The current members of Tourniquet are Ted Kirkpatrick (drums), Luke Easter (vocals), and Aaron Guerra (guitar, vocals).
Former members include Gary Lenaire, Guy Ritter, Victor Macias, Erik Mendez, Steve Andino (bass) and Vince Dennis.
The band is named after a tourniquet which is a surgical device for arresting hemorrhage by compression of a blood vessel. According to the band, tourniquet is a metaphor for "a lifelong spiritual process by which a personal God, through the atoning blood, death, and resurrection of His only Son—Jesus Christ—can begin to stop the flow of going through life without knowing and serving our Creator. He is our Tourniquet."
Tourniquet was formed as a christianthrash metal band. The group was one of many bands who were, at the time, affiliated with a church group called Sanctuary - the rock and roll refuge in Los Angeles. They started out with Ted Kirkpatrick(drums), Guy Ritter (vocals) and Gary Lennaire (guitaris/vocalist).
Their first record Stop the Bleeding was produced in 1990, by Bill Metoyer of Metal Blade Records, and released by Intense Records. While it was mostly distributed to Christian bookstores, Stop the Bleeding was a notable Christian thrash metal album in its time. Tourniquet's characteristic style broke new ground and quickly gained them fans all over the world. In their early line up, Guy Ritter sang the more melodic vocal parts while Gary Lenaire did the aggressive, thrash metal shouts. The band brought forth their first single Ark of Suffering, which received some minor airplay on MTV, but was pulled down due to video shots of animal abuse. Because of the song and it's subsequent video, the band became known for its stance on animal rights.
In 1991, Tourniquet abandoned most of its 1980's metal influences and recorded a more modern album titled Psycho Surgery. On the song Spineless the band experimented with rap rock in the vein of Anthrax and Faith No More long before the style became popular later in the 1990's. Psycho Surgery showcased the classical music influences more clearly than on 'Stop The Bleeding', and the drummer’s background in the pharmaceutical industry became more apparent: many of the songs utilized medical terminology as metaphors for social/spiritual issues. On Psycho Surgery. Tourniquet continued to work with producer Bill Metoyer, and eventually signed a distribution agreement with Metal Blade Records, which released Psycho Surgery to a far wider general market audience than the band was able to reach with Stop the Bleeding. However, Intense Records still released Psycho Surgery and distributed it to Christian retail
In 1993, Tourniquet recorded what is considered their most technical and dark album, Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. Guy Ritter left the band during the recording of Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance quickly became one of the most popular of the band's albums among Tourniquet fans, and it was voted Favourite Album of the 1990's by the readers of HM Magazine. As with the previous album, Metal Blade Records released Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance to the general market and Intense Records released it to the Christian market. Luke Easter, who had formerly sung in a more pop rock oriented group, replaced Ritter, joining Tourniquet for the Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance tour. On this tour, Tourniquet was scheduled to play the Milwaukee Metalfest in 1993, but professed satanist Glen Benton of Deicide, the festival headliner, refused to play with a Christian band. The festival was forced to cancel Tourniquet's performance. This brought more publicity and notoriety to Tourniquet.
The band's sound took a sharp turn from their early thrash metal days, following the departure of original vocalist Guy Ritter. In the interim, the band recorded a "live in studio" album with Les Carlsen of Bloodgood. The following album, Vanishing Lessons was much more hard rock, but no less technical. After another EP, Gary Lennaire left the band.
The band's latest release, Where Moth and Rust Destroy, features special guests Marty Friedman, formerly of Megadeth, and Bruce Franklin, formerly of Trouble, on lead guitar (tourniquet had previously covered Trouble's The Tempter on their live EP).
If I Was There
Tourniquet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I see it happening right in front of me.
The back that bore the whip,
The head that held the crown of thorns,
What if I was there,
Would I even care?
Would I even care?
[1st Bridge]
What if I was there, just a face in the crowd?
Would I hide in shame or would I laugh out loud?
Would I pity Him or think that he is just a fool?
Another criminal,
Or just the truth?
Or just the truth?
He is heaven's jewel!
And as He marched up that hill,
I can picture him still,
In my mind;
All the blood and the sweat on His brow,
And as he passed me on by,
I could see in His eyes,
That His pain,
Was a gift of His Love.
2nd Bridge (Into Key Change)
He was the sacrifice, the lamb
And He is the great I Am,
And He paid the price for me,
The price or you & me,
You and me.
He made the deaf to hear again
He called the sinful man a friend.
He walked that hill for me,
So my blind soul could see.
And as He marched up that hill,
I can picture him still,
In my mind;
All the blood and the sweat on His brow,
And as he passed me on by,
I could see in His eyes,
That His pain,
Was a gift of His Love.
I close my eyes and think about Calvary,
I see it happening right in front of me.
Two criminals were there,
One on either side of him,
One hurled insults
And one believed,
And one believed,
Which one am I?
The lyrics to Tourniquet's song "If I Was There" present a contemplation of one's reaction and actions if they were present during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The song begins by describing a vivid mental image of the scene at Calvary and the physical agony Jesus endured. The first verse then questions whether the singer would even care if they were in attendance at this historic event, which prompts a deep reflection on the behavior of people who witnessed Jesus' final hours.
The first bridge imagines the singer as a simple face in the crowd, posing essential questions about their response to the event. Would they hide in shame or laugh out loud? What would they think of Jesus' suffering? As the lyrics progress, the singer comes to realize the profundity of the events at Calvary and sees Jesus as the great I Am, and the sacrifice paid for their sins and the sins of all believers. The second bridge depicts the transformative power of Jesus' sacrifice, recounting how He healed the deaf, called the sinner to friendship, and walked up the hill to offer salvation to a blind world.
The lyrics reach a climax in the final verse, asking which of the two criminals next to Jesus we would be, the one who was mocking Him or the one who believed. The song creates a powerful, intimate, and transformative understating of Christ's sacrifice and the importance of belief in His work.
Line by Line Meaning
I close my eyes and think about Calvary,
The singer imagines the scene of Jesus' crucifixion at Calvary in their mind.
I see it happening right in front of me.
The singer visualizes the event as though they were present as a witness.
The back that bore the whip,
The image of Jesus' whipped back comes to mind.
The head that held the crown of thorns,
The artist envisions the crown of thorns piercing through Jesus' head.
What if I was there,
The artist wonders how they would react if they were present at Calvary.
Would I even care?
The singer questions whether they would feel any emotional connection to Jesus at his crucifixion.
Or would I only stare?
The singer questions whether they would be paralyzed and unable to do anything but look at Jesus.
What if I was there, just a face in the crowd?
The artist wonders what their role would be in the crowd watching Jesus' crucifixion.
Would I hide in shame or would I laugh out loud?
The artist is unsure whether they would feel ashamed or mock Jesus.
Would I pity Him or think that he is just a fool?
The artist wonders whether they would feel sympathy for Jesus or think that he was foolish.
Another criminal,
The singer notes that Jesus was crucified between two criminals.
Or just the truth?
The artist acknowledges that Jesus was executed for claiming to be the truth.
He is heaven's jewel!
The singer acknowledges Jesus as a precious and divine figure.
And as He marched up that hill,
The singer imagines Jesus carrying his cross up the hill to be crucified.
I can picture him still,
The singer is able to visualize Jesus clearly in their mind.
In my mind;
The artist stresses that these are all thoughts and images in their mind.
All the blood and the sweat on His brow,
The artist envisions Jesus' agony and suffering on the cross.
And as he passed me on by,
The singer visualizes Jesus walking past them while carrying the cross.
I could see in His eyes,
The singer imagines gazing into Jesus' eyes.
That His pain,
The artist recognizes and acknowledges the pain that Jesus was enduring.
Was a gift of His Love.
The artist believes that Jesus experienced this pain out of love for humanity.
He was the sacrifice, the lamb
The artist regards Jesus as a sacrificial lamb.
And He is the great I Am,
The singer acknowledges Jesus as a divine figure.
And He paid the price for me,
The artist believes that Jesus suffered and died for their sins.
The price or you & me,
The singer recognizes that Jesus paid the price for the sins of humanity.
You and me.
The singer emphasizes that all people are included in Jesus' sacrifice.
He made the deaf to hear again
The singer recalls Jesus performing a miracle.
He called the sinful man a friend.
The artist reflects on Jesus' compassion towards sinners.
So my blind soul could see.
The artist believes that Jesus' sacrifice gave them spiritual enlightenment.
One hurled insults
The singer notes that one of the criminals who was crucified with Jesus insulted him.
And one believed,
The singer acknowledges that one of the criminals who was crucified with Jesus believed in him.
Which one am I?
The artist reflects on which of the two criminals they identify with more.
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