Veruca Salt was formed alongside the friendship of Louise Post and Nina Gordon. Introduced by Gordon's good friend, actress Lili Taylor, Gordon and Post quickly bonded and formed what is now known as Veruca Salt. Originally, the band was an Indigo Girls-inspired acoustic act, but the women quickly realized this wasn't their sound. They quickly enlisted bass player Steve Lack and eventually Gordon's brother Jim Shapiro joined as a drummer, even though he originally was just drumming as a favor to his sister.
Veruca Salt released a self-funded demo tape and shopped it to labels, and began to play a handful of small club shows. The buzz around the band grew furiously, and after only a few live gigs, the band was signed to Minty Fresh Records and began recording with producer Brad Wood. At the time Brad was popular due to having recently produced Liz Phair's critically acclaimed Exile in Guyville.
The band released an orange 7" single for the song "Seether" to radio. "Seether" was a bratty, distorted alt-rocker about an angry and misunderstood woman. Compared to the rest of Veruca Salt's material, "Seether" was very pop, so much so that Gordon said that when she wrote it, she didn't think the rest of the band would like it. They sent "Seether" to radio, as it was the most radio-friendly song they had written and the reaction was unexpectedly positive. Unfortunately, the album wasn't complete and they found themselves rushing to complete the album, before "Seether" lost its radio momentum. It ended up peaking at #8 on the Modern Rock charts.
Geffen Records signed the band after an intense label bidding war and American Thighs was released October 25, 1994. It peaked on the Billboard Top 100 at 69 and was certified Gold. The follow-up single "All Hail Me" failed to chart Top 40 on Modern Rock, and the last single from the album, "Number One Blind", written by Gordon, did better than the previous single at 20 on Modern Rock chart, but nowhere near as well as "Seether". Gordon and Post were unhappy with the song's video, and it was pulled after airing fewer than five times on MTV.
To support this album, Veruca Salt opened for such acts as Hole, Live and PJ Harvey, as well as their own headlining club tour.
The band released an EP in 1996 titled Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt to tide fans over until their next album.
After touring for American Thighs, Gordon and Post entered the studio with Bob Rock to record their second album. They were inspired to work with Bob after hearing Metallica's "Enter Sandman" on the loud-system before a Veruca Salt concert at an outdoor music festival.
Eight Arms to Hold You, which was released February 11, 1997 on Geffen Records, proved to be a difficult and dividing album. Some fans of American Thighs were disappointed by the polished, hard-rock and distinctively Bob Rock production, in comparison to the laidback indie buzz-bin vibe of American Thighs. The new album garnered mixed reviews from music critics as well. Band members have since admitted that this album was difficult for the band, and the recording process was extremely tense. However, Eight Arms to Hold You sold well due to the success of the first single "Volcano Girls", written by Gordon. It was a catchy, power-pop tantrum that matched "Seether"'s success, peaking at #8 on the Modern Rock charts. This album, however, didn't have longevity, and despite peaking higher (Billboard Top 100 at 55) than American Thighs, sales dropped off drastically when the second single "Shutterbug" failed to chart despite a high budget video and Saturday Night Live performance, as well as other promotion. Three more singles were sent to radio ("The Morning Sad", "Straight" and "Benjamin") but none of them did well enough to warrant a video. However, the Gordon-penned "Benjamin" was released internationally as the third and last commercial single from the album despite having no video and no promotion. "Benjamin" also failed to chart. Shapiro left the band soon after the release of Eight Arms and was replaced by Stacy Jones (of Letters to Cleo and now American Hi-Fi). Jones toured with the band on the Eight Arms tour, but never recorded with them.
Veruca Salt toured extensively for Eight Arms to Hold You, opening for Bush as well as a lengthy international headlining club tour.
Nina Gordon left Veruca Salt in early 1998 amid rumors of stolen boyfriends and physical altercations with bandmate Louise Post. Post, now the only original band member, recruited a new band, consisting of Stephen Fitzpatrick (guitar), Suzanne Sokol (bass) and Jimmy Madla (drums), and continued to record and perform under the Veruca Salt moniker. The new band signed with Beyond Records. The first album with the new lineup was 2000's Resolver.
December 2002 saw the release of both Resolver and lead single "Born Entertainer", in Australia through Embryo Records / MGM. Following the release of "Born Entertainer" Embryo Records / MGM released the single "Officially Dead" which contained newly recorded tracks as well as a remix of 'the Same Person. The band toured Australia, including the "Splendour in the Grass" festival alongside bands such as Placebo and Coldplay. 'Yeah Man' was released as a radio only single.
After planning to take some time to step away from the music industry the band once again toured and performed at some festival shows in Australia. The tour took in the capital cities as well as performances at both the "Falls Festival" and the newly created Southbound festival in Perth. The band completed the 2 week tour and upon arrival back in the United States performed a show at the iconic "Viper Room". The band debuted the tracks 'Blissful Queen' and 'Circular Trend' live, both would end up on the album "IV"
2005 saw another couple of line-up changes with Sokol and Madla leaving, being replaced by Solomon Snyder on bass and Michael Miley on drums for the recording of the EP Lords of Sounds and Lesser Things (LOSALT). The band then went on tour as Post, Fitzpatrick, drummer Kellii Scott and bassist Nicole Fiorentino. LOSALT was released and sold independently at the bands shows and via the website and included six new songs. The title of the EP is an extract from Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. This preluded the full length album, "IV", released September 2006 and accompanied by a US tour. The lead single "So Weird" was released to radio at the end of October 2006.
They recorded a cover of Neil Young's song "Burned" for a 2007 Breast Cancer Benefit album due for release in October 2007. The band became inactive sometime after that, announcing in 2012 that they had entered an indefinite hiatus.
In 2013, the original lineup of the band reunited. In 2014, the band released the single "The Museum of Broken Relationships." and went on a tour of the United States and Australia. The band's first album in nine years, "Ghost Notes", was released in July 2015.
The Museum of Broken Relationships
Veruca Salt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's a hook where you can hang your heart
Frame it on the wall and let it go
Halalala let it go
Exhibition is of the essence, it's what we come here for
Put the relics of your lost love on display
And lock the door
Snake, always kissing her and this and that
Snake, going underground to skin the cat
Snake, always sneaking out and creeping back
Snake, I set the trap
He's a cheater, a bottom feeder
In this box a lock of his hair
Jubilation, he loves me again
Halalala I don't care
Halalala I don't care
Halalala halalala
Halalala I don't care
Jubilation, he loves me again
Jubilation
, he's not pretending
But the evidence of former bliss is in the museum
What does it matter?
Halalala, what does it matter?
The lyrics of Veruca Salt's song The Museum of Broken Relationships suggests a place where people go to grieve for their broken relationships. In the garden of rejection, the broken people go to hang their hearts on the hook and let it go. The garden here represents the space where the rejected and the broken-hearted come together. There is a museum where people can put the relics of their lost love on display for exhibition purposes. Through this, we see a powerful metaphor of how people deal with their broken relationships, by turning them into an object to look at, to capture the memory of past bliss.
There is a reference to a "snake" in the song, and it is paralleled with the museum of broken relationships. The line "Snake, always kissing her and this and that, Snake, going underground to skin the cat, Snake, always sneaking out and creeping back" is describing somebody who is always deceitful and sneaky. The word "snake" is a metaphor that refers to a serpent, which is traditionally associated with deceit and betrayal. The idea of setting a trap for the snake and then not caring about it shows that the pain of the relationship has passed, but the memory stays.
Line by Line Meaning
In the garden of rejection, the broken people go
The rejected people gather in a place where they feel safe and understood
There's a hook where you can hang your heart
A place where people can share their pain and let go of past relationships
Frame it on the wall and let it go
Honouring the past, acknowledging the pain, and allowing oneself to heal
Halalala let it go
Soothing oneself with repetition to help cope with difficult, painful emotions
Exhibition is of the essence, it's what we come here for
The purpose of this event is to exhibit the items that represent past relationships
Put the relics of your lost love on display
Showcasing memories of past relationships for others to see and relate
And lock the door
Creating a safe and secure space where people can share their stories and be heard
Snake, always kissing her and this and that
A reference to a past relationship where the partner was unfaithful
Snake, going underground to skin the cat
The partner was deceptive and sneaky
Snake, always sneaking out and creeping back
The partner was untrustworthy and not reliable
Snake, I set the trap
The singer is taking steps to ensure they don't fall for the same type of partner again
He's a cheater, a bottom feeder
The ex-partner in question was unfaithful and not a value adding partner
In this box a lock of his hair
Keeping something physical from the past relationship as a reminder
Jubilation, he loves me again / Halalala I don't care
The singer is acknowledging that their past partner may love them again but have moved on
Halalala I don't care
Acknowledging that the love has been lost forever and letting go of an expired relationship
Halalala halalala
Soothing oneself through the repetition of words in the face of difficult emotions
Jubilation
A reference to a past lover being happy with someone else
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Shawn Grannell
In the garden of rejection, the broken people go
There's a hook where you can hang your heart
Frame it on the wall and let it go
Halalala let it go
Exhibition is of the essence, it's what we come here for
Put the relics of your lost love on display
And lock the door
Halalala lock the door
It's a song about Facebook!
Roiy Benkel
In the garden of rejection, the broken people go
There's a hook where you can hang your heart
Frame it on the wall and let it go
Halalala let it go
Exhibition is of the essence
It's what we come here for
Put the relics of your lost love
On display and lock the door
Halalala lock the door
Snake, always kissing her and this and that
Snake, going underground to skin the cat
Snake, always sneaking out and creeping back
Snake, I set the trap
copy paste from aotr sucks
He's a cheater, a bottom feeder
In this box a lock of his hair
Jubilation, he loves me again
Halalala I don't care
Halalala I don't care
Halalala, halalala
Halalalala I don't care
Jubilation, he loves me again
Jubilation, he loves me again
Jubilation, he loves me again
Jubilation, he loves me again
Jubilation
Jubilation
Jubilation
Jubilation, he loves me again
Dehmitz
Was anyone happier than I was when Nina and Louise mended fences and started collaborating again? Their voices are meant to sing together!
Jonathan Fox
Ding ding ding!! We have a winner! Me. Too.
S Z
So much, and this title rings true for me. And what good guys Steve Lack and Jim Shapiro were, they were victims of the girls' (Nina's?) inability to get along. Jim is Nina's brother, so she gets a pass, but Steve didn't sign up for that shit. Jim has said in interviews that he wanted to do other things, but who wouldn't when your two leads can't get along. It's cool not many bands have two Ivy League alums in them.
Some Bloke
I won't try to measure my happiness against yours. I'll just be extra happy knowing what makes me happy also makes others happy.
Neal S
And what a rekindling project this is. Easily one of their best albums.
douglas787
Really has the raw, unpolished sound that American Thighs had, one of my favorite albums of all time. Can't believe the girls are back together and the sound is as good as ever.
Wolfgang 644
I agree as well tbh American thighs is my favorite album from VS
Jetski Kopetski
I was 16 when they broke up. I wrote them a letter and got one back from Nina. And now I See this.. I am gonna cry. I can die happy now.
Z Z
What did it say m8?
Jina Gibson
Alisha Timmer fun times...