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.
Come to Hide
Tommy Stinson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You live the part no one is ever good at playing
Always laughing about L.A.
The trick is to laugh where know one has seen you cry
Always need a place to lay your glass
Like you need a good place to lie
Or maybe just stretch the truth a bit sometime
But now you come to hide
The world outside is getting bright
And you feel too dull to shine
Now you come to hide
Did you look too deep?
Step too far into the light?
Did you hear them laughing
As you crawled back into your old life?
Your hair combed back and your blue eyes sinking too
Looks like something's coming over you
You're holding on for dear life
You're holding on too tight
Always need a place to hang your hat
A doorknob or someone else's lap
The evening is gonna feel so trite
By the end of the night
But now you come to hide
Comfort is just a myth
That you only hear about on the news
Now you come to hide
In this place no one is here to blame
In this place no feels ashamed
In this place we're nowhere near the flame
We just die a little more each day
The song “Come to Hide” by Tommy Stinson is a melancholy tune that explores the themes of loneliness and finding solace in isolation. The opening lines describe the singer watching someone enter a place where they are trying to be someone they are not, but not succeeding at it. The lyrics then shift to the idea of needing a place to put one's glass or just needing to stretch the truth a bit, indicating a sense of unease and discomfort with oneself. The chorus revolves around the idea of coming to hide from the outside world that is too bright and threatening, and the feeling of being too dull to shine.
The second verse delves deeper into the singer’s feelings of inadequacy and defeat, wondering if they looked too deep and stepped too far into the light, only to be laughed at and forced to crawl back into their old life. The bridge brings in descriptions of the singer's appearance, with slicked back hair and sinking blue eyes and the feeling of holding on for dear life. The verse ends with a description of the need for a place to hang one's hat, whether it be a doorknob or someone else's lap, and the hollow feeling that sets in by the end of the night.
The final chorus brings a sense of desperation, with the idea that comfort is just a myth heard about on the news. The final lines, “In this place no one is here to blame, In this place no one feels ashamed, In this place we’re nowhere near the flame, We just die a little more each day”, suggest a resigned acceptance of the current state of things, without the possibility of redemption or transcendence.
Line by Line Meaning
Used to watch you walk into this place
I used to observe you enter this establishment
You live the part no one is ever good at playing
You embody the role that no one is capable of performing well
Always laughing about L.A.
You frequently make jokes about Los Angeles
The trick is to laugh where know one has seen you cry
The key is to laugh in places where tears go unnoticed
Always need a place to lay your glass
You always require a spot to rest your drinking vessel
Like you need a good place to lie
Similar to how you require a comfortable location to speak falsehoods
Or maybe just stretch the truth a bit sometime
Or perhaps to just slightly alter the veracity on occasions
But now you come to hide
But currently, you visit here to conceal yourself
The world outside is getting bright
The external world is gradually becoming more illuminated
And you feel too dull to shine
But you feel too mundane to radiate brightness
Did you look too deep?
Did you search too extensively?
Step too far into the light?
Move too far into the spotlight?
Did you hear them laughing
Did you see them chuckling
As you crawled back into your old life?
As you reverted back to your former existence?
Your hair combed back and your blue eyes sinking too
Your hair brushed backwards and your blue eyes becoming downcast
Looks like something's coming over you
It appears as if something is happening to you
You're holding on for dear life
You're gripping tightly for survival
You're holding on too tight
You're additionally clutching too firmly
Always need a place to hang your hat
You always require a location to hang your hat
A doorknob or someone else's lap
Either a doorknob or another person's legs
The evening is gonna feel so trite
The night will likely seem excessively uninteresting
By the end of the night
By the night's conclusion
Comfort is just a myth
Comfort is simply a misconception
That you only hear about on the news
One only hears about it on news broadcasts
In this place no one is here to blame
No one is here to assign guilt or fault
In this place no feels ashamed
No one experiences feelings of guilt or humiliation in this place
In this place we're nowhere near the flame
In this place, we're located nowhere near the fire
We just die a little more each day
We simply perish a bit more with each passing day
Contributed by Makayla W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.