Young Galaxy are a Canadian indie rock/dream pop band, whose members are St… Read Full Bio ↴Young Galaxy are a Canadian indie rock/dream pop band, whose members are Stephen Ramsay (vocals/guitar) and Catherine McCandless (vocals/keyboards), and Stephen Kamp (bass/vocals)

Young Galaxy formed in Vancouver, Canada, as duo including Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless. Through that summer of 2005 and the spring of 2006 they recorded with appearances and contributions of friends at Jace Lasek’s Breakglass Studio. Their sound has been described as similar to the bands Slowdive, Galaxie 500 and Luna as well as Pink Floyd and Spiritualized. The band has toured in Canada, The United States and Europe, opening for Arcade Fire, The Album Leaf, The Frames, Peter, Bjorn and John, Stars and Death Cab For Cutie. They later moved to Montreal, where they recorded their self-titled debut. The album was released on April 24, 2007.

They recorded their second album Invisible Republic in Montreal at Hotel2Tango studio with Radwan Moumneh engineering (A Silver Mt. Zion, Pas Chic Chic) and at Breakglass Studios with Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes engineering. Invisible Republic was released independently on August 25, 2009 through Fontana North. It was mixed by Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, Snow Patrol) in Glasgow, Scotland. It was subsequently released in July 2010 in the U.S.A. by Paper Bag Records, and received a long list nomination for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize.

The band followed up in fall 2010 with YG No Art EP, an EP comprising unreleased tracks and remixes from the Invisible Republic sessions.

Their third album, Shapeshifting, was recorded in Montreal, Canada, and was produced by Dan Lissvik of the band Studio in Gothenburg, Sweden. The band communicated with Lissvik via Skype over the nine months he spent mixing the recorded vocals.

The album, released in February 2011 on Paper Bag Records, has been described as a massive change in creative direction, eschewing their former shoegaze, dream-pop style for a more electronic pop sound. Stephen Ramsay describes the change in song composition method, "instead of picking up a guitar and finding the most brilliant melody we could, we tried to erase the shape of the songs."

Discography:

Swing Your Heartache (2006, EP)
Young Galaxy (2007)
Invisible Republic (2009)
YG No Art EP (2010)
Shapeshifting (2011)
Ultramarine (2013)

The Angels Are Surely Weeping
Young Galaxy Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

We were conduits of love
Live like phosphorescence
Half asleep and self-indulged
We've lost our essence

Can't you see?
We fell rain black from the stars above
When will we

Take an ax to the frozen seasons?

We were epitomes of flesh and blood
We were luminescent
Half-aware and self-involved
We've lost our essence

Can't you see?
We fell rain black from the stars above

When will we
Take an ax to the frozen seasons?

Overall Meaning

The song "The Angels Are Surely Weeping" by Young Galaxy speaks of the dilution of love and essence in human beings as they become more self-indulgent and self-involved. The first verse of the song describes how humans were once conduits of love and how they have gradually lost their essence, becoming half asleep and self-indulged. The second verse speaks of how humans were once epitomes of flesh and blood and how they were luminescent, which means they gave out a faint light. But now, they have become half-aware and self-involved, losing their essence in the process.

The chorus of the song asks the listener to take a closer look at humanity and how they have fallen rain black from the stars above, meaning how they have become dark and gloomy. The line "take an ax to the frozen seasons" suggests that it is time to break free from the rigid traditions and societal norms that have been limiting human growth and expression. The frozen seasons refer to a state that is unchanging and unyielding, creating stagnation in human society.

The song is a poignant reflection of the current state of humanity and the need to break free from the norms that have been holding them back. It is a call to action to rediscover one's essence and pursue a life of purpose and meaning.

Line by Line Meaning

We were conduits of love
We used to be channels for spreading love to others

Live like phosphorescence
Shine brightly and be visible in the darkness like a glow

Half asleep and self-indulged
We were only partially conscious and focusing on ourselves

We've lost our essence
We've become disconnected from our true nature or purpose

Can't you see?
Implying that the listener is not understanding the situation fully

We fell rain black from the stars above
We have fallen and are experiencing darkness and negativity

When will we
Asking when we will take action

Take an ax to the frozen seasons?
Metaphorically destroy what is holding us back (the 'frozen seasons')

We were epitomes of flesh and blood
We were examples of being human

We were luminescent
We radiated a bright light or positive energy

Half-aware and self-involved
We only had a partial understanding and were focused on ourselves

Can't you see?
Emphasizing the lack of understanding or awareness

We fell rain black from the stars above
Repeating the theme of falling into darkness

When will we
Repeating the question from earlier

Take an ax to the frozen seasons?
Repeating the metaphor for taking action and making changes

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Catherine Anne McCandless, Stephen Ramsay, Stephen Kamp, null Dan Anders Lissvik

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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