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 Pigs Could Fly
Tourniquet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If pigs could fly they'd fly away and never grace the earth again
I wait and wait and wait and wait but nothing good happens for me
I pray to fly but when I die my feet are still flat on the ground
My brain is good, no legs of wood, but if you could, I think you should
'Cause I did nothin' today
He ain't standin' in my way
Your ship has crashed no sign of shore-to sit in your lifeboat,
You can do no more 5 days at sea starved to the core
Lifeboat is leaking a rip in the floor
But wait on the horizon-land-land hoe!
Will you sit there and pray or will you get up and row?
The next time you are quick to say "I'm just waitin' on the Lord"
Just make sure that you remember where we all have been before
All things become one
The lyrics of Tourniquet's song "If Pigs Could Fly" express a sense of frustration and disappointment towards God's apparent reluctance to intervene and provide relief from challenging situations. The opening lines, "Why does God refuse to move? If pigs could fly they'd fly away and never grace the earth again" convey the idea that if things were possible beyond our comprehension, we would prefer that God intervenes and makes our problems disappear.
As the song progresses, the singer expresses frustration that despite praying and waiting for divine intervention, nothing good seems to happen. He thinks of flying as a way to escape the difficulties but acknowledges that death does not provide an escape in this case. The lines, "I pray to fly, but when I die my feet are still flat on the ground/ My brain is good, no legs of wood, but if you could, I think you should" portray a desire to fly metaphorically, as a way to transcend personal limitations and suffering.
The theme of personal responsibility and the power of action runs strongly through the lyrics. The verse about being stranded in a lifeboat and waiting for divine intervention juxtaposes against the image of someone who decides to row towards the shore. The line, "The next time you are quick to say 'I'm just waitin' on the Lord'/ Just make sure that you remember where we all have been before" points out that people need to take action instead of waiting passively.
Line by Line Meaning
If pigs could fly they'd fly away and never grace the earth again
Life is hard and unfair, and it seems like it would be easier if we could just escape and avoid the problems altogether.
I wait and wait and wait and wait but nothing good happens for me
Despite our desires and prayers, sometimes life doesn't give us what we hope for and we are left waiting for something good to happen.
I pray to fly but when I die my feet are still flat on the ground
We may have hopes and dreams that never come to fruition, even if we pray and work towards them.
My brain is good, no legs of wood, but if you could, I think you should
We may feel capable and smart, but if we had the opportunity to escape our problems and struggles by flying away like pigs, we likely would take it.
He ain't standin' in my way
'Cause I did nothin' today
He ain't standin' in my way
God is not to blame for our lack of action or progress, as he is not actively blocking us from achieving our goals.
Your ship has crashed no sign of shore-to sit in your lifeboat,
You can do no more 5 days at sea starved to the core
Lifeboat is leaking a rip in the floor
Sometimes when life crashes around us, we are left with only limited resources and options, and even those may run out or be faulty.
But wait on the horizon-land-land hoe!
Will you sit there and pray or will you get up and row?
Even when things seem hopeless, sometimes we need to take action and make our own way rather than waiting for a divine intervention.
The next time you are quick to say "I'm just waitin' on the Lord"
Just make sure that you remember where we all have been before
Before we blame our inaction or lack of progress on God's plan or timing, we should consider whether we are doing all that we can and whether we have taken responsibility for our own lives.
All things become one
Despite our struggles and differences, ultimately everything is connected and part of a greater whole.
Lyrics © TUNECORE INC, TuneCore Inc.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Christian Metal Legion
Lyrics:
Why does God refuse to move?
If pigs could fly they'd fly away and never grace the earth again
I wait and wait and wait and wait but nothing good happens for me
I pray to fly but when I die my feet are still flat on the ground
My brain is good, no legs of wood, but if you could, I think you should
He ain't standin in my way
Cause I did nothin today
He ain"t standin in my way
Your ship has crashed no sign of shore - to sit in your lifeboat-you can do no more
5 days at sea starved to the core - lifeboat is leaking-a rip in the floor
But wait, on the horizon - land, land hoe!
Will you sit there and pray-or will you get up and row?
The next time you are quick to say "I'm just waitin' on the Lord"
Just make sure that you remember where we all have been before
All things become one...
Christian Metal Legion
Lyrics:
Why does God refuse to move?
If pigs could fly they'd fly away and never grace the earth again
I wait and wait and wait and wait but nothing good happens for me
I pray to fly but when I die my feet are still flat on the ground
My brain is good, no legs of wood, but if you could, I think you should
He ain't standin in my way
Cause I did nothin today
He ain"t standin in my way
Your ship has crashed no sign of shore - to sit in your lifeboat-you can do no more
5 days at sea starved to the core - lifeboat is leaking-a rip in the floor
But wait, on the horizon - land, land hoe!
Will you sit there and pray-or will you get up and row?
The next time you are quick to say "I'm just waitin' on the Lord"
Just make sure that you remember where we all have been before
All things become one...
onebadjdam
Very good song
I no longer wait for the Lord
I will pray when I run out of bullets
Kenny Laysh
Loved this song as a teen, it reminded me of Metallica lol.
Maniam Raja
FOR THE TRUE ROCK SONG I HEARD WHEN I WAS 18 years old.. Amuthnan...Velu....Anba..we are the last heavy metal tamilians....6 SIR.IF YOU COME TO SEE THESE,,,, I'm alive it's alive. .WELL HOW COULD THIS BE TRUE
Maniam Raja
I just waiting on the Lord
Maniam Raja
Why I am HERE ?
All of sudden these song makes a million sense in #CORONAVIRUS...2020
Edi Q.
Thanks for share it :) Why does God refuse to move? If pigs could fly they’d fly away and never grace the earth again I wait and wait and wait and wait but nothing good happens for me I pray to fly but when I die my feet are still flat on the ground My brain is good, no legs of wood, but if you could, I think you should He ain’t standin in my way Cause I did nothing today He ain’t standin in my way Your ship has crashed no sign of shore-to sit in your lifeboat-you can do no more...
Maniam Raja
Edison Quisigüiña THANKS for the words
Maniam Raja
I'm alive it"s ALIVE
Maniam Raja
Cause i did nothing today..will i be back ? If god allow me again