Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976) is a New Zealand singer-song… Read Full Bio ↴Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter whose first solo album, Drive, debuted at number one in the New Zealand charts, and has since become one of the highest-selling New Zealand artists of our time. Runga has also found success internationally in Australia and the UK. Her fourth album, Belle, was released in New Zealand on 14 November 2011. Songfacts reports that "Hello Hello", the first single from Belle, was made available for fans to download for a limited time on September 8, 2011, and made available to purchase from digital music stores in New Zealand four days later. Bic wrote it with Dann Hume, who is the drummer of Melbourne, Australia based indie rock band Evermore.

Regarding the pronunciation of "Bic": "You say it Bec, rather than Bic", she explains. "It's Chinese, it's a strange vowel sound which doesn't seem to translate in English. It means the colour of jade, which I suppose is just green."

Runga was born in Christchurch. Her mother, Sophia Tang, was a Chinese Malaysian lounge singer in Malaysia when she met Joseph Runga, a Māori soldier on leave from Vietnam. They both moved to New Zealand to live.

Runga grew up in Hornby, Christchurch surrounded by a musically-inclined family, and started recording songs with her sisters, Boh and Pearl, when she was only four years old. Runga's older sister Boh is now a vocalist in the New Zealand rock group Stellar*, while Pearl is a session singer.

She learned how to play drums at the age of eleven, and guitar at about fourteen. Runga also learnt to play the keyboard at around this time. She attended Cashmere High School, joining high school bands and performing with local jazz groups by her mid-teens.

Singles

* "Bursting Through" (1996)
* "Sway" (1997) #10 Australia (re-issue Ireland in 2004 went to #26)
* "Suddenly Strange" (1997)
* "Roll into One" (1997)
* "Hey" (1998)
* "Sorry" (1999)
* "Get Some Sleep" (2002) #75 United Kingdom #3 New Zealand #27 Ireland
* "Something Good" (2002) #4 New Zealand
* "Listening for the Weather" (2003) #14 New Zealand
* "Winning Arrow" (2005) #23 New Zealand
* "Say After Me" (2006)

All Fall Down
Bic Runga Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Daylight, let it stir you
Let it Kiss the sleep out from your eyes
Feel this weight now, lift into the sky now
On and on and on
On and on and on

Cradle, so deeply
So sleeply when I close my eyes

Sprinkle morning all over you and I
On and on and on
On and on and on

CHORUS:
Sleep tonight
Drains into the morning
Let it feel alright
It beckons like a warning

Trace it, embrace it
See it crashing through this pretty light
And yes you know me and how this thing of ours goes
On and on and on
On and on and on

CHORUS TWICE

And when we touch the ground
We all fall down

Overall Meaning

In Bic Runga's song All Fall Down, she encourages us to embrace the new day and let it stir us into action. The first verse refers to the morning sunlight, urging us to let it wake us up and feel the weight lift off our shoulders. The second verse speaks of the comfort of being cradled to sleep and waking up to the start of a new day. The "pretty light" mentioned in the third verse is likely the dawn breaking through the night sky, and we are encouraged to embrace it and let it crash over us.

The chorus is a reminder that we must let go of the previous night's worries and anxieties and embrace the new day. We should let ourselves rest and rejuvenate during sleep, and not carry the burden of unresolved issues with us into the new light. The line "let it beckon like a warning" warns us of the dangers of holding onto negative thoughts and emotions.

The final line of the song, "when we touch the ground, we all fall down," serves as a reminder that we are all fallible and bound to make mistakes. The key is to get back up and keep moving forward.

Line by Line Meaning

Daylight, let it stir you
Allow the sun to awaken you

Let it Kiss the sleep out from your eyes
Let the sun remove your sleepiness

Feel this weight now, lift into the sky now
Feel the heaviness of life and lift yourself up

On and on and on
Life goes on

Cradle, so deeply
Comfort yourself deeply

So sleeply when I close my eyes
I fall asleep easily

Sprinkle morning all over you and I
Start our day anew

CHORUS: Sleep tonight
Rest for the night

Drains into the morning
Nighttime passes into daytime

Let it feel alright
Allow it to be okay

It beckons like a warning
The morning comes like a warning