Corinne Bailey Rae (born Corinne Bailey on 26 February 1979) is a Grammy-wi… Read Full Bio ↴Corinne Bailey Rae (born Corinne Bailey on 26 February 1979) is a Grammy-winning English singer and songwriter who released her eponymous debut album "Corinne Bailey Rae" in February 2006. Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics.

Rae was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire to a Kittitian father and an English mother, and she was the eldest of three daughters. She began her musical career at school where she studied classical violin before she turned her attention to singing: "I started off singing in church, I suppose, but people think it must have been a gospel church because of the whole, you know, black assumption", she says in reference to her multiracial background. "But it wasn't gospel at all, it was just your regular Brethren church, very middle-class, where we would sing these harmonies every Sunday. It was always my favourite part of the service, the singing".

Rae later transferred to a Baptist church, where the choir would sing traditional hymns, and Primal Scream tunes. "We changed the words though", Rae states on her website. "We didn't want to offend the regular churchgoers, now did we?"

Performing in church broadened Rae's musical horizons, and her love affair with making music was solidified after a local youth leader offered to buy her an electric guitar. In her mid-teens, she became obsessed with rock legends Led Zeppelin, "I loved that band during my teens; I wanted, somehow, to follow in their footsteps, and to create music of my own".

Rae formed an all-female indie group called Helen, which was inspired by similar acts such as Veruca Salt and L7. "It was the first time I'd seen women with guitars. They were kinda sexy – but feminist. I wanted to be like that, at the front of something".

The group raised eyebrows on several fronts; in the white male-dominated world of indie music, they were an all-female group fronted by a mixed-race singer from Leeds. The moniker "Helen" also drew attention, albeit for not all the right reasons: "What can I say? We were 15 years old, and thought that Helen was a cheeky, indie kind of thing to do. It seemed clever at the time. Admittedly, it seems less so now".

The group played many gigs around Leeds, including a memorable performance at Joseph's Well with Leeds-based band Swift, fronted by wildman rocker Royce Dunston. Despite this, the group became the first indie act to be signed to heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records, home to acts such as Slipknot, in 1995. The venture proved to be short-lived however after the bassist became pregnant and the group disbanded. "[Was I] Disappointed? I was gutted! I had no idea what to do next".

Corinne has often stated that she is a proud Leeds United Football Club fan.

After the disappointment of Helen, Rae went on to attend the University of Leeds where she studied an English Literature degree. While at University, she began work as a hat check girl on an evening in her local jazz club. Permitted to sing on stage with the jazz band when business was slow, it was there that she discovered a different type of music that sent her on a different musical path: "I kept hearing this jazz and soul stuff and I realized I loved that music too". It was there also that she met saxophone player Jason Rae, whom she eventually married in 2001 at age twenty-two. "I was Corinne Bailey. I added on Rae, my husband's name, when I got married. There's no hyphen; stops it being posh!" Jason died in March 2008.

Career

Over the space of the next three years, Rae began working on solo material – this time steering away from her indie past and embarking on a more "soulful" path. She collaborated with Leeds-based funk group The New Mastersounds on the track "Your Love Is Mine", featured on their 2003 album Be Yourself, released via One Note Records. The following year she again worked with another Leeds-based group, Homecut Directive, on the song "Come the Revolution", which was the first single from the group's debut album.

In 2004, Rae got a breakthrough when she was signed by Global Talent Publishing and then approached by Craig David's mentor Mark Hill, from the duo The Artful Dodger, to appear on his new album better luck next time under his new alias, The stiX. The resulting collaboration, "Young and Foolish", was released in April 2005 and brought Rae to the attention of the major record label bosses. Rae released her debut single, "Like a Star", in November 2005 and her first album, Corinne Bailey Rae, in February 2006. In September 2006, Rae scooped two awards at the UK's MOBO Awards: "Best UK Newcomer" and "Best UK Female". Rae recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios in July 2006 for Live From Abbey Road.

Rae also received three nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards: "Record of the Year", "Song of the Year" (both for "Put Your Records On"), and "Best New Artist". During the ceremony, she performed "Like a Star" and joined John Legend and John Mayer in a collaborative performance, providing accompanying vocals to Legend's "Coming Home" and Mayer's "Gravity". The poll's predictions subsequently came true, as she became only the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at number one. She has been nominated for Grammy Awards and BRIT Awards and won two MOBO Awards.

During an interview for the 2011 Mercury Awards, Corinne revealed she is writing a follow-up album to her critically acclaimed The Sea.

In 2013, Bailey Rae was moved from Capitol Records to Virgin Records due to corporate restructuring as a result of their parent company being purchased by Universal Music Group in 2012.

Discography

Albums

* 2006: "Corinne Bailey Rae"
* 2007: Live in London & New York
* 2010: "The Sea"

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Corinne Bailey Rae Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Got taken in
We feasted on olives from the fridge
We stood alone and we ate
We made love all afternoon
'Til the stars went gloom

You wrote, I laid, we dine, on oysters and champagne
That's what it seemed like

We connect in so many ways
So easy on my sake

Why am I so shy around you?
Why am I so shy?
Why do I take care to astound you?
Why do I even try?

Another rainy day,
We sat inside by the radiator watchin' old black & white films
Where everybody sang
You played in my solitude
You didn't get dressed 'til 2

New rain, says I, I wrote this song on my guitar
But it didn't turn out right
So we just connected in other ways
So easy on my sake

Why am I so shy around you?
Why am I so shy?
Why do I take care to astound you?
Why do I even try?

Why am I so shy around
Oh why am I so shy?
Why do I take care
Why do I even try?

Da di da... [Until fade]

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Corinne Bailey Rae's "Another Rainy Day" are about a couple who spend time together on a rainy day. They have a strong connection and are very comfortable with each other. The first verse describes how they spend the day feasting on olives, making love, and enjoying each other's company until the evening stars come out. The second verse suggests they spend the next day watching old black and white films and playing guitar.

Despite being so comfortable with each other, the singer is still shy and unsure of their place in the relationship. They question why they try so hard to impress the other person and why they care so much about their opinion. Overall, the song is about the joys and complexities of being in love while trying to find oneself in a relationship.

Line by Line Meaning

Got taken in
I was charmed and taken in by you.

We feasted on olives from the fridge
We enjoyed eating olives from the fridge together while spending time.

We stood alone and we ate
We were together but lost in our own world as we ate.

We made love all afternoon
We spent the whole afternoon making love to each other.

'Til the stars went gloom
We were so engrossed in each other that it got dark outside without us noticing.

You wrote, I laid, we dine, on oysters and champagne
We had a fancy meal of oysters and champagne while you wrote and I laid beside you.

That's what it seemed like
It all seemed perfect and surreal at the time.

We connect in so many ways
We had a connection on different levels.

So easy on my sake
Being with you felt easy and comfortable.

Why am I so shy around you?
I feel nervous and self-conscious around you.

Why do I take care to astound you?
I want to impress and surprise you with my actions.

Why do I even try?
I wonder if my attempts to impress you are worthwhile.

Another rainy day,
It was a rainy day, just like any other.

We sat inside by the radiator watchin' old black & white films
We spent time together indoors, cozied up by the radiator, watching classic films.

Where everybody sang
The films we watched featured singing by most of the characters.

You played in my solitude
We were together, but you gave me space to be alone within that togetherness.

You didn't get dressed 'til 2
We were so relaxed and comfortable in each other's company that you didn't get dressed until the afternoon was almost over.

New rain, says I, I wrote this song on my guitar
I wrote this song on my guitar while thinking about the new rain outside.

But it didn't turn out right
The song I wrote didn't capture what I wanted to express.

So we just connected in other ways
But we still found other ways to connect and be together.

So easy on my sake
Being with you was still easy and comfortable.

Da di da... [Until fade]
The song ends with a nonsensical melody.

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Corinne Bailey Rae

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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