The biggest hit was Drop It, the first solo CD—single by 3 Steps Ahead. Before this, Peter-Paul created the megamix for Thunderdome VI, the Hardcore-Sex mix, also released on CD-single. In 1997 he released his first album, titled ‘Most Wanted & Mad’, which became a huge success in the Dutch Album sales charts. His second album ‘Junkie 4 life’, was released in 2000, a few months after he was diagnosed with cancer.
In 1998 his daughter, Lara Jill, was born in January. His son, Ender Jamie, was born almost at the end of 2000, one of the last Millennium babies. Ender has been named after ‘Ender Wiggins’, a character in the book Ender’s game by Orson Scott Card. Peter-Paul used this same character as an inspiration for his alter ego The Ender.
Peter-Paul died on the 27th of august 2003, after fighting against cancer for 4 years. In July 2003 there was a benefit party for Peter-Paul, the money raised there couldn’t help cure him, but part of it was used to make his last weeks as comfortable as possible.
R.I.P. Peter-Paul Pigmans
31-01-1961 / 27-08-2003
Paint It Black
3 Steps Ahead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
and I want it painted black.
No colors anymore
I want them to turn black.
I see the girls walk by dressed
in their summer clothes.
I have to turn my head
until my darkness goes.
I see a line of cars
and they're all painted black.
With flowers
and my love both never to come back.
I see people turn their heads
and quickly look away.
Like a new born baby
it just happens every day.
I look inside myself
and see my heart is black.
I see my red door
and it has been painted black.
Maybe then I'll fade away
and not have to face the facts.
It's not easy facin' up
when your whole world is black.
No more will my green sea
go turn a deeper blue.
I could not foresee this thing
happening to you.
If I look hard enough into the settin' sun.
My love will laugh with me
before the mornin' comes.
I see a red door and
I want it painted black.
No colors anymore
I want them to turn black.
I see the girls walk by dressed
in their summer clothes.
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.
I wanna see it painted, painted black.
Black as night,
black as coal.
I wanna see the sun
blotted out from the sky.
I wanna see it painted,
painted, painted, painted black.
Yeah!
The lyrics of 3 Steps Ahead's "Paint It Black" are about the singer's desire to cover his world in darkness. He sees a red door and wants it painted black, and he wants all the colors in the world to turn black. The girls walking by in summer clothes remind him of his own darkness, and he has to turn away to try to make it go. He also sees a line of cars, and in his mind, they are all painted black, representing the loss of his love and the feeling of emptiness within him. He feels like people look away from him as if he's dark and scary, like a new born baby, but he can't help how he feels. He recognizes that his heart is black when he looks inside himself, and he wants his red door to turn black so he can fade away and not face the reality of the world. He also acknowledges that it's not easy to face up to his feelings when his whole world seems black.
The second verse talks about the singer's despair at the loss of his love. He says that he can no longer see the green sea turning into a deeper blue, which represents the sadness and loss he feels. He couldn't have predicted that this would happen to him, and it's a painful experience. Finally, the singer wants to see everything in his world painted black, even the sun blotted out from the sky. The song ends with his repeated desire to see everything painted black.
Line by Line Meaning
I see a red door
I notice a red door
and I want it painted black.
I desire to have the door painted black instead
No colors anymore
I don't want any bright colors anymore
I want them to turn black.
I want everything to be painted black
I see the girls walk by dressed
I observe girls moving in their summer clothes
in their summer clothes.
they're wearing attire appropriate for the season
I have to turn my head
I need to look away
until my darkness goes.
until my negative thoughts disappear
I see a line of cars
I see a queue of cars
and they're all painted black.
The cars have all been painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back.
Perhaps it represents death: he was at a funeral and the love is never to return
I see people turn their heads
I observe people ignoring my presence
and quickly look away.
they quickly avoid eye contact
Like a new born baby
As with a newborn child
it just happens every day.
It happens routinely just like any other normal day
I look inside myself
I introspect
and see my heart is black.
I see that my heart is full of negative feelings
I see my red door
I observe my own red door
and it has been painted black.
someone already painted it black for me
Maybe then I'll fade away
Perhaps I'll disappear
and not have to face the facts.
So that I don't have to acknowledge the truth
It's not easy facin' up
It's not a comfortable experience to confront
when your whole world is black.
When everything going on around you is dark
No more will my green sea
I won't experience a beautiful green sea anymore
go turn a deeper blue.
The sea's beautiful blue color won't deepen anymore
I could not foresee this thing
I could never have predicted this happening
happening to you.
That it would happen to someone else
If I look hard enough into the settin' sun.
If I stare intently at the sun setting
My love will laugh with me
The person I love will share a laugh with me
before the mornin' comes.
Before the next day arrives
I see a red door and
I see yet another red door
I want it painted black.
I want it to painted black again
I wanna see it painted, painted black.
I want everything to be painted black
Black as night, black as coal.
As black as the sky during the night, As dark as coal
I wanna see the sun
I would rather the sun was not visible
blotted out from the sky.
erased or removed from the sky
painted, painted, painted, painted black.
Painted over, revised and layered until it's painted black
Yeah!
An exclamation used to express excitement or approval
Writer(s): Earl Lee Copyright: Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing
Contributed by Lillian R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.