Turin Brakes has been compared to many of the New Acoustic Movement's bands spawned in the late 90s such as Elbow, Starsailor, I Am Kloot (who were a support band for Turin Brakes on their Ether Song tour) and the Norwegian band the Kings of Convenience.
Their debut album "The Optimist LP" (2001) was nominated for the Mercury Prize that same year. In 2003 "Ether Song" got to #3 in the UK album charts and spawned a Top 5 single "Pain Killer". Further commercial success was not achieved. In 2005 "JackInABox" meant some sort of return to the first album, but this time with more production and a more diverse sound. Again the critics loved it, but the buying public seemed not to. It got to no. 9 in its first week (without a hit single - "Fishing For A Dream" got to #35), but had no further commercial success. This might have been the effect of the decision by the band and the record company to take the slow path (doing just a short UK tour and not doing as much promotion as they used to), so that Olly Knights (the singer) could also focus on his new family life.
In the summer of 2005 the boys toured the USA and Canada, followed by an acoustic tour taking the band to Germany, The Netherlands and Italy. 2005 ended with a longer acoustic UK tour, of which the closing night in the Palladium in London was recorded and released as a download only live album the day after. The album sold quite well on iTunes, riding the top of the download charts in several countries.
The band spent the first half of 2006 writing new songs, occasionally performing both new and old work at small gigs across the UK. The band did an intimate tour in November 2006 to try out new material. In January 2007 the band entered a small studio in London to record their 4th album with producer Ethan Johns. After three weeks the band took a break (on January 29th Gale's wife gave birth to a daughter), but the sessions were resumed several weeks later in a bigger studio (also in London). On the last day of March 2007 the band announced that they had finished the recording sessions, and recorded 17 songs.
Their 2007 album, "Dark on Fire", was preceded by a download-only single "Stalker".
The band released their 5th studio album in March 2010 titled "Outbursts".
Their sixth album, We Were Here, was released 30 September 2013, and their seventh album Lost Property (recorded at Rockfield Studios with producer Ali Staton) was released on 29 January 2016.
On 26 January 2018 the band released their eighth album Invisible Storm.
Future Boy
Turin Brakes Lyrics
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Syphillis is a bitch but contracting HIV is much worse.
Why are you pushing info into me,
I have no need for it, I'm from the stars.
I thought you'd like to know the scoop
I'm taking babies back with me, yeah.
I'm taking them back home
so they can see there's a much better place.
But there still my friends, as long as they don't use monkeys,
We enjoy the heat of stolen days in the summer of '93.
Well the future boy said I've got friends but you know sometimes
it all depends on how tall they are against yourself.
I am the future boy
My friends have all gone and left me
so I decided to come here and see myself as a baby,
but it looks like I? stuck here this time, oh shit,
I'm gonna miss my friends.
No your still the future boy,
Yes I'm still the future boy
We'll build you a time machine to get back home.
Still the future boy?.
Well I'm still the future boy
The song "Future Boy" by Turin Brakes is a unique blend of time travel and social commentary that illustrates the dangers of ignorance and the importance of perspective. The lyrics describe a conversation between a person from the present and a time traveler, known as the "future boy." The future boy speaks of his adventures in time travel, taking babies back home to show them a better place. He also talks about his friends, including his sister with an open mind and his junkie friends who he still considers friends as long as they don't use monkeys. The future boy notes that sometimes the value of friendships can depend on how tall someone is in relation to oneself.
The present person seems dismissive of the future boy's stories, asking why he is pushing information onto them. The future boy responds that they thought the present person would like to know the scoop. He speaks of his desire to take babies back home to show them a better world, implying that the present world is not ideal. The lyrics also touch on the dangers of disease, comparing syphilis to HIV as a way to illustrate the seriousness of the latter. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the present person promising to help the future boy build a time machine so he can return home.
Line by Line Meaning
So future boy where are you from my time machine crashed over yonder
Hey, where are you from future boy? My time machine crashed over there.
Syphillis is a bitch but contracting HIV is much worse.
Syphillis is a terrible disease, but getting infected with HIV is much worse.
Why are you pushing info into me, I have no need for it, I'm from the stars.
Why are you telling me all this? I don't need to know; I'm from another planet.
I thought you'd like to know the scoop, I'm taking babies back with me, yeah.
I thought you'd be interested to hear this - I'm taking some babies back to my planet with me.
I'm taking them back home so they can see there's a much better place.
I'm taking them to show them that my planet is a much better place than this one.
I've got a sister with an open mind and my friends are all junkies But there still my friends, as long as they don't use monkeys, We enjoy the heat of stolen days in the summer of '93.
I have a sister who is very understanding, and my friends all have drug problems. But they're still my friends, as long as they don't use heroin. We had some great times together in the summer of '93.
Well the future boy said I've got friends but you know sometimes it all depends on how tall they are against yourself.
The future boy told me that he has friends, but it all depends on how they compare to him physically.
I am the future boy
I am the future boy.
My friends have all gone and left me so I decided to come here and see myself as a baby, but it looks like I? stuck here this time, oh shit, I'm gonna miss my friends.
All my friends have left me, so I came here to see myself as a baby. But it looks like I'm going to be stuck here now, and I'm going to miss my friends.
No your still the future boy,
No, you're still the future boy.
Yes I'm still the future boy
Yes, I'm still the future boy.
We'll build you a time machine to get back home.
Don't worry, we'll build a time machine to get you back to your planet.
Still the future boy?.
You're still the future boy, right?
Well I'm still the future boy
Yes, I'm still the future boy.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GALE PARIDJANIAN, OLIVER KNIGHTS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind