Julianne Regan, a former journalist, played bass for the popular rock group Gene Loves Jezebel for a little while. The initial core of All About Eve was Regan, guitarist Tim Bricheno, and bassist Andy Cousin from Aemotti Crii. As a three-piece (plus a drum machine), they released a series of independent singles starting from 1984 including "D For Desire", "In The Clouds" and "Flowers In Our Hair". After Julianne sang backing vocals for The Mission's God's Own Medicine album, the band received greater attention and were signed to Phonogram. Drummer Mark Price was added around this time.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1988 and produced the UK hit single Martha's Harbour. Drawing much of its lyrical material from hippie ideals, white magic and dreamlike fairy tales, the album's gentle folk rock-inspired pop sound won the band many fans (nicknamed "angels"). Although often falsely lumped by the media under the label of goth rock, little (if any) such inspiration actually played a part in the band's music after around 1986, any "goth" connection being drawn not from the music, but from the previous and future engagements of the band members in the musical scene of the time.
In a well known incident, the band later performed a dubbed version of Martha's Harbour on the BBC1 television show Top Of The Pops, but, owing to a studio technical error, the taped vocals were broadcast without the band being able to hear them, resulting in the TV audience hearing the recorded version of the song, while the band members sat motionless on screen waiting for their cue to begin. By way of compensation the band were invited back on to the show the following week, and this time their performance passed off smoothly.
The following year, their second album Scarlet And Other Stories was released, and the band toured around the UK. Widely prevalent on this album were Regan's somber, highly melancholic moods. Painful chance encounters with love also appeared on the lyrical front, and it is this motif (and period of time) which was to greatly paint the picture for the future of the band as well.
In 1990, Bricheno left the group (later to join The Sisters Of Mercy for their Vision Thing era, and subsequent bands XC-NN and Tin Star) to be swiftly replaced by The Church's Marty Willson-Piper. They went on to record Touched By Jesus in 1991 (which featured David Gilmour of Pink Floyd on guitar on two tracks), before changing record companies and taking a dramatic stylistic change by releasing Ultraviolet the year after.
Going an altogether different way to their previous release, Ultraviolet mellowed the band's sound greatly, revisiting Scarlet's general sorrowful feel with a heavy inspiration from the shoegazing movement and psychedelia to turn the Eve signature sound ever colder, with much downplayed vocals. The album, released by MCA Records was not well supported by the record company, considering the change to be for the worse, and the band subsequently went their separate ways. MCA, shedding no tears, promptly deleted the album from their catalogue. Although the band continued for a couple more months without Regan's input, they disbanded in early 1993, with the album they had been working on at the time eventually seeing the light of day under the group name Seeing Stars.
Regan went on to form Mice and to work with Bernard Butler, but an album with the latter never came to fruition due to personality clashes. Though often quoted that Julianne thought Butler to be "Satan", this quote is in fact not true. Later on, she also teamed up with her old Gene Loves Jezebel acquaintance Jean-Marc Lederman in the highly atmospheric Jules et Jim project (a collaboration which continues to this day).
In 1999, old friends The Mission reformed after a short break and started touring. They invited Regan to open for them, and their offer was accepted, starting the second era of the band. Soon after the tour the newly-reformed (Regan, Willson-Piper & Cousin) All About Eve toured for two years, releasing Fairy Light Nights, an acoustic live collection in 2000, with Volume 2 following in 2001, and later followed by two more live albums Live And Electric At The Union Chapel and Cinemasonic (the latter of which was also released as a DVD). A collection of early recordings was also released, entitled Return To Eden, Volume 1 (no second volume has yet appeared).
In 2002, Willson-Piper left the band to pursue other projects, to be replaced by new guitarist Toni Haimi, previously of the band Malluka and now in the Sohodolls. Also in 2002, Julianne and Andy released their first studio recordings in a decade, with the EP Iceland – a collection of "winter songs", including reworkings of previous fan-favourite December and cover versions of Wham!'s "Last Christmas", Queen's "A Winter's Tale", and a minimalist electronic take on the popular song from the animated short The Snowman, "Walking In The Air".
In mid-2004, just after the release of their first single in a decade, "Let Me Go Home", the band split once again. Regan is currently working on projects including an album with Jean-Marc Lederman (in a long-awaited follow-up to the first Jules et Jim album), as well as collaborating with Norwegian songwriters GKraft, and a possible solo album. The nearly-completed Eve studio album that was being worked on remains unreleased, although Regan and Cousin may possibly be dusting off the recordings to finish them in the near future. A double CD collection entitled Keepsakes, consisting of the singles, key album tracks and previously unreleased rarities, as well as some newly recorded songs, was released early March 2006 and will initially be available with a DVD of promo videos and TV appearances.
Candy Tree
All About Eve Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the children go
Every summer's night.
They run as fast they can
Behind the Raven-Man...
Who shall he invite ?
The rather awkward girl
With the ragged curls
"Come with me to the candy tree
You need to free your mind
Come with me to the candy tree
And leave it all behind"
Well it's an underhand
Kind of wonderland
She can't find the door;
Because he's keeping her as a prisoner,
Lost forevermore.
And now the Queen is red
And she wants her head
Just to keep the law.
"Come with me to the candy tree...
The lyrics of All About Eve's song Candy Tree contain elements of innocence, darkness, and escape. The verses describe a group of children who follow a mysterious figure named the Raven-Man to a place known as the candy tree. The awkward girl with ragged curls is invited to join them, and she is delighted to take part in the adventure. The chorus urges her to free her mind and leave everything behind by coming with them to the candy tree. The candy tree represents a place of escape from the monotony and order of the everyday world, but it is also an underhand kind of wonderland because it keeps its visitors lost forevermore, unable to find the door.
The climax of the song is reached in the second verse when the Queen turns red and wants the girl's head just to keep the law. This shift in tone adds a layer of darkness to the narrative, suggesting that the candy tree is not only a place of escape, but also a dangerous trap. The queen's sudden appearance echoes the character of the queen in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, who is known for her capriciousness and desire to punish. The use of fantasy imagery in Candy Tree conveys the idea of a dream-like world in which anything can happen, but this world is not always safe or benign.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a place I know
The singer knows of a specific place which is about to be described
Where the children go
The place is a popular destination for children
Every summer's night.
The place is only visited during summer nights
They run as fast they can
The children are excited and eager to reach the destination
Behind the Raven-Man...
The children are following a person named the Raven-Man
Who shall he invite?
It is unclear who the Raven-Man will choose to invite to a specific location
The rather awkward girl
A girl who is shy and ungainly is being described
With the ragged curls
The girl has unkempt hair
Much to her delight!
The following events bring joy to the previously described girl
"Come with me to the candy tree
The Raven-Man is inviting the girl to accompany him to a location known as the candy tree
You need to free your mind
The Raven-Man is suggesting that visiting the candy tree will provide a liberating experience
And leave it all behind"
Visiting the candy tree will aid in leaving one's problems behind
Well it's an underhand
The situation is deceitful and secretive
Kind of wonderland
The location is described as a magical place
She can't find the door;
It is difficult to exit the location
Because he's keeping her as a prisoner,
The Raven-Man is trapping the girl at the candy tree location
Lost forevermore.
The girl is unlikely to escape the candy tree and Raven-Man's trap
And now the Queen is red
The previously mentioned Queen has become angry
And she wants her head
The Queen desires to punish or eliminate the girl and/or Raven-Man
Just to keep the law.
The Queen intends to enforce the rules or laws that have been broken by the girl and/or Raven-Man
"Come with me to the candy tree...
The refrain is repeated to reinforce the invitation and its liberating effects
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ANDY COUSIN, JULIANNE REGAN, MARK PRICE, TIM BRICHENO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind