Toby used to play bass, piano, guitar and sing on Maudlin of the Well, and has worked with numerous other bands, including Asva, Tartar Lamb (originally created to play his self-written piece Sixty Metonymies), and Tartar Lamb II, and he has played onstage with Secret Chiefs 3, for instance.
His first solo album, In the L..L..Library Loft, was released on Tzadik in 2005. It was released under his name at Tzadik's preference, though most of Kayo Dot still appears on it. He composed the soundtrack to the short film The Pod (2013) and a multimedia project Ichneumonidae (2014). His second solo album, Madonnawhore, was released in 2017 (described by the artist himself as "consisting entirely of dreary ballads"); a live album, Live at Roulette, March 2017, was also given limited release in the same year.
470 Nanometers
Toby Driver Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He listened to gravity
On a newly-built train
Gliding silent through the Holocene
And through the countryside
Past the grouses stained the ultramarine
Of comic book eventide
Can you fell the flow
And the pull of the tail?
The viscosity of space and name?
The eddy of minds chained in slavery
Embraced by the face in the flame?
Tapped by midnight's wand of dew
The peering eye decumbent
Flared into an aleph hailing
Starry sputum disassociated
Cosmic epithelium a-trailing
He watched a planet drifting through
And the plane pulled itself through the air
Slow as honey
The whole sky moved with it
In Toby Driver's song "470 Nanometers," the lyrics depict a scene of a person listening to the force of gravity while riding a newly-built train. As the train glides through the Holocene and countryside, the singer observes the surroundings with an attentive ear, paying attention to the viscosity of space and name, and the eddy of minds chained in slavery, all the while embraced by the face in the flame.
As midnight's wand of dew taps against the earth, the singer continues peering and eventually watches a planet drifting through. The last lines of the song paint a visual of a plane pulling itself through the air as slow as honey, with the entire sky moving in tandem with it. Overall, "470 Nanometers" is a thoughtful and introspective song, examining the nuances of space and time in a introspective and evocative way.
Line by Line Meaning
With his ear pressed up against the air
He was paying close attention to his surroundings
He listened to gravity
He was thinking deeply about the forces that shape our world
On a newly-built train
He was riding on a modern form of transportation
Gliding silent through the Holocene
The train passed quietly through the geological epoch we currently inhabit
And through the countryside
He observed the natural beauty around him
Past the grouses stained the ultramarine
He saw birds with blue plumage against the evening sky
Of comic book eventide
The sky looked like the colorful backdrop of a comic book scene
Can you feel the flow
He asked a rhetorical question about our perception of natural forces
And the pull of the tail?
He continued his inquiry into the nature of gravity
The viscosity of space and name?
He wondered about the density of the universe and the significance of names
The eddy of minds chained in slavery
He expressed frustration about the concept of mental slavery
Embraced by the face in the flame?
He asked if we are controlled by the fiery passion of our desires
Tapped by midnight's wand of dew
He referred to the way that nighttime can alter our perceptions of the world
The peering eye decumbent
He envisioned someone watching the world while lying down
Flared into an aleph hailing
His thoughts suddenly focused on an idea or concept (an aleph)
Starry sputum disassociated
He described a feeling of separation from the world
Cosmic epithelium a-trailing
He imagined the universe as having some sort of biological component
He watched a planet drifting through
He observed the movement of a celestial body
And the plane pulled itself through the air
He observed an airplane flying in the sky
Slow as honey
The plane moved through the air with a leisurely pace
The whole sky moved with it
The airplane seemed to be affecting the entire sky around it
Writer(s): Toby Driver
Contributed by Sebastian C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
InfinityPotato
Part the Third
Lyrics:
With his ear pressed up against the air
He listened to gravity
On a newly-built train
Glinding silent through the Holocene
And through the countryside
Past the grousses stained the ultramarine
Of comic book eventide
Can you fell the flow
And the pull of the tail?
The viscosity of space and rain?
The eddy of minds chained in slavery
Embraced by the face in the flame?
Trapped by midnight's wind of dew
The peering eye decumbent
Fled into on aleph hailing
Starry sputum dissociated
Cosmic epithelium e-tailing
He watched a planet drifting through
And the plane pulled itself through the air
Slow as honey
The whole sky moved with it
Corn Philips
he really went from 6,000,000,000,000 miles to 470 nanometers
madProgenitorDeity
The production on this is killer
InfinityPotato
Part the Third
Lyrics:
With his ear pressed up against the air
He listened to gravity
On a newly-built train
Glinding silent through the Holocene
And through the countryside
Past the grousses stained the ultramarine
Of comic book eventide
Can you fell the flow
And the pull of the tail?
The viscosity of space and rain?
The eddy of minds chained in slavery
Embraced by the face in the flame?
Trapped by midnight's wind of dew
The peering eye decumbent
Fled into on aleph hailing
Starry sputum dissociated
Cosmic epithelium e-tailing
He watched a planet drifting through
And the plane pulled itself through the air
Slow as honey
The whole sky moved with it
cascadies
Phenomenal. Amazing work Toby.
Matteo Fossati
To me this is the apotheosis of Toby... most simple, yet beautiful masterpiece
Spieglass
This dude and string arrangements, man. Teach me.
Fran Lovel Šimić
This record is gonna be amazing.
Black Phillip
Fran Lovel Šimić And it is amazing. :)
bvzvwir
Better than first premiere track, so i'm all in waiting for this album. Sounds great!
Malkovith1
Amazing stuff. Can't wait for the album.