1) An American indie roc… Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist with this name:
1) An American indie rock and hip hop band
2) A British folk-pop band
1) A trio of Cincinnati-born men who fiddle with skins, strings, bells and microphones and present their findings to the listening public. Singer Yoni Wolf grew up the second son to an art book editor and a rabbi. He got his start recording bad poems and sloppy beats on the family synagogue’s 4-track. In junior high he discovered hip-hop. At art school, he learned how to drop out. Yoni’s brother Josiah played drums at Rabbi Wolf’s worship service as a kid, became a band geek as a teen, and fell in love with Thelonious Monk on his way to study music at University of Cincinnati. Doug McDiarmid would eventually get expelled from that same school for carrying a stun gun, but first he was raised by two French teachers and taught piano while in kindergarten. He also went to high school with the Wolfs, where he played in Steve Miller cover bands.
In various permutations together and with other now-notables (i.e. Doseone, Odd Nosdam, Mr. Dibbs, Atmosphere’s Slug), these three created and/or contributed to several freewheeling rap and lo-fi rock-related projects including Greenthink, Miss Ohio’s Nameless, Reaching Quiet, and the seminal cLOUDDEAD outfit. Their wildest dreams were achieved when they relocated to Oakland to make pop-inflected psychedelic folk-hop.
For four years, two EPs and 2003’s cult classic LP, Oaklandazulasylum, WHY? comprised Yoni Wolf alone. He honed his trademark delivery – a sickly sweet, half-rapped, singsong style – shined up his wry, picturesque poetry, and developed a clip-and-collage aesthetic using keyboards, toys, guitars, samplers and anything worth banging on. When Doug and Josiah moved west to join Yoni, they brought with them a hoard of instruments and the ability to wail on every last one. By chops and imagination, WHY? grew into a thing of flesh, bones and fully fledged songs, resulting in 2005’s Elephant Eyelash album. Critics swooned; ladies lauded; WHY? neither resisted nor rested. They toured – with Silver Jews, Yo La Tengo, and Islands. They collaborated – with Danielson Family, Department Of Eagles, and Subtle (Yoni also recorded with Fog’s Andrew Broder as “Hymie’s Basement”). They put out yet more music.
The brand new album Eskimo Snow is something of a companion piece to last year’s celebrated Alopecia LP. In February of 2007, the WHY? trio temporarily relocated to Minneapolis and officially inducted Fog players Andrew Broder and Mark Erickson. Recording live as a five-piece, WHY? created two distinct albums from those sessions: Alopecia, with its taut rhythms and biting wit, and Eskimo Snow, a shadowy and sprawling set that finds Yoni resigned to and ever-awed by those infinite erring bits of existence that make WHY? what it is.
2) Also an English folk-pop band active during the 90s. They released nine albums between '91 & '99, including the curiously-titled Pinnenstripeensuitenwearenfoddergeburnenclippenclopen.
Into the Shadows of My Embrace
Why? Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But it'd take a busload of high school soccer girls to wash those hospitals off me
Oh, am i clean?
Nineteen.
They said sex will keep you young and make you older at the same time,
They said sex will have left you aged normally,
In that it will have left you aged normally
Oh, am i clean?
Lord, please, why me?
I wish i could feel close to somebody but i don't feel nothing.
Now they say i need to quit doing all this random ffff-
Now i think my upstairs neighbor hears me masturbating,
And there's other one's peeping through the slits in my curtains
And i never got a name for my shady compulsion
'cause i messed up and kissed my shrink in a jersey city hotel room..
And i know saying all this in public should make me feel funny,
But ya gotta yell something out you'd never tell nobody.
We found the dead fox, and a dozen matchbox cars, when we cut back the hedges on cortelyou place,
How many got lost left so long they grew moss 'cause they recoiled into the shadows of my embrace?
We found the dead fox, and a dozen matchbox cars, when we cut back the hedges on cortelyou place,
How many got lost left so long they grew moss 'cause they recoiled into the shadows of my embrace?
Oh, am i clean?
Lord, please, why me?
The lyrics to "Into the Shadows of My Embrace" by Why? is a poignant reflection on life, sex, and the scars left by experiences. The first stanza is about the singer's journey from a place of silence to one of newfound openness. The world is now a confessional, and the singer is unafraid to share their experiences. In contrast, the second line speaks of the lasting impact of traumatic experiences. The imagery of needing a busload of high school soccer girls to wash off the hospitals speaks to the depth of the wounds inflicted. The chorus, phrase "Oh, am I clean" speaks to a desire for absolution and to be purified of one's past.
The second verse juxtaposes sex with the aging process. The singer contemplates if engaging in sex has made them age in the same way one might age after smoking. The phrase "Lord, please, why me?" reinforces the idea of helplessness and despair. The third stanza is about feeling disconnected and desiring intimacy but being unable to connect with anyone. The line "Now i think my upstairs neighbor hears me masturbating" is an intensely personal moment.
The final verse is a reflection on the past and the shadows left by life experiences. The image of the dead fox and lost matchbox cars evoke memories of childhood innocence that were lost. The question "How many got lost left so long they grew moss 'cause they recoiled into the shadows of my embrace?" is an almost existential question begging for an answer.
Overall, the song is a raw and vulnerable exploration of the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
I conquered my own childhood silence and now the world is my lit confessional marquee,
I overcame my past trauma and can now openly express myself to the world.
But it'd take a busload of high school soccer girls to wash those hospitals off me
My experiences have scarred me so deeply that it would take an extraordinary event to cleanse me of them.
They said sex will keep you young and make you older at the same time,
There are conflicting opinions and beliefs about the effects of sex on aging.
They said sex will have left you aged normally,
The idea is that sex has no major effect on the aging process.
And so i guess it's sorta like smoking and walking at the same time
Sex has varying degrees of impact on different people, much like how smoking and walking can affect people differently.
In that it will have left you aged normally
Sex does not noticeably affect the aging process for most individuals.
I wish i could feel close to somebody but i don't feel nothing.
Despite desiring emotional intimacy, I have difficulty feeling anything towards others.
Now they say i need to quit doing all this random ffff-
Others are telling me to stop engaging in impulsive, reckless behavior.
Now i think my upstairs neighbor hears me masturbating,
I am paranoid and anxious about the possibility of being caught engaging in a private activity.
And there's other one's peeping through the slits in my curtains
I am being watched and monitored without my knowledge or consent.
And i never got a name for my shady compulsion
I cannot accurately label or define my own behavior.
'cause i messed up and kissed my shrink in a jersey city hotel room..
I made a mistake by crossing a boundary with my therapist in an inappropriate manner.
And i know saying all this in public should make me feel funny,
I am aware that sharing such personal information publicly is unusual and could be uncomfortable for some.
But ya gotta yell something out you'd never tell nobody.
Sometimes it is necessary to express things publicly that you would not normally share with anyone.
We found the dead fox, and a dozen matchbox cars, when we cut back the hedges on cortelyou place,
We discovered unexpected and possibly disturbing items when clearing out an overgrown area.
How many got lost left so long they grew moss 'cause they recoiled into the shadows of my embrace?
How many things have been forgotten or avoided for so long that they have become hidden and neglected parts of myself?
Oh, am i clean?
Am I free of the negative experiences and emotions that haunt me?
Lord, please, why me?
Why have I been burdened with such difficult experiences and emotions?
Contributed by Samuel B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.