As a child she was always singing. Edale, in Derbyshire, was the ideal place to nurture this natural ability, with an abundance of communal song. Having played the fiddle a small amount at school, Bella attended a Folkworks Youth Summer School in Durham age 13. Motivated by the number of young people playing folk music, she was inspired to begin working on folk fiddle. She also met many of her great friends and musical companions.
Some of these new friends arranged to meet up again, and on New Year's Day a year later The Pack was formed. Initially The Pack was a way for this group of people to get free tickets to festivals. The spirited performances and complex arrangements of the 12 piece band proved a resounding success, and they went on to play many of the scene's greatest stages, including Cambridge Folk Festival main stage in 2003. In 2002, the only Pack album 12 Little Devils was released, with fRoots calling it "... a genuine feel good album. Get yours now!".
Hardy released her debut solo album Night Visiting in 2007, to critical acclaim. Mojo gave her a 4* 'Brilliant' rating, fRoots wrote "Bella Hardy is more than a new generation folk revivalist... Her potential is massive", and Taplas Magazine noted "...her debut CD solo album is a piece of wondrous beauty and inventive incisiveness". In 2008 she was nominated for the Horizon Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. She was also nominated for Best Original Song the same year with Three Black Feathers, which Jim Moray went on to record on his 2008 album Low Culture.
Hardy released her second solo album In The Shadow of Mountains in 2009 at the Cambridge Folk Festival. Again it gained critical acclaim. English Dance and Song Magazine wrote "It's astounding and somewhat daunting to realise this is only Bella's second album... Surely no-one has any right to be writing songs with the sophistication of 'Sylvie Sovay', so early in their career..."
Three Pieces Of My Heart
Bella Hardy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I buried you down, I buried you deep deep down
I buried you down
Now my heart is in three pieces
The smallest of the three
Is trapped inside of me
A tiny shard that rattles where the whole thing used to be
The second follows you
As you drink through the town
And knows of every dark eyed girl that you parade around
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
The last piece wanders lost
But love, that was the cost
The biggest part of my poor heart had no-one left to trust
So a warning take by me
Don't share your love for free
For men will lie as surely as there's salt in the salt sea
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
I buried you down, I buried you deep deep down
I buried you down, I buried you deep deep down
Now my heart is in three pieces
The lyrics of Bella Hardy's "Three Pieces of My Heart" reveal the delicate process of healing following the end of a romantic relationship. Throughout the song, Hardy uses metaphor to articulate the specific aspects of her heart that have been irreversibly damaged by the loss of her partner. The repetition of the line "I buried you down, I buried you deep deep down" suggests that she has attempted to bury her emotions deeply within herself, but ultimately they resurface in three distinct ways.
The first piece of her heart is the smallest, and it remains trapped inside of her. She describes it as a "tiny shard that rattles where the whole thing used to be," implying that the experience of heartbreak has caused her to feel incomplete. The second piece is linked to the actions of her ex-partner as he moves on with his life. Hardy sings that this piece "knows of every dark eyed girl that you parade around," highlighting the pain she feels as she watches him move on.
Line by Line Meaning
I buried you down, I buried you deep deep down
I deeply buried my feelings towards you
Now my heart is in three pieces
Now my heart is shattered into three pieces
The smallest of the three
Is trapped inside of me
A tiny shard that rattles where the whole thing used to be
The smallest piece of my heart is still inside me, shattered into a tiny shard that reminds me of what we used to have
The second follows you
As you drink through the town
And knows of every dark eyed girl that you parade around
The second piece of my heart is following you as you go about your life, aware of every girl you bring into it
The last piece wanders lost
But love, that was the cost
The biggest part of my poor heart had no-one left to trust
The last piece of my heart is wandering aimlessly, the cost of loving someone who couldn't be trusted left me with no one left to trust
So a warning take by me
Don't share your love for free
For men will lie as surely as there's salt in the salt sea
I offer a warning to others, don't give your love away easily because men will lie as sure as the seas have salt
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
Three pieces of my heart
My heart will never be whole again, only existing in three shattered pieces
I buried you down, I buried you deep deep down
I buried you down, I buried you deep deep down
Now my heart is in three pieces
I buried my feelings towards you deep down, resulting in my shattered heart
Writer(s): BELLA HARDY
Contributed by Alyssa L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.