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)
The Gift
Annie Lennox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I feel so ill at ease
The room is full of silence and it's getting hard to breathe
Take this guilted cage of pain and set me free
Take this overcoat of shame
It never did belong to me
It never did belong to me
I need to leave the smoke
'cause I can't go on living in this same sick joke
It seems our lives have taken on a different kind of twist
Now that you have given me the perfect gift
You have given me the gift
For we have fallen from our shelves
To face the truth about ourselves
And we have tumbled from our trees
Tumbled from our trees
And I can almost...
I can almost feel the rain falling
Don't you know it feels so good
So let's go out into the rain again
Just like we said we always would
The lyrics of Annie Lennox's song The Gift, seem to suggest a feeling of discomfort and unease in the present moment. The atmosphere seems silent and suffocating, leading the singer to seek a release from the cage of pain and shame. It's a plea to escape the internal turmoil and to step outside to breathe in some fresh air, away from the sick joke of their current situation. The earlier lines carry a deeper meaning, as the singer points out that the guilted cage of pain and the overcoat of shame never belonged to them. This statement could imply that the singer had carried the burdens and guilt of someone else's actions, and it's time to shed that skin.
The chorus is uplifting and is an ode to the power of self-discovery and self-realization. The singer acknowledges that both of them (the singer and the person she seems to address) have fallen from their shelves and tumbled from their trees. It's a metaphor for possibly losing sight of their true selves or taking certain situations for granted. But now it's time to face the truth and embrace the gift they have been given. The gift could mean a lot of things, like acceptance, forgiveness, or self-awareness. The singer feels the urge to step into the rain and let the droplets wash them free of all the past negativity that has been holding them back.
Line by Line Meaning
Darling don't you understand
I need you to see how uncomfortable and uneasy I am
I feel so ill at ease
I am extremely uncomfortable and anxious
The room is full of silence and it's getting hard to breathe
The silence around us is suffocating me
Take this guilted cage of pain and set me free
Help me escape this painful confinement and feel free again
Take this overcoat of shame
I want to let go of my shame and stop carrying it around with me
It never did belong to me
The shame I feel is not mine to carry
I need to go outside
I must leave this stifling environment
I need to leave the smoke
I want to remove myself from this unhealthy situation
'cause I can't go on living in this same sick joke
I cannot continue living in this unhealthy cycle of behavior
It seems our lives have taken on a different kind of twist
Our lives have changed in unexpected ways
Now that you have given me the perfect gift
Thanks to you, I have a way out of this difficult situation
You have given me the gift
Your generosity has given me a new lease on life
For we have fallen from our shelves
We have lost our sense of stability
To face the truth about ourselves
We must confront our own flaws and shortcomings
And we have tumbled from our trees
We have lost our way and fallen off of our established path
And I can almost...
I am almost able to feel something new and positive happening
I can almost feel the rain falling
I am so close to feeling refreshed and renewed
Don't you know it feels so good
Can't you sense the positive change happening?
So let's go out into the rain again
Let's embrace this opportunity to start anew
Just like we said we always would
Let's remember our past dreams and bring them to life
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@llllll4077
No CGI, no sexually explicit lyrics or imagery, just class and talent - that’s Annie Lennox.
@ibosquez5238
That's Annie Lennox alright.
@soapwonder2284
Agreed
@deannabarnes3771
Precisely, that's our Dear one, Annie!
@a.joegevara3519
And can still deliver shock value!
@buon.giovanni
Always coming back to art
@tedwallace9270
This lady is probably the most incredibly talented person alive today. What a treasue
@lisaleone2296
Probably? No Really.
@edwardmartin2191
And one of the most gracious and kind:-)
@fershi3794
Annie is wow!!! My love my love like an artist. She's so complete so ... unique 😍😎