about | Tiger Cry

bio

Tiger Cry is a Chicago indie pop-rock band with lush vocals, charm, rambunctious spirit and songs you can sing along with. Tiger Cry has two songwriters, Nicolette and Adam, a couple, who switch off on guitar, organ and accordion, with Josh rounding out the band on bass.

Tiger Cry self-released their debut album, Wild Violet, in August 2011.

Tiger Cry's live shows are rambunctious, joyous and full of an intimate charm: they're apt to break into a cappella harmonies, throw on some Beach House-esque spare drum action, or fuzz it up with a heavy dose of the Big Muff. They have played Subterranean, Beat Kitchen, Empty Bottle, Abbey Pub, numerous charity events and one tour of the Midwest.

Yes, they're named after an awesome Thai dish: that shizz rules!

contact

tigercrymusic(at)gmail.com

lyrics & stories

All Yours

Lyrics by Nicolette Verone

Come on down to the water, it's fine to keep on all of your clothes.
Come on down from the bower and I will ease you of your heavy load.
So won't you stay a little longer with me.

It's a whitewash behind us, it's all blizzard and snow.
Break the ice across the lake and we'll meet at the floes.
So won't you stay a little longer with me.

And I will be all yours.

As we hit the dark of the night, as the lights shudder above,
I won't turn back from the plunge of the current's strong shove.
So won't you stay a little longer with me.

And I will be all yours.

Story coming soon...

Burgertown

Lyrics by Adam Gramling

Oh you look bored with everything I say.
I can't help that I only like three things.
First comes love and then video games,
Last comes strangers they never know my ways.

Tell me why I gotta change.
If you're in love with me for me,
Then you know how I can be,
I can be exactly what you want me to be.

Oh you say we never go anywhere nice.
But what about Burgertown, Burgertown is awfully nice.
Oh you think I'm joking you think I'm kidding around,
But I'm only serious I'm only ever profound.

Tell me why I gotta change.
If you're in love with me for me,
Then you know how I can be,
I can be exactly what you want me to be.

Burgertown was just down the street from our old place and was definitely my favorite restaurant. It was kind of a gross place, to be honest: there decor was shoddy, there was a painting sitting on top of the radiator (strange!) and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. But none of that really mattered: the food was divine, the owners were the nicest people ever and it was cheap cheap cheap: my kind of place.

I went there a few times a week, but then we moved a bit further up Lincoln Square and I didn't get there quite as often. And then one day, I biked by for an overdue visit, and it was closed. I was devastated. How could that place close? It was so good! I'd already written the song at that point, so instead of being a celebration of my favorite place, it weirdly became this ode to a burger place.

They're probably the most straightforward & honest lyrics I've ever written, even though they're kind of silly at the same time. I do love video games, I do think Burgertown is my idea of nice and I am always kidding around. I like the undercurrent of the song though: even though it's mostly silly, the narrator is kind of fed up having to justify being who he is. Not really a love song, I guess, but a good duet nonetheless.

I used to sing it an octave higher than I do now. I don't know how I did it, frankly, but over time it came down and now we often play it without guitar (which I wrote it on), with a big bass beat from Josh and with more great harmonies from Nicolette.

Come On Home

Lyrics by Nicolette Verone

The warm rains come from the plains of Iowa,
As I wait for you to come on home.

This cold city life won't give me a fighting chance,
So I call out to the changing winds.

Oh throw me a line,
It's so strange in the middle of the night.
Whoa…ooh,
Whoa…ooh,
I'm a girl on the edge of her life.

And when I dream, well, it's only Michigan I see,
And she calls for me to come on home.

Yesterday the summer fell completely away,
And it left us here with the rest of our lives.

Oh throw me a line,
It's so strange in the middle of the night.
Whoa…ooh,
Whoa…ooh,
I'm a girl on the edge of her life,
I'm a girl on the edge of her life.

Story coming soon...

Miss You

Lyrics by Adam Gramling

I miss you in the morning,
Miss you in the evening,
And even in between those times.

I miss you in the gray skies,
I miss you in the blue skies,
I miss you when the sky's on fire.

Do you miss me too?
That's all I need to know.
Or have you let your foolish heart grow cold?

There's really only one way to answer,
And that's coming home.

This song has probably gone through the biggest transition of any song in the band. I wrote it as a mournful little guitar song - slow, a touch heartbroken - and now we play it like a ragtime number: all spunk and bounce. It just never seemed to work slow when we played it live, so we just kept playing it faster and faster and it just kept sounding better and better, so now we play it while we Charleston.

I guess I've always loved me some Gershwin. Not that this comes anywhere close to him; it just has that Tin Pan Alley sort of feel. Maybe not on the recording so much, but when we play it live. I'm in love with my little piano part I play, and of course there's an intro: I'm an intro/outro kind of guy. I just like that I can play it without the sustain pedal and it sounds nice. I'm a little overly reliant on that little pedal I must say.

It's one of the only songs in which I wrote a straight harmony. I always want to write cascading, clashing harmony lines (like in All Yours or Right Where You Want Me); harmony lines that act more like the melody, but for some reason, the straight harmonies just seem to work on this one.

The lyrics are about as vanilla as they come. I kept telling myself I'd write another verse for Nicolette to sing, but it's kind of nice that we're singing the same thing to each other; that makes some kind of sense to me (or maybe I'm justifying being lazy!). Sometimes it's nice to just have nonsense love-esque-type lyrics: you almost enjoy playing the song more when you don't have to think about that extra stuff.

Right Where You Want Me

Lyrics by Adam Gramling

I shouldn't even be talking to you.
I could find myself in trouble, I tend to gravitate towards trouble.
Why shouldn't you even be talking to me?
I could find myself in trouble, I tend to gravitate towards trouble.

You got a girl at home?
She's at work but yes i do, she's at work right now but yeah you know .
You got a girl at work?
Could be home by now but yes I do, could be home by now but you know me.

What fun is playing nice...
When you got me right where you want me,
Right where you want me.
(How could you know where I want you to be?
It could be on the moon for all you know.)

I shouldn't still be talking to you.
There's no one else to talk to, the bar closed down it's just me and you.
I shouldn't even be walking with you.
There's nothing wrong with walking, in ten minutes we'll start the bonking.

You got a guy at home?
I don't know where he is but yes I do, don't know where he is but yes I do.
You got a guy in jail?
I don't know where he is but yes I do, don't know where he is but yes I do.

What fun is playing nice...
When you got me right where you want me,
Right where you want me.
(How could you know where I want you to be?
It could be on the moon for all you know.)

I was on this serious duet-writing kick for a while and this is probably my favorite of the bunch. I was knocking around thematic ideas and I was tired of all the 'I love you, you love me' things I usually think up. I started wondering: what would I have done had I been dating someone else when I met Nicolette? Would I have just known: like: damn: this is it. This song is kind of loosely based around that; about dating someone else but flirting with somebody better. Scandalous, yes, I know.

I love that Nicolette says 'bonking' during those pauses. I originally wrote it with a real swear, but Nicolette rightly decided that 'bonking' was more fun. She also came up with the idea to record that cat-calling chorus of voices during the pauses. We did like 5 takes together, saying all types of random things, and while we were doing it I was thinking, 'There's no way this is going to work!' but she was totally right: now I love that part.

I think it was the only song that we finished in one session and I really like the arrangement (Nicolette's Rhodes, the handclaps, Josh's double tack piano and rattlesnake shaker). I also really like that Josh doesn't speak a word on the whole album and it's his voice we hear at the end.

Sally

Lyrics by Henry Carey from 'Sally In Our Alley'

Of all the girls that are so smart there's none like pretty Sally,
She is the darling of my heart and she lives in our alley.
There is no lady in the land is half so sweet as Sally,
She is the darling of my heart and she lives in our alley.

My master and the neighbors all make game of me,
But when my seven long years are out O then I'll marry.
My master and the neighbors all make game of me,
But when my seven long years are out O then I'll marry.

When Christmas comes about again O then I shall have money,
I'll hoard it up, and, box and all I'll give it to my honey.
I would it were ten thousand pound I'd give it all to Sally,
She is the darling of my heart and she lives in our alley.

I fell in love with this old poem from the first line. 'Of all the girls that are so smart' - I just thought that was a lovely sentiment; a modern sentiment too. I couldn't believe it was written in the early 1700s. I'd never heard of the poet before and then one day my dad wrote me and said that the guy came up with the term 'mamby-pamby' as well. So that's totally weird...

Some songs you remember writing, but others are just fragments. I remember being excited that I sort of thumb-picked it instead of strummed; I remember loving the accordion parts (there used to be like 3 accordions at once -- yikes!), but that's about it. I tried recording the song forever and started naming them weird things (Sally 18 - Uh-Oh Sall-yeghettios being a personal fave) when I couldn't figure it out. Funny that this was the first song we recorded for the album and it was about the most painless thing on the record.

I really love Nicolette's accordion part now. It didn't make it into the recording, but next time we play, check it out: it's strange and lovely. That guitar solo on the recording might be the funniest thing on the whole album. I always laugh when it comes on but it just seems right somehow, even though it's the simplest thing in the world. I think we even snuck in Josh on the ocarina for the album. Now that was one funny recording session...

She Plunged Her Fair Body

Lyrics by Devin Bean & Adam Gramling
Adapted from 'I Never Will Marry' - Traditional

They say that love is gentle, but it's only brought me pain,
The only girl I ever loved has left with another man.
I struck down this lover, his body she did find,
Her cry was oh so lonesome, I nearly lost my mind

She plunged her fair body into the waters so deep,
She closed her sweet eyes into the waters to sleep.

A full remorse now that we’re apart but no change in the star’s align,
No ache remains in her silent heart, yet she’s left me with all of mine.
I will never marry, I'll share no one’s love,
I expect to live single, Till I fly with the doves.

She plunged her fair body into the waters so deep,
She closed her sweet eyes into the waters to sleep.

The shells in the ocean shall be my resting bed,
As the fishies of the deep swim over my head.
With rising sun I run to shore, I stand there at her spot,
The blood has finally washed away, but sadly she has not.

She plunged her fair body into the waters so deep,
She closed her sweet eyes into the waters to sleep.

Devin Bean is a good friend of ours and he sent these lyrics over to me and I just loved them. They're excellent, based off of a traditional poem: everything I like about lyrics: sweeping, playful and dark. I added the last half of the last verse (appropriately grim I think!) and wrote the music pretty fast.

I've always loved that you can play it at any speed. We tend to play it super fast but when it started out, it was kind of slow. We keep adding things onto the end of it too: we added a 3/4 bit to the outro and then sometimes we throw some Righteous Brothers on there too; it can go over 6 minutes when we go overboard.

We used to have a version with drum machine drums too: I kind of have a soft spot for that version still, though the version that made the album has a great outro too I think. As Nicolette can attest, I am an outro kind of guy. We even have a country version, but we can't hardly sing it without laughing so we hardly do it.

Long a favorite of the band, we used to close every show with this song (though lately, it's been supplanted by Sally). My favorite parts are Nicolette's harmonies, her dynamo accordion and when Josh goes beserker at the end: I just stand back and watch.

Somebody Nice

Lyrics by Adam Gramling

I want to meet somebody nice, someone that's smart and full of life.
You'd think that'd be easy, but sadly it's not,
I only get losers and mopers and duds,
Yeah, I only get losers and mopers and duds.

I want to meet someone like her, she looks like an angel and I bet that she purrs.
I haven't been lucky, I'm a regular fool,
But give me one shot and I'll show her I'm cool,
Just give me one shot and I'll show her I'm cool.

Love love love love, all of these things I've been dreaming of.
Love love love love, never abandon me love.

I think I met somebody nice, he gets all my jokes and he doesn't start fights.
I don't want to curse it, but I think that it's love,
I shouldn't have said it, I'll be swept in the flood,
Yeah I shouldn't have said it, now I'll be swept in the flood.

Love love love love, all of these things I've been dreaming of.
Love love love love, never abandon me,
Rise up and stand with me, never abandon me love.

I wasn't far off when I bet that she purred, she's been purring for hours and in such sweet words.
I don't want to jinx it, But I think she's my girl,
I think I'll be giving her purring a whirl.
Yeah I think I'll be giving her purring a whirl.

Love love love love, all of these things I've been dreaming of.
Love love love love, never abandon me,
Rise up and stand with me, never abandon me,
Rise up and stand with me,
Love love love love love love.

I wrote most of this on a bus. I rarely write in public, but the bus is just so weird: I tried to take lines these kids were saying and turn them into a song, but all they talked about was cell phones and how dumb some girl was, so I wasn't about to go there.

I really like the mopers line; that and the flood part and the fact that the girl likes that the guy doesn't start fights. When the song started out, we didn't have words in the chorus. We'd sing la's. For the whole thing. But then I gave a version to my parents to listen to and my mom smartly said that the song would be better if it had some words. So I wrote some. Always listen to your moms.

Up Up Up

Lyrics by Nicolette Verone

Is this terminal or is this a disease?
Is this just what happened what you did to me?

Where did I draw the line and how'd it get so blurred?
Mistakes that I have made have made me so unsure.

Up up up against the wall,
Flat flat flat against the door,
Guess it was a mistake to keep you wanting more.

And all the ways that I've felt there's a simple kind of truth,
Permeates those days gone by and somehow sets me loose.

But now that I have seen what I am capable of,
How can I piece towards some kind of love?

Up up up against the wall,
Flat flat flat against the door,
Guess it was a mistake to keep you wanting more.

Story coming soon...

You're My Baby

Lyrics by Nicolette Verone

So you want to leave, leave us and run so far away
Well I will not let you 'cause you want to stay
You want to stay but you don't know it yet

I have to let you know that if you walk out that door
There won't be anything left out there
Cause I am all that you'll ever need

Cause you're my baby
You're my baby
You're my baby
You're my baby
You're my baby, yeah yeah yeah
You're mine

Baby, come a little closer and I'll hold you tight
I'll hold you like you ain't never known
I'll keep you with me for all times
Yeah

Closer now, closer now 'til you're in my grasp
And I will tend to you like a keepsake stowed away
And I will throw away the key

Cause you're my baby
You're my baby
You're my baby
You're my baby
You're my baby, yeah yeah yeah
You're mine

Story coming soon...