Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing
Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing is the third studio album by pop punk band The Wonder Years. The album, produced by Steve Evetts,[8] was released on June 14, 2011 by Hopeless Records.
On April 11, 2011, the band released their first single from the album, "Local Man Ruins Everything," through AbsolutePunk.net. On May 3, 2011, the second single from the album, "Don't Let Me Cave In," was released. On June 1, 2011, the album's third single, "Coffee Eyes," was made available for streaming on the Alternative Press website. The album was released on vinyl through No Sleep Records.
The album debuted at No. 73 on the Billboard 200, selling about 8,100 copies in its first week of release.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by The Wonder Years.
| 1. |
"Came Out Swinging" |
4:04 |
| 2. |
"Woke Up Older" |
3:33 |
| 3. |
"Local Man Ruins Everything" |
2:49 |
| 4. |
"Suburbia" |
0:51 |
| 5. |
"My Life as a Pigeon" |
3:06 |
| 6. |
"Summers in PA" (feat. Dan O'Connor and Alan Day of Four Year Strong) |
3:17 |
| 7. |
"I Won't Say the Lord's Prayer" |
3:06 |
| 8. |
"Coffee Eyes" |
3:39 |
| 9. |
"I've Given You All" |
1:40 |
| 10. |
"Don't Let Me Cave In" |
3:23 |
| 11. |
"You Made Me Want to Be a Saint" |
1:31 |
| 12. |
"Hoodie Weather" |
4:01 |
| 13. |
"And Now I'm Nothing" |
5:00 |
| 14. |
"My Life as Rob Gordon" (iTunes bonus track) |
3:58 |
| 15. |
"Living Room Song" (Japanese bonus track) |
2:49 |
References to America
- The title of the album comes from the first line of the Allen Ginsberg poem America.
- The line "I don't have roses in the closet, but I got pictures in a drawer" from the song "Local Man Ruins Everything" references the line, "I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet".
- The song titles "You Made Me Want To Be A Saint" and "I Won't Say The Lords Prayer" also comes from Ginsberg's poem.
- The line "Two dollars, twenty-seven cents January 17th, 2006" from the song "Coffee Eyes" is also a reference to the second line in America, "Two dollars, twenty-seven cents January 17th, 1956".
- The last line of the album "But I'm putting my shoulder to the wheel" from the song "And Now I'm Nothing" is a reference to the last line in America "America, I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel." "Shoulder to the Wheel" is also the title of a Saves the Day song from their album Through Being Cool which was also produced by Steve Evetts.
- In the song "Hoodie Weather" the line "Rocky's in the Deep South, I don't think he's coming back now. It's sinister, but it's how life worked out," is a reference to the line in America "Burroughs is in Tangiers I don't think he'll come back it's sinister."
- A repeated line in the refrain of "And Now I'm Nothing," is "Suburbia, stop pushing" which comes from the line "America, stop pushing," in Ginsberg's poem.
- The lines "The plum blossoms are falling, I'm more than happy going down with them," in "Summers in PA," are a reference to the line "America the plum blossoms are falling" in the Ginsberg poem.
References to The Upsides
- Just before the bridge in "Came Out Swinging", the lead guitar subtly plays the melody for, "I'm not sad anymore, just tired of this place, and if this year would just end, I think we'd all be okay" from "All My Friend Are In Bar Bands". Also, the line in the song "I came out swinging from a South Philly basement" is a reference to where The Wonder Years wrote The Upsides
- In "Woke Up Older" there are two references to the Upsides, the first one is the line, "So I stacked a Bukowski novel on a Blacklisted LP And this time what it looked like was just what it proved to be" is a reference to "Everything I Own Fits In This Backpack" where Soupy wrote, "I stacked "Lonelier than God" next to "You Get So Alone Sometimes", I know how this must look from the outside," the second reference is the line "I left a note up on your bed that said Hey, thanks again for everything you did" which references the song "Hey, Thanks." The title is also a reference to the Mountain Goat's song "Woke Up New" which is also noted during the lyrics "When John introduced 'Woke Up New' in St. Augustine I knew I wasn't alone. "John" refers to Mountain Goats' singer John Darnielle and the lyrical content in "Woke Up New" deals with similar issues of living with a partner and not knowing how to cope when they're gone.
- In "Local Man Ruins Everything", the opening line is, "The fountain was off", which is a reference to their song "Logan Circle", in which Soupy sings, "They turned on the fountain today at Logan Circle".
- In "Summers In PA", a line is, "Spiro lied about his major and said 'fuck the whole thing'" which is a reference to their song "All My Friends Are In Bar Bands", in which Soupy sings "Spiro lied about his major, but it's working out for him".
- In "Hoodie Weather," Soupy sings, "The kids in the graduating class have got their eyes set west, California on their lips, but I've left some blood there that I'm never getting back," a reference to the repeated line in "Washington Square Park" of "I left a lot of blood in California."
- In "You Made Me Want To Be A Saint" Soupy sings, "It was how Dave said "us", like the last three years had never happened", which is a reference to the song "All My Friends Are In Bar Bands" where Soupy sings, "And still there's some days where I don't think that we'll ever see Dave again." This song, though it isn't referenced, is a tribute to their friend who had passed away. The same friend whom they had written the song "We Won't Bury You" for.
- In "My Life As Rob Gordon", Soupy sings, "Well Max says, when I mentioned him in 'Bar Bands', kids started asking questions," referencing the line "Max dropped out of college, but he likes to say he finished", from the song, "All My Friends Are In Bar Bands".
References to Their Hometown
- In "Suburbia", a line is, "The bowling alley burnt down" is referring to Lansbowl on Main Street in Lansdale. Another line "The most famous person to come out of here was the guy that played Leatherface in all of those chainsaw massacres." refers to Andrew Bryniarski, a graduate of North Penn High School in Lansdale.
- In "Summers in PA", Soupy sings, "So now I'm heading up 309". Route 309 is 134 miles which connects Philly to Suburbs in the north and it runs right through Montgomeryville and Hatfield.
- In "I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer" a line is "The church on Main Street has got its doors painted red" is referring to St. Johns Chruch on Maint Street in Lansdale. Another line "The church over on Broad Street has got a neon sign that says Jesus Save Me" is referring to the Jesus Saves Church on Broad Street in Hatfield.
- In "Coffee Eyes", Soupy sings, "Here in a diner with my friends Talking about how the year went." He is referring to Michaels Diner on Rt. 309 in Montgomeryville.
- In "I've Given You All", a line is, "He got beaten to death in Memorial Park under one of the benches". Memorial Park is on Main Street in Lansdale. In this line, "The old alcoholics that drink by the train", Soupy is talking about the Train Station that is also on Main Street. This is later mentioned in "And Now I'm Nothing" with the line "I keep ending up in Memorial Park."
- In "You Made Me Want To Be A Saint" Soupy sings, "I buried half of a decade there". He is talking about The VFW on 2nd Street in Lansdale. This is where they got their start in music. Soupy, Nick, and Matt were in a band called "The Premier", which played here very frequently for many years. The Wonder Years formed, then The Premier broke up not too shortly after but The Wonder Years continued to play shows at the VFW. The song is dedicated to Mike Pelone, a friend of the band who passed away, whom Soupy booked shows at the VFW with.
- Main Street is mentioned in "Suburbia" and "Hoodie Weather" but is not actually said throughout the songs.
Personnel
- Dan "Soupy" Campbell - lead vocals
- Matthew Brasch - guitar, vocals
- Josh Martin - bass, vocals
- Casey Cavaliere - guitar
- Nick Steinborn - keyboards, guitar, vocals
- Mike Kennedy - drums, percussion
- Additional personnel
References