Lennox embarked on a solo career in 1992 with her debut album, Diva, which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". The same year, she performed "Love Song for a Vampire" for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Her 1995 studio album, Medusa, includes cover versions of songs such as "No More "I Love You's"'" and "A Whiter Shade of Pale". To date, she has released six solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). With eight Brit Awards, which includes being named Best British Female Artist a record six times, Lennox has been named the "Brits Champion of Champions". She has also collected four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard. In 2004, she received the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Lennox's vocal range is contralto. She has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2012, she was rated No. 22 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music. In June 2013 the Official Charts Company called her "the most successful female British artist in UK music history". As of June 2008, including her work with Eurythmics, Lennox had sold over 80 million records worldwide. As part of a one-hour symphony of British Music, Lennox performed "Little Bird" during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London. At the 2015 Ivor Novello Awards, Lennox was made a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (The Ivors Academy), the first woman to receive the honour. Lennox and her Eurythmics partner Dave Stewart were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020, and the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, raising money and awareness for HIV/AIDS as it affects women and children in Africa. She founded the Sing campaign in 2007 and founded a women's empowerment charity called The Circle in 2008. In 2011, Lennox was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for her "tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes". On 4 June 2012, she performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace. In 2017, Lennox was appointed Glasgow Caledonian University's first female chancellor.
Studio albums
Diva (1992)
Medusa (1995)
Bare (2003)
Songs of Mass Destruction (2007)
A Christmas Cornucopia (2010)
Nostalgia (2014)
Loneliness
Annie Lennox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is a place that I know well
It's the distance between us
And the space inside ourselves
And emptiness
Is the chattering in your head
It's the call of the living
Whoa and I know
Yes and I know
What you feel
And I've got a longin'
That's hard to find
Won't give me no peace of mind
Something that I've lived with all along
Days and weeks and months and years
Filling in the time my dear
Tryin' to find the place where I belong
Hopelessness
Is the darkness in your heart
It's the sound of one hand clapping
While it's pulling you apart
Woa and I know
Yes and I know
What you feel
And
I've got a longin'
That's hard to find
Won't give me no peace of mind
Something that I've lived with all along
Days and weeks and months and years
Filling in the time my dear
Tryin' to find the place where I belong
And
I got a hunger that's
Hard to fill
Driving me on overkill
Tellin' me that everything's gone wrong
Got me a need
That I can't break
More than I can hardly take
Somehow I still keep on going strong
When I call your name
I'm gonna scream out loud
I'll say
Here I am standing in the crowd
You'll say come to me
With your open mind
You never know
What you still might find
But you keep me here
Like a cancelled flight
An empty train
Running through the night
An orphan child
A broken shoe
And I'm still down here
Looki' out for you
Are you there for me?
'Cause I'm here for you
Annie Lennox's song Loneliness speaks about the sadness and emptiness that everyone feels at some point in their lives. She describes loneliness as a place that she knows well, one that exists in the distance between people and the emptiness inside them. The song speaks about the desperation and longing that comes with feeling lonely for extended periods. Loneliness, according to the song, is personified by chatter in the mind and the race from life to death. Emptiness is referenced in the song as the loss of meaning that comes with being unable to find where you belong.
The song also references hopelessness, which is described as the darkness that resides in our hearts. The sound of one-hand clapping and being pulled apart are used to portray the despair that comes with the condition. The lyrics tell a story about a person who is struggling with these feelings and has a deep hunger that they cannot seem to fill. Despite their efforts to find their place in the world, they feel lost, and something inside them is driving them to the edge.
The song's chorus speaks about the longing that the singer feels, which is almost impossible to satisfy, and it keeps them from finding peace of mind. The days, weeks, months, and years that pass by only serve to fill in the time and make the feeling more significant. The hunger that drives them is impossible to satisfy, and they feel like it's pushing them too far. Despite all these, the singer keeps going, holding on to the hope that something or someone will pull them out of the darkness.
Line by Line Meaning
Loneliness
A feeling that's too familiar
Is a place that I know well
I'm all too familiar with what it feels like
It's the distance between us
It's the space between two people that can't be closed
And the space inside ourselves
It's the emptiness we feel within ourselves
And emptiness
A void that can't be filled
Is the chattering in your head
The noise in your mind that won't stop
It's the call of the living
It's the rush of time, from birth to death
And the race from life to death
The need to live before you die
Whoa and I know
I understand
Yes and I know
I understand all too well
What you feel
The pain you're going through
And I've got a longin'
I have an unfulfilled desire
That's hard to find
A feeling that's difficult to satisfy
Won't give me no peace of mind
It won't let me relax
Something that I've lived with all along
It's been with me for a long time
Days and weeks and months and years
Time passing by
Filling in the time my dear
Trying to pass the time
Tryin' to find the place where I belong
Searching for where I fit in
Hopelessness
A feeling of despair
Is the darkness in your heart
The sadness you feel deep inside
It's the sound of one hand clapping
The feeling of emptiness
While it's pulling you apart
Causing you pain
And I got a hunger that's
I have an insatiable desire
Hard to fill
Difficult to satisfy
Driving me on overkill
Making me do too much
Tellin' me that everything's gone wrong
Making me feel like everything is bad
Got me a need
I have a desire
That I can't break
That I can't let go of
More than I can hardly take
More than I can bear
Somehow I still keep on going strong
Somehow I find the strength to go on
When I call your name
When I call out to you
I'm gonna scream out loud
I'm going to yell
I'll say
I'll tell you
Here I am standing in the crowd
I'm here, surrounded by people
You'll say come to me
You'll invite me to you
With your open mind
Without judgement
You never know
You can't predict
What you still might find
What you could discover
But you keep me here
But you don't reach out to me
Like a cancelled flight
Like a missed opportunity
An empty train
Alone, without anyone else
Running through the night
Lost in the darkness
An orphan child
Alone, without parents
A broken shoe
Damaged and discarded
And I'm still down here
And I'm still alone
Looki' out for you
Waiting for you to find me
Are you there for me?
Do you care about me?
'Cause I'm here for you
Because I care about you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ANNIE LENNOX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind