Music critics are often quick to note that, despite some recent attention and a few re-releases, her work remains remarkably under-appreciated.
Annette Peacock began composing at the age four years. Her mother was a violist in the San Diego and Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestras.
At 19, Annette married jazz bassist Gary Peacock who began working with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, and currently Keith Jarrett. At the beginning of the 60's she toured with Albert Ayler, studied Zen Macrobiotics with Michio Kushi, and was a close associate of Timothy Leary at the psychedelic center in Millbrook.
In 1964, pianist Paul Bley first began featuring her avant-garde compositions - ultimately on over 60 records. At the end of the 1960s she and Bley became strongly associated with the musical possibilities of the newly-emerging synthesizer. Given a prototype by Robert Moog, Annette invented a way to externally augment and process her own voice through the synthesizer, as well as playing electric bass, electric piano. and electric vibraphone - most notably at Town Hall, and a concert produced by Annette at Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center, now known as Avery Fisher Hall (New York City) which she promoted with spots on late night TV and a guest appearance on the Johnny Carson Show.
In 1968 she recorded Revenge for Polydor, and 1971 recorded I'm The One (voted by the journalists of WIRE magazine as one of the top 100 records that "shook the world") released by RCA in 1972; and appeared as a "Hologram" in a show and collaboration with Salvador Dali. After which began her first gap of six years until the release of her next album X-Dreams, when she was also recording with Allan Holdsworth on Bill Bruford's first solo project, the prog-rock classic Feels Good To Me.
She started her own indie label ironicrecords in the UK and issued four albums from 1981 to 1988 distributed by Rough Trade.
In 1987 her vocals featured prominently in the track Goodbye Mr G on the Andrew Poppy album 45 Is (released on the ZTT label). Here, Peacock performs one of her unique styles - a mixture of spoken, sung and sprechstimme vocals on the text provided.
In 1997, Manfred Eicher commissioned Ms. Peacock to compose a project for string quartet and herself on piano and voice. An Acrobat's Heart was released by ECM in 2000. Also in 1997, on ECM, the tribute double CD of Annette Peacock songs: "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway / Music of Annette Peacock".
Her song My Mama Never Taught Me How to Cook was included in the soundtrack of director Kevin Smith's classic indie film Chasing Amy in 1998.
At the beginning of 2006, she started-up her own label again ironic US with an unpromoted release 31:31. At the same time the result of her collaboration with Coldcut, Just For The Kick, was released on their current album Sound Mirrors distributed by Ninjatune.
Her music has also been recorded by: David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, J-Live, Brian Eno, Morcheeba, Pat Metheny, Al Kooper and Mick Ronson.
I'm The One
Annette Peacock Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm the one
You don't have to look any further
I'm the one
I'm here, right here, for you
I'm the one
I'm the one
You don't have to look any further
I'm here, right here, for you
One, one, one, one
Getting and giving - I'm the one
I looked all over
Put my head on somebody's shoulder
And there is no one else
I looked all over
Put my head on somebody's shoulder
And there is no one else
Can't you see it in my eyes
Can't you hear it in my voice
Can't you feel it in my skin
When you're buried deep within me
I'm the one for you
The lyrics of Annette Peacock’s song “I’m the One” express confidence and assurance to the listener that the singer is “the one” they have been looking for. Through repetition of the phrase “I’m the One,” the listener is convinced that no one else could fill the role that the singer can. The song is an appeal to the listener to understand the singer's worth and value; because according to the lyrics, the singer has looked for someone else but found no one else who could replace them.
Additionally, the lyrics suggest that the singer is both a giver and a receiver, which makes them ideally suited for the listener. The phrase “getting and giving - I’m the one” implies a sense of balance and harmony that can be found with the singer. The intimacy and closeness that the listener can have with the singer is emphasized in the lines “can’t you feel it in my skin when you’re buried deep within me” The lyrics suggest that the union between the singer and the listener will be fulfilling and satisfying.
Overall, the lyrics of “I’m the One” speak to a sense of confidence and self-assurance that is appealing to the listener. The song paints the singer as the ideal partner who can balance giving and receiving, making them the one the listener has been searching for. There is an intimacy in the song that suggests closeness and unity between the singer and the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm the one
I am the person you're searching for
You don't have to look any further
There is no need to search more
I'm here, right here, for you
I am available for you at this moment
One, one, one, one
A repeated emphasis that there is only one like me
Getting and giving - I'm the one
I am the one who can provide and take what you need
I looked all over
I searched in many places
Put my head on somebody's shoulder
I found comfort in someone else temporarily
And there is no one else
I did not find anyone else who compares to me
Can't you see it in my eyes
My eyes express the truth
Can't you hear it in my voice
My voice reflects my feelings
Can't you feel it in my skin
There is a physical sensation associated with being with me
When you're buried deep within me
When you are intimate with me
I'm the one for you
I am the perfect partner for you
Contributed by Bella K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@debkakes
I first heard this in '72 at age 15 on the "underground" FM radio in Tulsa OK. Fell in absolute love, and my taste in music forever changed.
@creekandseminole
+Deborah Culmer I'm from OKC. That's cool that Tulsa had a station like that. I guess college radio soon followed.
@johnnyluna7824
Deborah Culmer love hearing anecdotes like this.
@ceephaxx
Yup. There were weirdos like us ALL over the world and we never really appreciated it, at the time! ;)
@titonelson2114
o so weird you'd say that. My girlfriend (I noted above) came from Michigan and stopped by on her way to California and she left me with that album. I played that entire record for a friend who managed Peaches Records. I wonder if I didn't spread the seed. hummmm.
@titonelson2114
Tulsa was a musical city, Boston Ave. Market, Jimmy Strater (Bass), Mike Nafie (Drums, Some guy with curley hair on keys (bass ass) .... all gone now.
@RandallSlick
Wow, just heard this on the back of a BBC drama. What a fantastic musician. A rabbit hole opens. Apparently Mike Garson played on this just before going on to Bowie and Aladdin Sane. So many holes in my education.
@antonyjohnson4489
So original, so distinctive, never equalled or imitated by anyone else. Particularly love the intro, sumptuous.
@lippy123445
I heard this in 1972 and it blew my mind ....still does . There is also a version by Mick Ronson , very different but worth a listen
@Jimmy_one67
I'd never heard this song or of annette Peacock before but am a fan od Diamanda galas .. I absolutely loved this ... and the early synth noises are great ... way ahead of its time.