with Primary Wave to handle their back catalog and any future releases, and on December 11, 2010, the band mentioned, both on stage and in an offstage YouTube interview, that they are currently writing songs for their first new studio album since 1997's Coil. In addition, they began playing two new songs, "Friendly Fire" and "The Moment", which were being worked on for the new album.
On April 12, 2011, Toad the Wet Sprocket released a new greatest hits album titled All You Want in digital and disc form via their official website. The 11-track CD includes brand new studio versions of their hits. The band does not have access to some of the versions they did for Columbia Records in the '90s. However, they did regain full control of the songs from their first two albums, and they planned to re-release them in remastered form on their own label, Abe's Records, following the release of their upcoming studio album.
On March 22, 2013, it was announced via Toad the Wet Sprocket's Facebook page that recording of the new album had been completed. The album was produced and mixed by Mikal Blue at Revolver Studios in Thousand Oaks, California. On June 5, 2013, the band announced the first new single in 16 years on Rolling Stone's website titled "New Constellation". An album of the same name was released on the band's own Abe's Records on October 15, 2013. The band marketed the new album via the crowdsourcing website Kickstarter. The band initially set a fundraising goal of $50,000, expecting it to take about two months to raise that amount. Instead, fans contributed more than $50,000 in less than 20 hours. When the Kickstarter campaign finally came to a close, they had raised a total of $264,762.
In 2014, Toad the Wet Sprocket resumed touring and opened a number of shows for Counting Crows. They showcased some of the new material from New Constellation, the Kickstarter-funded album, including "California Wasted" and the album's title track while playing a number of their earlier hits. During summer 2015, the band went on tour with fellow '90s acts Smash Mouth and Tonic. The band released an EP called Architect of the Ruin on June 16, 2015.
In 2018, Toad the Wet Sprocket announced that they had reissued their albums fear and Dulcinea on a deluxe remastered vinyl LP available through their online store. The same year, they also released a limited deluxe 5-LP box set of colored vinyl for their albums fear, Dulcinea and Acoustic Dance Party.
In a January 2020 interview with ChicagoNow, Glen Phillips stated that "Toad has started recording again." In addition, he confirmed the band's first official lineup change, and that drummer Guss had left the band on good terms. Previous occasional touring member Josh Daubin replaced Guss.
On September 25, 2020, they released a new song entitled “Starting Now”, followed by another new song "Old Habits Die Hard" on October 23rd, from their upcoming album, set to be released in 2021.
There's another band with the same name:
2. Toad The Wet Sprocket was an NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) band active from the mid-70s to 1982. They released two singles, "Pete's Punk Song" and "Reaching the Sky", before their breakup. Their song, "Blues in A", was included on Metal for Muthas compilation (1980).
Begin
Toad The Wet Sprocket Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Are you second sight
Are you older than your life
Eighty days of sorrow
Endless more in sight
Still you child burn bright
And you see me crying again
Lead me shaking to his room
I thought I'd never see again
Close the door behind you
Turning out the light
Press a flashlight up against the wall
You say this is how we knew him, in a little egg
It opened up and this is daddy now
Now you're stepping back towards me
Til the room is bathing in light
And the answer there before me
There's no ending when we die
Are you sleeping here beside me
Are you shining bright as the sky
Are you breathing now inside me
There's no ending when we die
The lyrics to Toad The Wet Sprocket's song Begin are structured around the theme of death and the afterlife. The opening stanza poses questions about the listener's ability to see beyond what is visible, suggesting perhaps a spiritual or psychic connection. The following lines describe the sorrow and infinite depth of the human experience, but end on an uplifting note that even in darkness, there is hope and light.
The second half of the song is a poignant moment shared between a parent and child mourning the loss of a loved one. Together they explore the fragility of life and the inevitability of death, but find solace in each other's presence. The lines "There's no ending when we die" recur, emphasizing the idea that even though physical bodies may perish, spiritual energy lives on in some form.
Overall the lyrics of Begin are both introspective and intimate, exploring weighty ideas of mortality and the unknown, while offering a sense of comfort and optimism.
Line by Line Meaning
Are you given vision
Do you possess the ability to see beyond the physical world?
Are you second sight
Do you have the insight to see things beyond what is directly in front of you?
Are you older than your life
Have you lived so fully that you have surpassed your physical age?
Eighty days of sorrow
Have you experienced significant sadness for a prolonged period of time?
Endless more in sight
Do you anticipate facing more challenges and difficulties in the future?
Still you child burn bright
Despite any hardships faced, do you remain youthful and steadfast in your spirit?
And you see me crying again
Have you witnessed someone else's pain and sadness repeatedly?
And you hold out your little hand
Do you offer comfort and support to someone in need?
Lead me shaking to his room
Have you been led to confront something or someone that brings you fear and discomfort?
I thought I'd never see again
Has an experience or person seemed lost to you forever?
Close the door behind you
Do you seal yourself away from the outside world or past experiences?
Turning out the light
Do you try to forget or ignore things that are difficult to face?
Press a flashlight up against the wall
Do you seek to shed light on something that has previously been hidden in darkness?
You say this is how we knew him, in a little egg
Do you remember someone from a time before they became who they are now?
It opened up and this is daddy now
Has someone undergone a significant transformation and now appears different than before?
Now you're stepping back towards me
Is someone coming forward to offer support or guidance?
Til the room is bathing in light
Is hope or positivity radiating from someone or something to illuminate the space around them?
And the answer there before me
Is there an epiphany or revelation that becomes clear through challenging experiences?
There's no ending when we die
Is the idea of an afterlife or eternity present in your thoughts or beliefs?
Are you sleeping here beside me
Do you feel the presence of someone who has passed on close to you?
Are you shining bright as the sky
Is there a sense of hope or joy that surrounds the memory of someone who has passed away?
Are you breathing now inside me
Is there a sense of carrying on someone's legacy or spirit after they are gone?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: DINNING, GUSS, NICHOLS, PHILLIPS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind