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).
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Toad The Wet Sprocket Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Seems we're making the same wrong turn
Call you sacred
Call you obscene
Call you faithless
Call you anything
Call and you listen
Listen
Listen
I'm a liar so it seems
My desire could justify anything
So is there nothing that lies in between
This cold silence and a scream
Scream
Listen
Listen
Listen
Caught in the headlights
We are frozen
Can not hide
There's no break
There is no time
If you can
I might listen
Call and you listen
Listen
Listen
Listen
Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “Listen” is a profound and meaningful song. The lyrics revolve around the idea that humans make the same mistakes over and over again and fail to learn from them. The singer wonders whether we can truly learn from our mistakes or not, and it seems that we’re making the same wrong turns in life. The song suggests that change is vital, but we don't seem to learn from our past mistakes, and we keep repeating them. The lyrics implore us to listen, whoever or whatever we are, and learn to adapt or evolve to avoid the same mistakes in the future.
The refrain of the song, “Call and you listen, listen,” highlights the importance of listening. It reminds us that we need to listen to others' opinions and experiences, even if we don't agree with them, to gain a better understanding of the world around us. The song emphasizes that we must learn to listen to communicate effectively and avoid misunderstandings that can lead to conflict. The singer also recognizes that he, too, is a liar at times, and sometimes his desires, no matter how relevant, justify anything. The lyrics suggest that, if we can't find some middle ground or common understanding between the cold silence and scream, we'll get caught in the headlights and be frozen in fear, no matter how much we try to hide.
In conclusion, “Listen” by Toad the Wet Sprocket is an incredible song that spotlights the importance of listening as a vital part of communication. The lyrics suggest that change is necessary, and we must learn from our past mistakes instead of making the same wrong turns repeatedly.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I wonder do we learn
I often question if we gain knowledge from our past mistakes
Seems we're making the same wrong turn
It appears that we continue to repeat the same errors
Call you sacred
Some people may consider you pure or religious
Call you obscene
Others may perceive you as vulgar or indecent
Call you faithless
Certain individuals may label you as disloyal or untrustworthy
Call you anything
You could be referred to as any type of word or term
Call and you listen
However, if someone calls out to you, you will still be there to hear them
Listen
Pay attention to what I am about to say
Listen
It's important that you hear me out
Listen
I need you to be attentive right now
I'm a liar so it seems
I'm not a truthful person and others might agree
My desire could justify anything
I have a powerful longing that may excuse any of my actions
So is there nothing that lies in between
Is there any middle ground or compromise available?
This cold silence and a scream
Either complete silence or a loud scream are the only options
Scream
I need to make my voice heard with an intense yell
Listen
I hope you are paying attention to me right now
Listen
I need you to be fully engaged in this conversation
Listen
It's important that you understand my perspective
Caught in the headlights
I feel trapped and exposed
We are frozen
We are stuck and unable to move forward
Can not hide
We can't conceal ourselves from the situation
There's no break
There is no relief from the current circumstances
There is no time
We are running out of time to make a decision
If you can
If you have the ability or chance
I might listen
I'm willing to pay attention to your words if you give me the opportunity
Call and you listen
If someone contacts you, you will be there to listen to them
Listen
It's important that we all listen to each other in order to move forward
Listen
Let's take a moment to fully hear each other's thoughts and feelings
Listen
We need to be open to different perspectives and ideas
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TODD B. NICHOLS, GLEN RICHARD PHILLIPS, DEAN V. DINNING, RANDEL S. GUSS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind