Catch for Us the Foxes
Encyclopedia
Catch for Us the Foxes is indie rock
group mewithoutYou
's second full-length album
, released on October 15, 2004 by Tooth & Nail Records
.
Catch for Us the Foxes reached a peak position of number 20 on the Billboard
Top Heatseekers
on October 23, 2004. It was voted the best album of the 2000s by Buzzgrinder on January 15, 2010.
, the religion of his mother. The album title itself is taken from Song of Solomon
(or Song of Songs) 2:15 in the Bible
.
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group mewithoutYou
MewithoutYou
Me Without You, stylized as mewithoutYou and abbreviated as mwY, is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consists of vocalist Aaron Weiss, guitarist Michael Weiss, bassist Greg Jehanian and drummer Rickie Mazzotta. MewithoutYou's music is generally dominated by...
's second full-length album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, released on October 15, 2004 by Tooth & Nail Records
Tooth & Nail Records
Tooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in the U.S. state of California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington, where it is situated today...
.
Catch for Us the Foxes reached a peak position of number 20 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
on October 23, 2004. It was voted the best album of the 2000s by Buzzgrinder on January 15, 2010.
Track listing
Personnel
- Troy Glessner – Mastering
- Chad Johnson – A&R
- Christopher Kleinberg – Group Member
- Robbie Lackritz – Assistant
- Richard Mazzotta – Group Member
- Daniel Pishock – Group Member
- Aaron Weiss – Group Member
- Chick Wolverton – E-Bow
- Brad Wood – Producer, Engineer, Mixing
- Michael Weiss - Group Member
Lyrical themes
Recurring motifs throughout the album include foxes ("Disaster Tourism", "The Soviet"), leaves ("Tie Me Up! Untie Me!", "Leaf") and day/night ("Disaster Tourism", "The Soviet"). Front man and song writer Aaron Weiss quotes many different sources, but most often he borrows from Jalal ad-Din Rumi, a poet of SufismSufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
, the religion of his mother. The album title itself is taken from Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon
The Song of Songs of Solomon, commonly referred to as Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible—one of the megillot —found in the last section of the Tanakh, known as the Ketuvim...
(or Song of Songs) 2:15 in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
- "Torches Together" was written in light of Aaron Weiss's experience at The Simple Way and Brouderhoff, two communities that take the idea of church as seriously as the early church. While there Aaron wrote this song. "The song off our new record, ‘Torches Together,’ talks about community and coming together and loving each other.." He also references his previous suicidal tendencies: "anyway, aren't you unbearably sad?" and looks into the Simple Way philosophy of living simply and with no plans: "so never mind of plan making, we'll start living." He also uses common biblical concepts of the church like a building (1 Peter 2:4-5), being the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), and quotes Proverbs 26:14 with "turning like a door on its hinges" and references Luke 11:33 when He says "Why burn...under a bowl...". The song ends with a reference to Matthew 11:16-17.
- "January 1979" is a song themed around Aaron Weiss's failure as a human in life. He and former bassist, Daniel Pishock, were both born in January 1979. The "crash" Aaron explains refers to his birth. Aaron wrote this song discussing his frustration surrounding his "overfed, unconcerned, and comfortably numb" existence. Realizing his failure, he sings of becoming a servant of all, a reference to Matthew 23:11. Becoming the lowest would imply that there would no longer be any possibility of failing more. While he remarks that his eyes have become useless, the song ends with hope of a cure. His concept about grasshoppers may reference to Numbers 13:33, or Isaiah 40:22. The line "My ear pressed against the past / like a glass on the wall of a house in a photograph" closely resembles a line in Richard BrautiganRichard BrautiganRichard Gary Brautigan was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. His work often employs black comedy, parody, and satire. He is best known for his 1967 novel Trout Fishing in America.- Early life :...
's novel So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away. - "Tie Me Up! Untie Me!" shows themes of suicide and the mysterious salvation of the Lord. Weiss begins with a search for someone, probably God, on the "tops of the trees", where a glorious God should be found, but with no success. He rather finds that Jesus is "buried" and mostly left unnoticed. Despite Weiss's inability to find God, God grabbed him, like a sickness. Then his "sweetheart moved away," possibly referring to his previous relationship with sin or the world (with further references to this girl in the chorus). However this provided more tension as Weiss goes on to speak of his distance from God, and his fickleness is obeying God or obey his flesh ("Tie me up! Untie me!). Suicide seems to be a major distraction. Again he describes the search for God, and his surprise in finding God in a "dull shell." The song ends with witness of victory over seemingly unsurmountable tendencies towards suicide. He takes from Rumi using the line: "Love moves away. The light changes. I need more grace than I thought."
- "Leaf" likely is a song born out of Aaron's sudden change from caring about his clothing and dance style to his disgust with showiness and fame. In an interview by Relevant Magazine he comments about clothes "I feel embarrassed buying food when it's being thrown away everywhere I look! And dressing up in new clothes every day, trying to look attractive or desirable and stay clean and respectable—it's a lot of effort, and I don't have it in me anymore. When I see people with their hair done and make up and stylish clothes, it looks silly to me now, like a costume." He goes on in the song to say that logical talk, or dancing or even singing is stupid and doesn't allow God inside of him to speak at all. He rather desires purity of heart in his "call to love my brother." The chorus is a reference to Søren KierkegaardSøren KierkegaardSøren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
's work "Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing". - "Disaster Tourism" is probably a song about wisdom or some new revelation calling to a man lost in hedonismHedonismHedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....
. While this new revelation does not make sense, the man still replies. Aaron stated in an interview at Purple Door '05 that this song was based on a trip he took to the Red Light District in Amsterdam. - "Seven Sisters" is written considering creation and the place of humans in it. The Creator made things soft and easy. However, men's clever philosophy is simply neat arrangements and men are left try to discover "where to sleep." He paraphrases a quote from "Icon of Light", a prayer written by Symeon the New TheologianSymeon the New TheologianSymeon the New Theologian was a Byzantine Christian monk and poet who was the last of three saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox church and given the title of "Theologian"...
. "Come, Light that knows no evening come, alone to the alone.". Aaron also uses the ideas of Rumi: "A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home", and then again in the next line: "You dance inside my chest, where no one sees you, but sometimes I do..". These two prayers form a plea to the Creator to give men a madness that is whole, and to offer a resting place. The chorus refers to the cleansing and salvation found in God. The expectation continues that men are "expected to believe that any of this is real. The lines "covered like carpets with graceful, meaningless ornamental designs" comes from the novel The Journey To The East by Hermann HesseHermann HesseHermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
." - "The Soviet" is about the human struggle with selfish love and fear and the shame springing up from them. A resolution offered is to take care and watch to prevent needless pain that comes with lust and impurity. Aaron Weiss passionately sings "I don't need this," renouncing the seeming truth found in culture that the physical and emotional love is necessary. References include 1 John 4:8, Song of Solomon 2:15 and Oscar Wilde'sOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
poem "The Harlot's House". The lyrics "O' wake up sleepers and rise from the dead!" is a reference to Ephesians 5:14. - "Paper Hanger" is about dying to find life in Christ. Aaron lightly borrows from the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a banquet as told in John 2. "She was like wine turned to water then turned back to wine." This line might refer to the perfect creation of God turning away from God and then turned back to God again. The surrender to God offered in the lyrics "My life is no longer mine" leads him to fit into the function of community that provides wholeness. Men, when they "stop [their] leaving" and show unselfish commitment, that therein lies the betterment of men. Lyrics quote the Gospel of ThomasGospel of ThomasThe Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library...
: "If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your father within you?' say to them, 'It is movement and repose.'" Stevan Davies explains: "The seven days of Genesis begin with the Spirit moving upon the waters, continue through six days of the movement of creation, and conclude with a day of repose." - "My Exit, Unfair" is a song Aaron wrote about his mother. He refers to the Biblical account of JonahJonahJonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...
and his foolishness is fleeing from God's plans for him. The realization is that "a hard rain is going to fall." The emptiness and failures of men are temporary while deep inside us the eternal is written, an allusion to EcclesiastesEcclesiastesThe Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
3:11. The end of the song is a Islamic prayer that Aaron prayed as a child, that he learned from his mother translated "Oh Most Patient, Glory be to Thee, I seek refuge in you from Satan the accursed. Praise be to God. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful." - "Four Word Letter (Pt.2)" is an interesting song born out of the difference in the faith of Aaron and his family. While there seems to be a bit of meaninglessness, "..aimlessly drifting around." there is a yearning for purpose even in doubt: "Oh, doubters, let's go down, down to the river to pray.." borrowing from Down in the River to Pray, a traditional hymn. There is a bit of discussion about seeking out God coming from his family, to which he responds appropriately to each excuse. However, Aaron admits that he does not desire his beliefs or those of his family, but rather to have the "God of peace." By using imagery of a song and its artist comparing them to God and his creation, he shows the absurdity of complaining, even if its "clever" or philosophical. The real "hunger" is not satisfied with a set of beliefs, whether ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
or Islamic. Fans often express belief that the four word letter is "Jesus I love you" or "I love you goodbye" - "Carousels" is a song about the foolishness of the world and the true need for God. Aaron wrote this song after riding into town one day. He was struck by the billboards and consumerism found in the AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
culture. This realization leads him to lay prostrate before God. As the Israelites once wandered in the desserts of Sinai, so Weiss admits that he would wander without God. He also expresses the meaninglessness and evil of existence apart from God's existence. He quotes Jack Kerouac'sJack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
book The Dharma BumsThe Dharma BumsThe Dharma Bums is a 1958 novel by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. The semi-fictional accounts in the novel are based upon events that occurred years after the events of On the Road...
when he sings: "Like a horn blown by some sad angel." There is also a plea for JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
to come back, referring to his expected returnSecond ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
. In the background of the first verse, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom," is heard - the words of the criminal crucified beside Jesus who repented. In the second verse "we bow in unity when we come into your kingdom" is heard instead. - "Son of a Widow" is a poem about dying to self. From the start, there is a persistence for connection between Aaron and God. The idea is that only in the crushing of a grape is wineWineWine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
made. There is a burial performed by Aaron's close friends of his identity apart from God, including all his accomplishments. There is simply the desire to retire from lonely existence. It may be referencing Luke 7:12, "The boy who had died was the only son of a widow."