심(Seam)은 미국 언더그라운드 록계에서 상당한 비중을 차지하는 밴드이자, 우리에게는 ‘한국계 멤버들이 이끄는 그룹’이란 사실로 인해 더욱 어필하는 측면을 갖고 있기도 하다. 물론 이들은 미국에서 태어나 미국인으로 성장한 배경을 갖고 있으므로, 심의 음악에서 ‘한국적’인 면을 찾아보기는 힘들다. 그러나 미국의 록 팬들에게 ‘아시아계 록 뮤지션’의 존재감을 환기시키는 일에 있어서 이들의 공헌은 상당했다.
1992년 비치 매그닛(Bitch Magnet)이 해산한 후, 이 밴드의 멤버였던 박수영(Sooyoung Park. 기타/보컬)과 렉시 미첼(Lexi Mitchell. 베이스)이 수퍼청크(Superchunk) 출신의 드러머 맥 맥커한(Mac McCaughan)과 함께 결성한 3인조 밴드가 바로 심이었다. 1992년 심의 데뷔앨범 [Headsparks]가 나온 후 드러머 맥이 수퍼청크 활동에 전념하기 위해 밴드를 나가자, 심은 시카고로 본거지를 옮긴 후 드러머와 기타리스트를 새로 영입해 4인조로 팀을 재편하게 된다. 이 라인업으로 심은 1993년 첫 정규앨범 [The Problem With Me]를 출반하게 된다.
1995년, 심의 3집에 해당하는 [Are You Driving Me Crazy?]가 출시되었을 때 심의 라인업은 박수영을 제외한 모든 멤버가 새 얼굴로 교체된 상태였다. 그 중에는 역시 한국계인 윌리엄 신(William Shin. 베이스)이 끼어 있었으며, 나머지는 드러머 크리스 맨프린(Chris Manfrin)과 기타리스트 렉 슈래더(Reg Shrader)였다. 당시 이들은 미국 내에서 아시아계 멤버들을 가담시킨 밴드들의 곡을 규합해 [Ear Of The Dragon]이란 컴필레이션 앨범을 출반하는 작업을 주도하기도 했다.
빈번한 멤버교체에도 불구하고 리더 박수영의 의지에 의해 일정한 음악성을 유지하던 심은, 1998년 [The Pace Is Glacial]을 발표한 후 어미니어처(aMiniature) 출신의 존 리(John Lee)를 영입해 무려 3명의 한국계 멤버들을 포함한 라인업을 구축한 채 활동하기도 했다. 1999년 국내의 인디 페스티벌인 ‘소란99’에 심이 출연한 이후 국내 팬들 사이에서 본격적으로 이들에 대한 관심이 높아지기 시작하였으며, 결국 [The Pace Is Glacial] 뿐만 아니라 데뷔작 [Headsparks]까지 국내에 라이센스 발매되는 상황을 맞게 되었다. .... ....
step into my shoes for a while but you might find that they don't fit or that you can't walk in a straight line that's most of it, that's the hardest part of it
take me over in a plane take me someplace I've never been to take me over in a train show me something I haven't seen
step into my room for a while it's the same old floors and the same old walls somebody's waiting with a map of all the stars every long player and every stack of pictures everything for you and from me
take me over in a plane take me someplace I've never been to take me over in a train show me something I haven't seen
Tell me everything's bad Throw me all of your pain It's there, it's plain And I won't forget I love your faces I wanted you To show some feeling I needed you To twist my arm
Come on over, I was wrong Dry your eyes on my sleeve All the rain in my ears Rolls down my arm Into my palms
I wanted you To show some feeling I needed you To twist my arm
tell me something I wouldn't hear tell me something I refuse to know I didn't want to hear it it didn't sound too good from here it's the cover of a book it's the cover I refuse to see I didn't want to see it it didn't look too good from here
I didn't think you'd notice it didn't make a difference if it mattered that much to you it wouldn't matter that much to me I tried harder than you could know was I there, was I waiting? that's me, I forget sometimes are you never coming back?
it's something I can't ignore its part of me everyday it's something I couldn't say to you something that takes the breath from me something that makes me angry something that's cheap and dirty something that's cheap and dirty something that takes my strength away
and I blame it on you I blame it on you I blame it on you
You’re sitting in front of me Our bus isn’t coming I think I’m going blind Or is everything losing its color I made it clear to you My sleep is restless My heart is divided Quarters, halves, & eighths I’m in love with this feeling This invisible feeling.
What I wanted to say Would have sounded all wrong In that crazy pitch of my Pidgin stammering knotted tongue
I’m used to it, this city The smell of it, the gray dust of it I know that’s rain coming to wash it over clean it away
I’m used to it, this feeling The comforting, the reviling I’m used to it, this city The comforting, the reviling
I could swear I was there With my drink on the floor Waiting out what I said to you Maybe I said it, I sure didn’t mean it I couldn’t forget the comfort of being next to you Maybe I dreamt it, I don’t think I heard it But what you said, I’ve got it stuck in my head ..
Had to clean up the mess and nurse the cuts on my head It’s no fun getting gone without you There was a time, that I would have cried but...that part of me has up and died
I was so close to it Your words had a sting For the first time I noticed A tick in your cheek One hand on the jaw One hand on my heart Thinking about it I’m thinking about it I was so close to it I was so close to it Your words had a bite Your words had a ring Sometimes I forget Sometimes I forget And your problems seem unreal to me Sometimes I forget Sometimes I forget And your problems seem so unreal
I get a taste of it Where there is pain In a town like this In a town that’s like death I could taste the soot in the rain in the words Stuck in my mouth, to the roof of my mouth I am certain, I am able To walk right by without wincing I’m ashamed, that I waited To cross the street to avoid your look ...
Sometimes I forget Sometimes I forget And your problems seem unreal to me Sometimes I forget Sometimes I forget And your problems seem so unreal
It was over in my head And I was thinking those things I should be guilty as sin I should be shaking I did the things that can’t forgive Stealing the things that i gave to you But from this moment I will walk And from this moment I will be true
I looked away, I didn’t mean to I’m sorry, I’m sorry I can’t believe what it’s become It’s over, it’s over, it’s over And I’ll be there I’ll be there And I’ll be there I’ll be there.
Take picture of me, I wanna sleep in At the base of my neck, I've been aching I've been taken away, I've been taken away From everything that's me From everything that's me Take a picture of him, he's dying His face in a fist, and his face in lights I took a pen out, put the cap back on What will I write
I've been taken away, I've been taken away By a shark-skinned man with a raccoon tan His skin peeling back, as we drove by Into the dust of a city that was calling us... "Hello"
There was a side that I never knew Either way it was something Why are you asking, I don't know But let me tell you something I live, I live, I live right here This is my life, it's just all right This is the neighborhood I pass through I'm passing you unnoticed
Hey Latasha, every place you made Your face is everywhere You don't know what your life has meant to me Come on up, I'm on a tear
This city, it means nothing to me It hurts to say it, worse to see it You told me things I never knew The rest of us will remember This is a story I want to believe I am afraid of it, it's a pity How does it look down here, it's a mystery
Hey Latasha, every place you made Your face is everywhere You don't know what your life has meant to me Come on up, I'm on a tear
I turn red, I turn back in defeat Take an arrowhead through my neck And it’s time to turn away To where I walk, where I stand Where it cuts, where it binds Where it stings, where I hide
Don’t tell me you really know, I know Don’t tell me you really care, I know
Until the sky clears And the saints fall from the sky Dropping like rocks and I I know I know I know I know I know I know
I bought it yesterday Took a friend to the river That's where I told him I was a little sick And I was sick of trying And I was sick of trying
I let my chin drop 'cause I don't want to Tell the truth now, 'cause I've been torn up
My friend dropped his head Shook off my complaining I didn't feel too good I couldn't blame him, but I couldn't blame him
I thought I'd feel okay After a little while But that wasn't in me There's always something burning
I bought it yesterday Plugged it in and watched it buzzing around It's taken me for someone else It's taken me for something new It's taken me for someone else It's taken me for something new
Thought I'd feel okay Thought I'd feel okay And the floodwall broke in the river, Wash me away
Thought I'd feel okay Thought I'd feel okay My town stopped living and I started giving
I feel old here I'm turning hard inside And my lips sound strange Or is it just that I've gone insane? I feel old here Like a watch that ticks My throat's shrinking Somebody's laughing And the song sounds wrong Or is it just my ears playing tricks on me? And these heads look strange And they're out of time I'd better go outside Just walk away
.... 
