Ben Lee (born on September 11, 1978) is an Australian musician. He began as… Read Full Bio ↴Ben Lee (born on September 11, 1978) is an Australian musician. He began as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band, Noise Addict. Lee's solo career started at the age of 16, while he was still in Noise Addict, with his first solo album, Grandpaw Would. This was followed by the 1997 album, Something To Remember Me By, also produced by Wood.

1999's Breathing Tornados marked a new direction for Lee as he introduced synths and increased instrumentation into his sound. The album was a huge success, with the first single, "Cigarettes Will Kill You", finishing second in that year's Triple J Hottest 100. Lee also enjoyed success with the single "Something Borrowed, Something Blue" - from the album hey you. yes you. - reaching no 22 in 2002's Triple J Hottest 100.

In 2001 he joined forces with Evan Dando, Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick and Jason Schwartzman of Phantom Planet and acting fame. Calling themselves Dando Lee Petersson Schwartzman, they recorded a single, "Dead or Anything", at Globe Studios, New York.

During 2003 he teamed up with Ben Kweller and Ben Folds for a side project entitled The Bens. They recorded four songs together in Nashville, resulting in a self-titled EP.

In late 2004, he left Steve Pavlovic's Modular Recordings and started up his own record label, Ten Fingers. The first release on the label was the single, "Gamble Everything For Love", followed by the album, Awake Is The New Sleep in February 2005. A defining release in his career, the album showcased a much brighter, positive side of Lee's personality, in contrast to his previous darker musings. Awake Is The New Sleep received several nominations for the 2005 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, and Lee won Best Male Artist, Best Independent Release, and Single Of The Year for "Catch My Disease". Catch My Disease was also number 2 on the 2005 Triple J Hottest 100.

In September 2007, Lee released his sixth solo album, named "Ripe" after the final song on the record. The album is somewhat controversial, with most songs relating in some way to sex, lust and love. Mandy Moore features on the album in the song "Birds and Bees", and Benji Madden plays electric guitar in "Sex Without Love". It also features Sara Watkins, Rachael Yamagata, Charlotte Martin, Ned Bower, Taylor Locke and Robert Schwatzman (who is also credited for co-writing 'Sex Without Love'). It was a big step away from the spiritual "Awake is the New Sleep", but shows Lee's need for change in songs. The album was produced by John Alagia and released under the Inertia/Ten Fingers label 'Awake is the New Sleep' was released under.

February 2009 brought the release of his latest LP entitled "The Rebirth of Venus." This release also includes a bonus disk that includes six cover songs that Ben has done including "Kids" by MGMT and "New Wave" by Against Me!.

Pop Queen
Ben Lee Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well you're real pretty
And you act like a cross between you know what I mean
It's a real pity
Cause you try to be mean, but you just can't fake it with me
You love the pixies
You're the ultimate pop queen you know what I mean
Yeah my girl is a true dream
And I'm not gonna hate you if you're not gonna hate me

You're my pop queen

Well, you're not that lazy
And you know how to act when you're with the upper class
My dreams of you are hazy
As we lie on the grass and we talk about daydreams
You're so unconceited
Yeah you couldn't be slack if I paid you the shirt off my back

You're my pop queen

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Ben Lee's song Pop Queen seem to be about a girl that the singer is in love with. He describes her as being very pretty and trying to act mean, but not being able to fool him. The girl is also described as being the ultimate pop queen, but not in a negative way, as the singer seems to admire her for it. He dreams about her and describes their time spent together as lying on the grass and talking about daydreams. Overall, the song is a celebration of this girl's unique personality and the feelings that the singer has towards her.

Line by Line Meaning

Well you're real pretty
You are undeniably attractive and it is evident to anyone who sees you

And you act like a cross between you know what I mean
You possess traits of different personalities that I cannot put my finger on

It's a real pity
It's unfortunate

Cause you try to be mean, but you just can't fake it with me
You attempt to show a malicious side to yourself, but I know you're really not that type of person

You love the pixies
You are fond of the band, The Pixies

You're the ultimate pop queen you know what I mean
You are the epitome of a female pop star

Yeah my girl is a true dream
You are the girl of my dreams

And I'm not gonna hate you if you're not gonna hate me
I won't harbor ill-will towards you as long as you don't do the same towards me

Well, you're not that lazy
You are not characterized by lethargy or idleness

And you know how to act when you're with the upper class
You are aware of how to behave when among people from high society

My dreams of you are hazy
The notion of you is nebulous in my mind

As we lie on the grass and we talk about daydreams
As we lay on the ground discussing our fanciful thoughts

You're so unconceited
You are not characterized by excessive vanity or having a high opinion of oneself

Yeah you couldn't be slack if I paid you the shirt off my back
You are not the type to be negligent even if given an incentive to do so

You're my pop queen
You are the personification of what I perceive as a quintessential female pop star

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BENJAMIN MICHAEL LEE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind