Music / In a Bar, Under the Sea

He went to the bottom, put his soul on fire.

In a Bar, Under the Sea was the second full-length album by Belgian rock band dEUS, released in 1996. Hit singles were: "Fell Off the Floor, Man," "Theme from Turnpike" (used in the short movie Turnpike), "Roses," and "Little Arithmetics." The song "Serpentine" wasn't released as a single, but has become a fan favorite.

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Tracklist:

1. "I Don't Mind What Ever Happens" (0:46)
2. "Fell Off the Floor, Man" (5:13)
3. "Opening Night" (1:38)
4. "Theme from Turnpike" (5:46)
5. "Little Arithmetics" (4:30)
6. "Gimme the Heat" (7:38)
7. "Serpentine" (3:17)
8. "A Shocking Lack Thereof" (5:52)
9. "Supermarketsong" (1:56)
10. "Memory of a Festival" (1:52)
11. "Guilty Pleasures" (4:23)
12. "Nine Threads" (3:34)
13. "Disappointed in the Sun" (6:03)
14. "For the Roses" (4:57) (Also named "Roses")
15. "Wake Me Up Before I Sleep" (2:53)

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Personnel:

• Stef Kamil Carlens: Vocal, guitar, bass, double bass, percussion, claps
• Tom Barman: Vocal, guitar, Hammond, Talkback, samples, percussion, synthesiser, cma's
• Jules de Borgher: Drums, percussion, bells, claps
• Craig Ward: Vocal, guitar, sax, mandolin, claps, ukelele, slide guitar
• Klaas Janzoons: Vocal, percussion, Talkback, piano, violin, synthesiser, beatbox, claps
• Rudy Trouve: Vocal, piccolo, harmonica, guitar, ukelele
• Didier Fontaine: Vocal
• Scott McCloud: "Philosophy"
• Eric Drew Feldman: Hammond, percussion, egg, piano
• Pieter Lamot: Trombone
• Ian Humphries: Violin
• Charles Mutter: Violin
• Nic Pendlebury: Viola
• Deirdre Cooper: Cello
• Dana Colley: Saxophone
• Vincienne: Claps
• Jim Brumby: Claps, rate, and depth
• Piet Jorens: Piano, gong

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Tropes from Turnpike:

• Album Title Drop: "Disappointed in the Sun:"
  And that's why we're thinking
  that's why we're drinking in a bar under the sea
• Alliterative Title: "Fell Off the Floor, Man" and "Theme from Turnpike."
• Broken Record: "Roses:"
  Thank you, for the roses, for the roses
  Thank you, for the roses, for the roses
• Capitalism Is Bad: "Supermarketsong:"
  Some people go out and buy stuff they see in windows
  I don't need no ring, no car, no watch
  Baby I got all I need
• Cut Short: "Theme from Turnpike" is abruptly cut short.
• Design Student's Orgasm: The album cover, designed by Rudy Trouve.
• Drone of Dread: "Theme from Turnpike."
• Epic Rocking: "Fell Off the Floor, Man," "Theme from Turnpike," and "Disappointed in the Sun."
• Everything Is an Instrument: "I Don't Mind Whatever Happens" was recorded through the telephone, while the band was in France and talking to presenters of the Belgian radio station Studio Brussel in Brussels, Belgium. This is also a Homage to "The Blimp" from Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart, which was also recorded through the telephone.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: "Wake Me Up Before I Sleep."
• Intercourse with You: "Gimme the Heat:"
  Some erotic feel keeps coming on
  It's so unreal I come undone
• In the Style of: "I Don't Mind Whatever Happens" is played in the style of a 1930's blues song. Tom Barman has admitted that "Roses" was a pastiche of Nirvana.
• Miniscule Rocking: "I Don't Mind Whatever Happens" is less than a minute long.
• Nostalgia Filter: "Memory of a Festival:"
  Do you remember the festival in '94 with 90 fuck ups?
• One-Word Title: "Serpentine" and "Supermarketsong."
• The Power of Love: "Serpentine:"
  Let's do it serpentine, any time
  Let's do it right here
• Product Placement: "Fell Off the Floor, Man:"
  Folks got me up against a Volkswagen.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: "Roses" was inspired by an encounter Barman had with a German girl. They had a relationship, but when they saw each other again she acted as if they didn't knew each other, despite at the same time trying to seduce him. According to an interview in Humo (1998) the girl kept sending him awfully perfumed love letters each week.
• Record Producer: Eric Drew Feldman (former band member of Captain Beefheart).
• Shout-Out:
  • "Fell Off the Floor, Man" namedrops James Brown and Rita Hayworth:
  You know what I'm talking about?
  (...)
  You're supposed to say: "Yeah!," like a James Brown thing.
  YEAH!
  • The line "I feel Gina might / on her opening night" in "Opening Night" is a reference to John Cassavetes' film Opening Night with Gena Rowlands.
  • "Theme from Turnpike" has a sample from Charles Mingus' "Fare Wells, Mill Valley" from Mingus Dynasty (1959). The line: "New Jersey turnpike ridin' on a wet night" refers to a song on Bruce Springsteen's album Nebraska.
  • Elvis Presley is name dropped during "A Shocking Lack Thereof."
  • "Nine Threads" refers to a line from "Hey Hey My My" by Neil Young from his album Rust Never Sleeps, but twists it around:
  I hope I get old before I die.
  • "Serpentine" was inspired by an interview Barman had with Sean Penn and where the actor said:
  You do it straight or you do it serpentine.
  • "Disappointed in the Sun" is a reference to a quote from Captain Beefheart in the short documentary Some Yo-Yo Stuff (1993), directed by Anton Corbijn where he claimed that after leaving the Vincent van Gogh museum in Amsterdam the sun "disappointed him." Also mentionable is the fact that "I Don't Mind Whatever Happens" was recorded through the telephone, much like "The Blimp" on Trout Mask Replica and that former Beefheart band member Eric Drew Feldman produced In a Bar, Under the Sea. Beefheart was referenced again in "Roses:"
  She's painting
  on my back
  a green tongue
  the Beefheart one.
  • The Walkabouts covered "Wake Me Up Before I Sleep" in 2000.
• Singer Namedrop: "Supermarketsong" has a line referring to Sam Louwijck and Eric Drew Feldman, who produced the album:
  Spastic Sam and Eric Drew make supermarkets superflue.
• The Something Song: "Supermarketsong."
• Special Guest: Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys) plays along on "Fell Off the Floor, Man," Dana Colley (Morphine) on "Supermarketsong," and Bart Maris (X-Legged Sally) on "Nine Threads."
• Studio Chatter: Near the end of "I Don't Mind Whatever Happens" and at the start of "Guilty Pleasures."
• Under the Sea: The album title, as well as the protagonist in "Disappointed in the Sun" who dives in the sea to go to an underwater bar.
• Word Salad Lyrics: "Fell Off the Floor, Man."
• Your Little Dismissive Diminutive: "Little Arithmetics."

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He said... NO MOOOOORRRRRE... Loud... Muusic!