Catatonia broke on to the scene with their album Way Beyond Blue and became a favorite throughout the UK in the mid to late 90’s for there infectious blend of acoustic and rock mixed with the Brit Pop sound that was becoming popular at the time. But it was their internationally successful album’s International Velvet and Equally Cursed and Blessed that brought them fame and ultimately led to the demise of the band by 2004. The vocals of lead singer Cerys Matthews give the music a unique sound all its own with Cerys knowing just how to get the story in the songs across to the listener.
1. Mulder and Scully – This song has so much energy to it from the opening lines until the very end you might be tempted to blast it in your car like I do regularly. Named after the main characters from The X-Files the song itself is like the cases on the show, weird things are happening in the singers relationship and she is starting to fall in love. But there is internal conflict as to what to do about her feelings, I think the line “And what does someone do with love?” sums it up nicely. Deffinately a classic Brit Pop sound to this song.
2. Nothing Hurts – This song is rather slow to start with and basically leaves you thinking that the singer wants to believe everything is beautiful and perfect in the imperfect world she lives in. It is still one of my favorite songs from Catatonia because of the haunting sound to the song and because it produced the climatic line And if you call, I’ll follow after all. So sweet calm will keep us safe from harm.
3. All Girls Are Fly – This song is a little quick, yet gets the whole point of the story across nicely. It’s about a guy not hearing from his girl who went back to England after she got fed up with his selfish way of only thinking about himself and his material posessions. If only he had thought of her instead of himself…
4. Road Rage – The song is slow to start with but has a powerful chorus that just leaves you wanting to hear the song over and over again. For me the song reminds me of slowing down in life and taking it easy and not letting things get to you so easily. But I heard a long time ago that the song was actually inspired by an incident in England where a woman went on tv to plead for witnesses in the Road Rage stabbing death of her boyfriend, which is where the line ‘It’s all over the front page, you give me road rage’ would come from. Turns out she actually stabbed him and tried to make it look like someone else did it.
5. Dead From the Waist Down – Absolutely one of my favorite songs from the band. This song has always left me wondering what it could be about. Cerys Matthews has said in interviews the song is about male impotence, which might or might not make a little sense. The lyrics mostly seem to go into the issue of sex
and not wanting it because based on past experiences it is better to wait then rush in and ruin the relationship with someone you might actually be compatable with. The lines ‘There’s no contracts binding, No bad scene beyond repair’ seem to say this is what the song means. A very sweet song with a message you can try to interpret for yourself, I just love the line ‘Make Hay not War’.
6. Londinium – A very upbeat song about life in London and its hustle and bustle. Actually, the song gives a very nice summery of London itself and will give you a refresher on all the tube lines in the city, if you weren’t already familiar with them that is. But it also tells of how London can suck the life, and money, out of you. The city has a million stories and some find it boring and expensive.
7. Shoot the Messenger – Possibly one of the best ‘revenge’ songs I’ve heard. It’s twisted, malevolent and just evil. It’s about a girl who’s boyfriend has broken up with her and moved on to another love. But, the old girlfriend still wishes they were together and likes to think of the many different ways she would go after his new girlfriend in. I love the song, it has a nice beat and Cerys’ vocals give the song a sexy sound to it.
8. I Am the Mob – This song screams of The Godfather, but the song is so great and good for a laugh. From lines like ‘I put horses’ heads in people’s beds’ and ‘Luca Brasi, ah he sleeps with the fishes’ you get the idea of what the song is about. The song has a great, fast beat to it and ends with the climatic ‘I AM THE MOB!’ Another great song for listening to in the car turned up loud.
9. Storm the Palace – This song is basically a great big middle finger to the Royal Family. Starting with the idea of tearing Buckingham Palace apart and turning it into a bar while making the family work in a spa. The song ends with the singer telling the Royals to shove their Order of the British Empire and to sort out their karma before it’s too late while also reminding them that opening the Palace turned it into a tourist pit.
10. Don’t Need the Sunshine – The song tells the tale of a woman devoted to her friend/boyfriend who is addicted to drugs and who will stand by the other person through all the lies and the drama to be there for them. She wants the other person to realize there is more to life then drugs and the good times that bring on the drugs, but she has to stand back and just watch while the person destroys themselves. The line ‘When I decided that the answer could not be bought across the counter’ gives you a clear idea the singer knows that the drugs aren’t worth it and she has realized that now.
You can still find Cerys these days singing country and acoustic in the Nashville and Memphis Tennessee areas, but a reuniting the band will probably never happen.
