James was only 18-years old when he captured the attention of guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, who marveled at this prodigious guitar talent, and immediately decided to take him on the road through the Canadian prairies, and later the United States. It wasn't long after that the young musician began opening for the likes of John Lee Hooker, ZZ Top, Steve Winwood and Keith Richards, Colin's 1988 self-titled debut Colin James was the fastest-selling album in Canadian music history featuring the smash hits "Why'd You Lie?”, “Voodoo Thing” and “Five Long Years". It featured a team of three top producers, including Tom Dowd (Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers), Danny Kortchmar (Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young) and Bob Rock (Jann Arden, Michael Bublé, Bush, The Cult, Loverboy, Sarah McLachlan, Metallica).
James followed up his record-breaking debut with a strong 1990 release, Sudden Stop, which was produced by Joe Hardy (.38 Special, Steve Earle, The Jeff Healey Band, ZZ Top ). This release has two top forty radio hits: "Just Came Back" and, "Keep On Loving Me Baby", and features Bonnie Raitt singing backing vocals on "Give It Up". This sophomore album further helped established Colin's integrity as an artist to lookout for.
James formed The Little Big Band in early 1990's and would eventually release a trilogy of CDs fronting this 1930's-50's style punchy horn section band, playing classics and originals featuring his stellar guitar fills and confident vocals. The first Colin James and The Little Big Band was released in 1993, and it was produced by Chris Kinsley (The Cult, Duran Duran, Psychedelic Furs, The Rolling Stones). The second Colin James and The Little Big Band II was released in 1998 on Warner Music, while the third, Colin James & The Little Big Band 3 was distributed on Maple Music in Canada and Universal Music Group globally in 2006, and he would eventually do a fourth with the band, a holiday album Colin James & The Little Big Band Christmas.
In 2008 he took home three Maple Blues Awards (Toronto Blues Society), which included Entertainer of the Year, while his release Limelight also went gold in Canada.
James released his twelfth album Rooftops and Satellites on October 6th, 2009, and it was a return to his guitar Blues-Rock roots. The album was primarily co-written by Tom Wilson (Junkhouse, Blackie and The Rodeo Kings, Lee Harvey Osmond) and Thomas "Tawgs" Salter, co-writer and producer of Lights' debut and Josh Groban's Awake, and it has generated four Canadian radio singles, “Man’s Gotta Be A Stone”, “Lost Again”, “Wavelength” and “Johnny Coolman.”
2011's 'Take It From The Top: The Best Of’ pays tribute to James's career's first 23 years and serves as a celebration of Colin’s return back where he started his recordings, Virgin/EMI. This Greatest Hits collection also features two newly recorded tracks, “It’s Gonna Be Alright“ as well as an innovative cover of the Buddy Miles' classic “Them Changes”, that were recorded in Vancouver with veteran producer Bob Rock (Michael Bublé, Metallica), reuniting the two after almost twenty years.
On June 12th, 2012, James released his fifteenth album, appropriately entitled Fifteen, which was produced by Joe Hardy (ZZ Top, Brooks & Dunn, Jeff Healey, Steve Earle), who had handled three of Colin's previous album productions including his successful sophomore release. Colin co-writes with Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar, Grady) on the opener “Sweets Gone Sour” and the rocker “I Need You Bad.” Colin also re-teamed with Tom Wilson and Thomas “Tawgs” Salter on four high-octane tracks, including the bluesy “No Time to Get There” and the driving “Stone Faith,” the album’s first single.
Fifteen also features two beautiful co-writes with Ron Sexsmith that reveal Colin’s seductive side: “Finally Wrote a Song for You”, a soulful love ballad; and “Shoulder to Cry On,” a moving acoustic number that highlights his vocal range, while closing the album. The disc also features some inspiring covers, including John Lennon's "Jealous Guy", Peter Green's (Fleetwood Mac) "Oh Well", [artis]Foy Vance’s gospel-tinged “Shed A Little Light,” and Allen Toussaint's funky "Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley", which has perhaps become best known by Robert Palmer's cover.
On February 3, 2015, James released Hearts On Fire which was produced by Colin Linden at House of Blues Studios in Nashville, and this twelve track collection is distributed by Universal Music. The title track and all but two of the songs were written or co-written by Colin.
In 2016, James was named an inductee into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame presented by FACTOR (The Canadian Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings). In addition to this honour, Colin headlined the Western Canadian Music Awards Show at Casino Regina on October 13th, 2016, kicking off BreakOut West’s 14th year of celebrating Western Canada’s talent.
James's studio album Blue Highways features thirteen Classic Blues covers from guitar-hero greats like Blind Willie McTell, Freddie King, Peter Green, and Robert Johnson. The CD was released on October 16th, 2016. Recording and Production was primarily handled in Vancouver by Colin James and Dave Meszaros, with recording and mixing assistance from Eric Mosher, Chris Stringer and Jason Jaknunas. Blue Highways is being distributed by True North Records, and iTunes.
Over his illustrious career, James has earned 16 Maple Blues Awards, and he has worked and toured with the 'who’s who' in the international music scene (in alphabetical order): Luther Allison, Jann Arden, The Chieftains, Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Tom Dowd, Buddy Guy, Johnny Hallyday, John Hammond Jr., Gordie Johnson, Albert King, Bobby King and Terry Evans, Danny Kortchmar, Lenny Kravitz, Little Feat, The Memphis Horns, Craig Northey, Bill Payne, Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards, Bob Rock, The Rolling Stones, Roomful Of Blues, Carlos Santana, Mavis Staples, Roebuck "Pops" Staples, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tom Wilson, Betty Wright and ZZ Top. In addition to writing most of his own material, his music has been covered by artists like Maria Muldaur, Johnny Halliday and Lucinda Williams.
Satellite
Colin James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm a slave to this gravity
And every night, I hope and pray
She came back down to me
I keep my eyes on the stars
I track the heavens above my lonely world
I'm tracking her trajectory
We met at the Lunar Hilton
On a sea of tranquility
And maybe I was dreamin'
But we was shacked up at the honeymoon suite
She was a wonderful girl
It was a heavenly night
But the stars were wrong
I woke up she was gone
Like a memory
She's probably just out of site
She's my little satellite
I look for the sun where the stardust shines in the twilight
Constantly searching the constellations
Trying to determine the destination
Since I let her drift away
My heart is always lost in space
She's my baby
She's my little satellite
I look for the sun where the stardust shines in the twilight
Constantly searching the constellations
Trying to determine the destination
Since I let her drift away
My heart is always lost in space
She's infinitely stebular
She's not exactly down to Earth
It's crazy but for what it's worth
She's my baby
She's probably just out of sight
She's my little satellite
She's my little satellite
Satellite, satellite, satellite
Oh, she's my little satellite
The song Satellite by Colin James revolves around the theme of longing and the hopelessness of being separated from someone you love. The first stanza of the song highlights the contrast between the two lovers as the girl is depicted as being free while the singer describes himself as being a slave to gravity. He hopes and prays every night that she would come back to him, portraying the desperation and sadness caused by the separation.
The second stanza takes a deeper dive into the backstory of how they met in the Lunar Hilton, a metaphor for a heavenly place, on a sea of tranquility. The use of space-related metaphors is prominent throughout the song, adding an extraterrestrial vibe to the lyrics. The singer sings about the possibility of it being a dream and how it was all beautiful until he woke up. The woman's departure left him with a broken heart, but he still considers her his little satellite, and he keeps his eyes on the stars, hoping she'll come back to him someday.
Overall, Satellite is a song about being lost in space, both literally and metaphorically, and the feeling of being disconnected from the ones we love. The lyrics create a feeling of melancholy and a sense of longing for something that may never return.
Line by Line Meaning
She's as free as the blue horizon
She is unrestrained and has no limitations, much like the vast, open expanse of the sky.
I'm a slave to this gravity
In contrast, I am restricted and weighed down by the forces of gravity and cannot move as freely as she can.
And every night, I hope and pray
She came back down to me
I long for her return, wishing that she could come back to be with me despite the forces that keep us apart.
I keep my eyes on the stars
I track the heavens above my lonely world
I'm tracking her trajectory
She's my baby, she's my little satellite
I am constantly searching the stars for any sign of her whereabouts, tracking her movements in the vast, lonely expanse of space. She is my loved one and I affectionately refer to her as my satellite.
We met at the Lunar Hilton
On a sea of tranquility
And maybe I was dreamin'
But we was shacked up at the honeymoon suite
We met in a fantasized setting where everything was peaceful and serene, and perhaps it was a dream, but in that dream we shared a romantic moment together.
She was a wonderful girl
It was a heavenly night
But the stars were wrong
I woke up she was gone
Like a memory
She's probably just out of site
She's my little satellite
She was a lovely person and we had a wonderful time together, but something went wrong and she disappeared from my life, much like a forgotten memory. I still believe that she is somewhere out there, just beyond my reach.
I look for the sun where the stardust shines in the twilight
Constantly searching the constellations
Trying to determine the destination
Since I let her drift away
My heart is always lost in space
She's my baby
She's my little satellite
I spend my days searching the skies for her, scanning the constellations to try and find any clue as to where she might be. Ever since I let her go, my heart has been longing for her return, and my mind is consumed by thoughts of her. She is still my beloved and I still hold her close to my heart.
She's infinitely stebular
She's not exactly down to Earth
It's crazy but for what it's worth
She's my baby
She's probably just out of sight
She's my little satellite
She's my little satellite
Satellite, satellite, satellite
Oh, she's my little satellite
She is otherworldly and not grounded in the same reality as me, but despite that, I still adore her and consider her to be my own. I truly believe that she is still out there, and that one day we will be reunited again. She is my sweet and gentle satellite, and I sing her praises from the bottom of my heart.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kassner Associated Publishers Ltd, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Steven Krikorian, Daryl Burgess, Colin James
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind