February 13th, 2009
The Hush Sound – Red Wine
Time for this week’s song from my iPod. And Happy Friday the 13th to all.
The Hush Sound is an indie band from Illinois. The group was formed in 2004 and is made up of Greta Salpeter (lead singer and keyboards) who was 16 when the group formed, Bob Morris (vocals and guitar), Mike Leblanc (bass), and Darren Wilson (drums). Chris Faller was the original bassist but he left the group last year. The group independently released their first album in 2005 which was discovered by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz who signed them to his record company. The group has released two albums since 2005 under Wentz’s Decaydance Records label with their most recent album reaching 75 on Billboard’s Top 200.
The group has had limited commercial success although their tours have been very popular. Two songs from their most recent album have been used in television programs. “Medicine Man” can be heard in commercials for the TV series Grey’s Anatomy and the TV series House while the song “Hurricane” can be heard in commercials for The Young and the Restless.
The song “Wine Red” is from the group’s second album, “Like Vines”. Greta was asked what the song was about:
The song “Wine Red” is about the destruction of something that seems too beautiful to exist, much like the Garden of Eden is said to be. There was a story at that time of a vicious murder or a young girl whom we had all met and that is what inspired the line “the death of beauty”. Also, when I wrote the song, I had been reading Greek mythology as well as studying creation stories of many different faiths, mainly studying the Genesis stories of the Christian faith (out of curiosity rather than religion). Allusions to those stories are woven into the song.
Wine Red
Who shot that arrow in your throat?
Who missed the crimson apple?
It hung heavy on the tree above your head
This chaos, this calamity, this garden once was perfect
Give your immortality to me; I’ll set you up against the stars
Gloria,
We lied, we can’t go on
This is the time and this is the place to be alive
Who shot that arrow in your throat?
Who missed the crimson apple?
And there is discord in the garden tonight
The sea is wine red
This is the death of beauty
The doves have died
The lovers have lied
I cut the arrow from your neck
Stretched you beneath the tree
Among the roots and baby’s breath
I covered us with silver leaves
Gloria,
We lied, we can’t go on
This is the time and this is the place to be alive
The sea is wine red
This is the death of beauty
The doves have died
The lovers have lied
The sea is wine red
This is the death of beauty
The doves have died
The lovers have lied
The sea is wine red (Gloria, we lied)
This is the death of beauty (this is the time and place)
The doves have died (Gloria, we lied)
The lovers have lied (this is the time and place)
