Lyrics.
After 'Smokescreen' from Come Get Some was used in a US car ad during the recent Super Bowl, so many people have emailed to ask what it is that I'm actually singing.
The truth is I have never put the lyrics to my songs in my sleeve notes - not to be evasive or coy, but because I do not wish to shatter the illusion most people form of what they think the singer is saying and, therefore, what the song is 'about', as it were...
Once the song is out in the public domain, out in the open, it becomes something different entirely and almost belongs to someone else - it's not for me to tell you what the meaning of the song is or that you were wrong when you thought I sang 'believer' instead of 'retriever'.
I can be singing whatever you want me to and, equally it can mean whatever you'd like it to - I make you a gift of it.
Myself, I'm still recovering from the the fact that I thought we were 'perspiring' by the fire, as opposed to 'conspiring' by it in my beloved 'Winter Wonderland' (a song I am content to sing to myself all year round).
And it gave me no end of joy that my own dear mother convinced herself I sang 'You wanna fuck me?' instead of 'You find it funny?' in 'Get In The Ring' from the Uncle Treacle album. Who am I to correct her...?
When we get on to 'meaning' there lies even murkier waters. I once had a favourite poem which gave me great comfort and inspiration until I read a note on the author's website where she corrected and actually berated anyone who had got the wrong end of the stick and thought her words were symbolic of faith and hope in trying times. Crikey, you would've thought her work was being commandeered by the Hitler Youth the way she went on...
When it's out in the public domain, it is not (unless of course the Nazi party are involved) for you to tell people how to feel and think about your work and it's meaning - it can mean what it wants to whomsoever it wishes.
And that is surely the beauty of any kind of art? You take from it what you will.
But here, for those people who've been so supportive and said such nice things about 'Smokescreen', for one night only, are the lyrics.
Don't ask me what they mean. I haven't the foggiest...
Smokescreen
Freedom, desire
What is written
What is read
The tongue burns with fire
Is there a difference between what we say
And what is said?
Solution
I'm able to see through your smokescreen
The cloth on the table is careful
To cover what you mean
Well you can be without it every place that you turn
But can you do without it?
There's a lesson to learn
Free to desire
What was written I have seen
So what's good enough for you, babe
Is good enough for me
After 'Smokescreen' from Come Get Some was used in a US car ad during the recent Super Bowl, so many people have emailed to ask what it is that I'm actually singing.
The truth is I have never put the lyrics to my songs in my sleeve notes - not to be evasive or coy, but because I do not wish to shatter the illusion most people form of what they think the singer is saying and, therefore, what the song is 'about', as it were...
Once the song is out in the public domain, out in the open, it becomes something different entirely and almost belongs to someone else - it's not for me to tell you what the meaning of the song is or that you were wrong when you thought I sang 'believer' instead of 'retriever'.
I can be singing whatever you want me to and, equally it can mean whatever you'd like it to - I make you a gift of it.
Myself, I'm still recovering from the the fact that I thought we were 'perspiring' by the fire, as opposed to 'conspiring' by it in my beloved 'Winter Wonderland' (a song I am content to sing to myself all year round).
And it gave me no end of joy that my own dear mother convinced herself I sang 'You wanna fuck me?' instead of 'You find it funny?' in 'Get In The Ring' from the Uncle Treacle album. Who am I to correct her...?
When we get on to 'meaning' there lies even murkier waters. I once had a favourite poem which gave me great comfort and inspiration until I read a note on the author's website where she corrected and actually berated anyone who had got the wrong end of the stick and thought her words were symbolic of faith and hope in trying times. Crikey, you would've thought her work was being commandeered by the Hitler Youth the way she went on...
When it's out in the public domain, it is not (unless of course the Nazi party are involved) for you to tell people how to feel and think about your work and it's meaning - it can mean what it wants to whomsoever it wishes.
And that is surely the beauty of any kind of art? You take from it what you will.
But here, for those people who've been so supportive and said such nice things about 'Smokescreen', for one night only, are the lyrics.
Don't ask me what they mean. I haven't the foggiest...
Smokescreen
Freedom, desire
What is written
What is read
The tongue burns with fire
Is there a difference between what we say
And what is said?
Solution
I'm able to see through your smokescreen
The cloth on the table is careful
To cover what you mean
Well you can be without it every place that you turn
But can you do without it?
There's a lesson to learn
Free to desire
What was written I have seen
So what's good enough for you, babe
Is good enough for me
I love your music, I love your words. I haven't liked the way anybody sounds in 15 years or more.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Thank you for going out of your norm by posting the lyrics. You sing with such emotion and I really did want to know every word in the song for clarity. Some postings of what some thought were the lyrics used the word 'anger' in place of 'desire' and entire sentences for 'solution' that just didn't make sense for the song come together respectfully. Again, I truly appreciate your artistry.
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing: Having your music used in an ad for the coolest car in the 'verse plus having it air during the Super Bowl equals an unparalleled amount of awesome.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch football, but I do watch Top Gear on BBC America, where the Fiat ad runs at nearly every commercial break. And Fiat 500 ads stop me dead in my tracks.
This is the second time your music stopped me dead in my tracks. I "discovered" you when your cover of "Word Up" was used in an episode of "CSI". You took that song and completely redefined it, wiping away years of kitsch and making it my "strut down the street" song. I immediately sent to the U.K. for the CD of "Come Get Some" which made me wait on the edge of my seat for "Uncle Treacle."
(I read somewhere that you've done a cover of "Jolene." Any chance we could all hear that sometime?" I bet that totally smokes.)
I really, really hope that more people get to know your music. It's moody, sinister, sensual, funny, angry and smart. And your lyrics are a huge part of that.
Congratulations.
Thanks for posting the lyrics - the web of interpretation is still intact. Love the ethereal Persian and driving R&B blend. Great fusion and complement. Downloaded from iTunes. Looking forward to more!
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