There are at least five artists with this name:

1. Tragedy is a crus… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least five artists with this name:

1. Tragedy is a crust band, originally from Memphis, Tennessee, but currently residing in Portland, Oregon. The band formed in 1999 and was born from the ashes of influential and legendary sludge/crust band His Hero is Gone. With this new band, 3/4 of the aforementioned His Hero Is Gone took crust towards a less metallic direction and added lots of melody to their overall sound. Additionally, during the band's final shows, they often played several future Tragedy songs that ended up being released as part of the debut.

The reason for their chosen name is revealed on the closing track "No Words" from "Vengeance": "Telling tales of tragedies for which we find no words. For which there are no words". Humanity is a sad and pathetic tragedy.

Tragedy's music is characterized by its unrelenting, heavy crust punk sound and d-beat galloping, often punctuated by melodic interludes and downshifts in tempo. The use of dual male vocals should also be noted. They are in the form of a shouted hardcore bark provided by their bassist/co-vocalist Billy Davis and crust-styled harsh vocals provided by guitarist/lead vocalist Todd Burdette. Billy's crass delivery (Very inspired by Cal from Discharge and his infamous off-key hardcore bark) is the perfect contrast to Todd's guttural delivery.

The band remains strongly aware of its roots but often takes the genre in newer, more innovative directions, pioneering a new breed of crust punk along with close friends and contemporaries From Ashes Rise, as well other bands residing in Portland and throughout the world. (See: Ekkaia, Fall of Efrafa, Ictus, Madame Germen, Alpinist, Downfall of Gaia and Remains of the Day).

Though most of these bands maintain a progressive attitude as to the nature of their sound (Remains of the Day actually includes a violinist among its members and early Fall of Efrafa was very cello-driven), there is a staunch refusal to separate themselves categorically from their crust punk provenances. Tragedy draw from many various early hardcore and crust punk bands as influences, most prominently in the vein of d-beat, ranging from Discharge themselves to Japanese d-beat groups such as Deathside and kängpunk.

They are often cited as originators of what was known to become "neocrust" and most notably, they are specifically credited with bringing melody into crust and giving the subgenre its signature epic and emotional leads in nature with heavy use of pick slides to signal the transition into those sections as well as utilising dual vocals. Their riffing style was derived from the aforementioned His Hero Is Gone. This became the basis for this hardcore sub-genre; a style that is so permeated in the crust scene nowadays as well as reached and influenced many bands throughout the years. Their debut album, Tragedy, had some acoustic elements and experimental interludes, this is something else from which they differed with His Hero Is Gone, aside from their melody sense. Many bands also took cues from this.

Tragedy's first and subsequent albums have been met with critical acclaim within the DIY hardcore community, and many see the band as at the forefront of a modern hardcore renaissance of sorts. Nevertheless, despite the band's cult following and near celebrity status among underground hardcore circles, they remain largely mysterious, refusing thus far to utilize the internet and including minimal information in album inserts.

Their 2012 record entitled "Darker Days Ahead" was met with some controversy in the hardcore scene as the album was a departure from their traditional sound into a more metallic (still not in the same sense as HHIG) and Swedish old school death metal/stenchcore-styled direction that somehow still kept their melodic sensibilities; which at the time, did not sit well with some fans. However, the record has since then carved out a niche of its own as a Tragedy album. Albeit their latest EP, "Fury", forwent these aspects. Therefore, they regressed to their previous/original style.

They are melodic and offer a different dimension of "emotional" because Todd is suffering less now, he feels more realised. Even though he suffers with others' suffering. They all do, that is empathy. Tragedy is the sound of all of them being free whilst watching the rest of the world burn for schemers that do not care about them. People stay in their hole because they like it, it is easier and do not know any better.

What happened to His Hero Is Gone/Tragedy members has happened before, still happens and will keep happening to others and we allow it. Tragedy is the sound of being free and feeling deeply sorry for everyone else still in Hell. Sorrow. Lamenting. A Terminal Spirit Disease. "All Hell is here".

Tragedy are still angry and furious as their latest EP simply states. They still have much to say. They will die mad at everything and everyone. Someone else brave enough will take their place. They won the war within themselves and inspired a new movement in hardcore. To them, it is a Tragedy people cannot fight like they did and still do. "Peace is a privilege reserved for those who can afford not to fight" (...) "The end... the ending fight".

"Never knowing silence. Never knowing peace".

2. Tragedy was a Hollywood band formed in 1993. Two members of the band would stick together through many line-up changes, they were Jamie Shane on vocals, and Traci Michaelz (RIP)on drums....
At different time's the lineup would feature members of the Hollywood bands Never On Sunday, Willow Wisp, and God Zoo. This strong knit community of musicians would form a very tight bond,...a family, a posse, whatever you want to call it, if you messed with one you had to go through all...In 1994 Tragedy released the 3 song EP Tragedy in L.A.

3. Tragedy is a heavy metal tribute to the Bee Gees, based in the Tri-State area.

4. Tragedy (also Trazedy, トラジェディー) is a Japanese indie visual kei band formed in 2004 and disbanded in 2006. Included the bassist and support drummer of kanuak～カナック～, 26 (Niro) and Yasu.

5. Tragedy is an American Hip-Hop artist from Baltimore, Maryland on the DarkSide Records label.

No words
Tragedy Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

No words, no words can explain the anger from years and years of being beaten down
No words,no words can relay.. no words,no words can erase
Brainwashed, domesticated, bound in chains
No words, no words can relay

As the giant steamroller called progress mows down the last fragments of what once was

No words can explain the rage as another factory replaces another field

No words, no words can relay

No words can begin to say what would be said if the dead could replay, if the napalmed children, the tortured dissidents, the publicly executed, the burned villages, the silent masses could cry, could scream, could speak..

Telling tales of tragedies for which we find no words
For which there are no words

Overall Meaning

Tragedy's song No Words is about the difficulty in expressing the anger and despair felt by a person who has been beaten down and oppressed for years. The lyrics indicate that there are no words that can truly convey the depth of such a person's feelings. The person may have been brainwashed and domesticated, bound by chains of oppression. The steamroller of progress has replaced fields with factories, adding fuel to the fire of rage that cannot be described in any language.

The song also speaks of horrors that are too great to put into words. The dead, tortured dissidents, and burned villages cannot express the tragedies that have occured. These tragedies have left the silent masses without words. There are simply no words that can tell their tales of despair.

The message of the song is clear: sometimes words are not enough to convey the emotion and depth of tragedy. The pain and injustice that some people experience are too great to express in language. The song is a testament to the fact that sometimes only actions can speak for those who have no voice.

Line by Line Meaning

No words, no words can explain the anger from years and years of being beaten down
There are no words that can accurately express the deep-seated anger that comes from enduring countless years of mistreatment and oppression.

No words,no words can relay.. no words,no words can erase
There are no words that can effectively communicate or erase the intensity of these emotions.

Brainwashed, domesticated, bound in chains
We have been conditioned to accept the status quo, limiting our freedom and potential.

No words, no words can relay
Once again, there are no words that can accurately convey what we are feeling or experiencing.

As the giant steamroller called progress mows down the last fragments of what once was
The unstoppable force of modernization is destroying the remnants of our past, whether we want it to or not.

No words can explain the rage as another factory replaces another field
We are infuriated by the endless cycle of fields and natural habitats being replaced by soulless factories and machines that are devoid of empathy or compassion.

No words, no words can relay
The same sentiment is repeated, as our frustration and anger cannot be effectively put into words.

No words can begin to say what would be said if the dead could replay, if the napalmed children, the tortured dissidents, the publicly executed, the burned villages, the silent masses could cry, could scream, could speak..
If those who have been silenced by violence or oppression were able to express themselves, the horror of their experiences would be beyond words.

Telling tales of tragedies for which we find no words
We struggle to articulate the enormity of the tragedies around us, which leaves us feeling hopeless and powerless.

For which there are no words
The final line reiterates the fundamental message of the song - there are some experiences which cannot be accurately described or comprehended through language alone.

Contributed by Charlotte B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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