He then formed the short-lived bands Bash & Pop who in 1993 released one album Friday Night Is Killing Me and then later, Perfect, who released an EP in 1996 titled When Squirrels Play Chicken. In 1997 their album Seven Days a Week was shelved due to record company problems.
In 1998 Stinson appeared on Puff Daddy's "It's All About The Benjamins (Rock Remix)" along with Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana and Queens of the Stone Age drummer Dave Grohl. He also can be seen playing bass for the song in the music video. Stinson has been the bass player for Guns N' Roses since 1998.
In 2004, Stinson released a solo album Village Gorilla Head which was well-received by the music press. Also that year, Stinson's band Perfect finally released the shelved Seven Days a Week, which they retitled Once Twice Three Times a Maybe.
In the fall of 2005, Tommy joined Soul Asylum for a few gigs in tribute to Karl Mueller. Tommy and Dave Pirner (founding member of Soul Asylum ) were friends in High School in Minneapolis, MN. He also scored the Jennifer Garner movie Catch and Release.
In between touring and writing, he managed to produce Bobot Adrenaline's debut album Unfurled.
In December 2005, he reconvened with Paul Westerberg and Chris Mars to record two new songs for a Replacements compilation. Stinson further collaberated with Westerberg on the soundtrack to the Sony feature film Open Season, recording bass tracks for 'Love You in the Fall' and 'Right to Arm Bears'. The two also recorded 'Wild as I Wanna Be' but Sony reportedly rejected the song because they thought Westerberg sounded ill. The song was instead recorded by Deathray.
In the summer of 2006 Tommy played a few shows with Soul Asylum once more during a break in the Guns N' Roses tour.
During the early-to-mid years of this decade, a flier for a Tommy Stinson show tacked to a utility pole was visible in one of the commercial bumpers of Saturday Night Live.
All This Way For Nothing
Tommy Stinson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As you start the day down on your knees
Church bells ringing so out of key
Don't you wonder who's listening to me?
You think you've seen it all
But you ain't seen a murderers smile
You say you don't need much
You just thought they'd understand
You've come all this way for nothing
Come so far on this broken road
There's so much for you to resist
Lost your place on the second page
But there's really nothing there to be missed
You came across the desert with your trailer full of ghosts
You take them out on weekends
Just to see how much they know but it's really all for show
You've come all this way for nothing
You're hocking your shadows
You're lighting your candles
Hoping the world isn't round
You concede your fate
You can see it in your face
In "All This Way For Nothing," Tommy Stinson paints a picture of a protagonist who is lost and wandering aimlessly. The first verse sets the tone of the song, as it describes the morning of the day ahead in a way that implies the character hopes that it will be better than the previous day. These lines also suggest that the character is seeking some form of guidance or reassurance, as they metaphorically kneel on the ground while the world moves on and the church bells ring out of tune. They question if anyone is listening to them, highlighting their feelings of isolation and desperation.
As the song progresses, Stinson paints a portrait of a person who is both disconnected from others and self-absorbed. The character is shown to believe that they have seen it all and that they understand the world around them. However, they are also capable of great darkness, having seen the "murderer's smile." While they initially thought that others would understand them, they are ultimately left with nothing after having come so far. The allusion to crossing a desert with a trailer of ghosts that the singer takes out on weekends highlights the idea that they are weighed down by their past, but also that they use those experiences as a form of entertainment rather than growth. The final lines of the song suggest that the character has given up and accepted their fate, as they are resigned to their shadows and lighting candles in the hopes that the world is somehow not round.
In summary, "All This Way For Nothing" is a song about a lost individual who is seeking guidance and searching for meaning in their life. The character is shown to have a complex mixture of self-absorption and loneliness, and ultimately finds themselves with nothing, despite having traveled far to seek something.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at your life in the morning sun
Reflect on your life during the early hours of the day
As you start the day down on your knees
As you begin the day in a humble prayer position
Church bells ringing so out of key
Religious symbols being perceived wrongly
Don't you wonder who's listening to me?
Do you feel unheard even when you speak?
You think you've seen it all
You believe to have witnessed everything
But you ain't seen a murderers smile
You are yet to experience the unsettling nature of witnessing someone’s smile right after they have killed
You say you don't need much
You claim to be content with very little
Because you've taken all they had
Having exhausted the resources of your surroundings
You just thought they'd understand
You believed people would easily comprehend you
You've come all this way for nothing
However, you still find yourself at the same place without any progress
Come so far on this broken road
You've traversed on this tough path for a considerable distance
There's so much for you to resist
Numerous unwelcome situations that challenge every fiber of your being
Lost your place on the second page
You've fallen back from a considerable high point in life
But there's really nothing there to be missed
Nonetheless, whatever you left behind holds no value to you
You came across the desert with your trailer full of ghosts
You brought a multitude of your past mistakes and haunting memories, which causes you emotional turmoil at times
You take them out on weekends
You try to confront them every weekend for solace
Just to see how much they know but it's really all for show
However, at the core of it, this process holds no significance for healing
You've come all this way for nothing
Despite everything, the attempt to overcome the past has been futile
You're hocking your shadows
You try to sell your imperfections instead of learning to accept them
You're lighting your candles
You try hard to find hope amid the darkness of your complicated state
Hoping the world isn't round
You wish for the world to be simple and filled with comfort, even though reality is different
You concede your fate
You give up trying to improve your situation
You can see it in your face
It is evident from your facial expressions that all your efforts have been exhausted
Contributed by Jordan F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.