Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, ON, Canada. The ban… Read Full Bio ↴Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, ON, Canada. The band consists of Dave Monks (vocals, bass), Josh Hook (guitar, percussion), Graham Wright (keyboards, guitar, vocals) & Greg Alsop (drums, percussion).

In 2005, Tokyo Police Club started by accident one day in the ordinary suburb of Newmarket when Greg, Josh, Dave, and Graham decided that they missed playing music together, their previous band having broken up several months before. The four gathered in Josh's basement, plugging in instruments and making up songs almost at random, with no goal but to recapture the magic that they felt making music together. By the time summer came, TPC had quietly begun playing shows in the Toronto area, shows at which the very few people in attendance seemed impressed by what they saw. The band seemed likely to end here, with the various members preparing to go their separate ways in the fall, when fate intervened in the form of an invitation to play the Pop Montreal festival. Packing their instruments and girlfriends into a tiny university residence room, TPC spent a week immersed in music, spending days lazily wandering the streets of Montreal and nights rehearsing loudly in the tiniest of spaces, and topping it off in style with a sold out show that saw the band play for the first time to an audience that was actually interested. A few weeks later, all four had agreed that it was time to break their mothers' hearts and pursue that most elusive of pipe dreams: a career in the music business.

The boys got straight to business, playing a series of Toronto shows, and earning a reputation for live shows that were exuberant, lively, and unrestrained. In January, the very day that Dave returned for good from university, Tokyo Police Club signed up with esteemed Toronto label Paperbag Records to release their debut EP in Canada. In April 27, 2006, A Lesson in Crime was released in Canada and U.S (February 12, 2007, UK released), and the band spent the next months on the road, bringing their optimistic brand of wide-eyed post-pop to audiences across Canada, U.S. and Europe, and making many new friends along the way.

Responding to criticisms that A Lesson in Crime is too short (16:22), Graham Wright had this to say in an interview with Ukula: "It's very quick, quick, quick, one, two, three. Some of the songs don't have a lot of space in them and the album doesn't have a whole lot of room to breathe, but I think in the case of an EP this is a really good thing."

The Smith EP came in February 14, 2007. At a July 20, 2007 stop along the tour in Omaha, Nebraska the band announced the inking of a deal with Omaha based Saddle Creek Records during their live show at the Saddle Creek owned venue The Slowdown, to release their debut LP, entitled Elephant Shell, that was released on April, 22nd 2008 to much applause.

So what exactly is Tokyo Police Club? Perhaps EYE Weekly summed it up best when they wrote "[Tokyo Police Club] are undeniably catchy and raw, marrying danceable hooks with talk of robot masters and global emergencies, providing an upbeat soundtrack to our troubled times." Personally, however, I prefer Exclaim's proclamation that "somehow, the deeply innocuous subdivisions of Newmarket, Ontario have hatched a four-headed beast of tunefulness."

Be Good
Tokyo Police Club Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's been a blast but we've been caught
Packing up your suitcase, hard day, long face
Get the story right, get the story right
Get the story down

Waltzing right out of the room
Be good when your parents stay over in June

It's been alright but we have fought
Ways of the Samurai, parry, thrust, do or die
Not the fighting type, not the killing kind
Get the story down

Waltzing right out of the room
Be good when your parents stay over in June

I heard the news, I'll send a card
Cellar door, Friday night, long Johns, hold tight
Put it on a page, put it on a line
Get the story down

Waltzing right out of the room
Be good when your parents stay over in June

Overall Meaning

The song "Be Good" by Tokyo Police Club is about the end of a relationship, where the couple has decided to call it quits but still have to go through the motions of packing up and parting ways. The lyrics describe the somber mood of the situation, with lines like "hard day, long face" and "not the fighting type, not the killing kind" hinting at the emotional toll the breakup has taken on the individuals involved. The line "Get the story right, get the story down" suggests that the couple wants to make sure they have a clear understanding of why things didn't work out before they move on.

The chorus of the song, "Waltzing right out of the room, be good when your parents stay over in June," adds a touch of irony to the situation. The idea of waltzing out of the room suggests a kind of elegance and grace, but there's nothing elegant or graceful about the end of a relationship. Similarly, the idea of "being good" when parents visit in June implies a level of politeness and civility, even though the breakup has likely left both parties feeling hurt and angry.

Overall, "Be Good" is a poignant and introspective look at the end of a relationship, capturing the complex emotions and subtle nuances of this difficult experience.

Line by Line Meaning

It's been a blast but we've been caught
We had a great time, but now we've been caught and it's time to leave.

Packing up your suitcase, hard day, long face
You're tired and sad as you pack your suitcase.

Get the story right, get the story right
Make sure you have the correct story and details before telling anyone.

Get the story down
Write the story down so you don't forget it.

Waltzing right out of the room
Leaving in a graceful and elegant manner.

Be good when your parents stay over in June
Behave well when your parents visit in June.

It's been alright but we have fought
Things have been okay, but we have had some disagreements.

Ways of the Samurai, parry, thrust, do or die
Dealing with problems using the tactics of a samurai, fighting hard and risking everything.

Not the fighting type, not the killing kind
We're not naturally inclined to fight or cause harm to others.

I heard the news, I'll send a card
I heard about what happened and I'll send you a card or message to show that I care.

Cellar door, Friday night, long Johns, hold tight
A mysterious and suspenseful situation that requires grip and hold on something tightly.

Put it on a page, put it on a line
Write it down in detail so it can be read and understood easily.

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DAVID THOMAS MONKS, GRAHAM FRASER WRIGHT, GREGORY JARRETT ALSOP, JOSHUA G HOOK

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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